Hey just a PSA this video is a re-upload of the Photorealistic Animation video. Parts of the video weren't working so I wanted to fix before releasing the newest video. As always I hope y'all enjoy! Is there a specific time that you felt like animation has crossed some boundaries?
For the longest time I thought I preferred 2d animation over 3d animation (though I’ve always loved both). Spiderverse and Puss In Boots; The Last Wish (and a few other stylized movies) showed me that it wasn’t 2d Vs 3d, but actually stylized Vs realism. Now some of my greatest inspirations for my own art are stylized 3d movies. :)
Great way of putting it! I always kinda came from the opposite, growing up with all the 3D classics, but after studying animation and watching masterpieces like Iron Giant, I’ve really come to appreciate 2d. But at this point I’ll have to agree, the stylization is what’s making it interesting after all this recent realism
This is an excellent video essay. I love the thesis that animation should do something that can only be done in animation. This video deserves way more views.
I'm rather fond of Richard Linklater's Waking Life. It's based on actual video, but each frame redrawn in ways that make it more expressive of the stories being told in them.
4:29 it's funny that you used this example, because when I first saw this particular scene when it just came out, I thought it was one of the most realistic animated scenes ever because I had never seen a 3d shot at this time of day with those slightly harsher and longer shadows before along with the airport scenes, but I quickly just became even more immersed because I realized these characters also exist in more than just the perfect sky daytime scenes. Idk, maybe these hyper realistic scenes are not for us but for kids to believe the characters are "really real" to get them invested in the story.
Funny, I always thought the slightly uncanny realistic look of Soul's "living" segments were intentional when they contrasted with the more ethereal and stylized look of the Great Before segments, which technically even follows the animation style changing between the two settings. We actually ended up seeing this weird instance of intentionally choosing the uncanny in shorter shots in Coco where when Miguel plays the guitar, his skin and animation become extremely realistic like being able to see his hair raising up a bit on his arms as he gets into his guitar playing. This ends up coming full circle when he sings Remember Me in the ending, with the realistic animation/visuals happening again. Another example (directed by the same guy who did Soul btw) would be the contrast in Inside Out where the "people" segments are animated and less stylized than the Emotion side of the story. I get where the possible complaints are stemming with the increase in fidelity with Pixar's animated works, especially in settings like Toy Story 4 where it feels just a touch overdone but most directors in their commentaries often say that they usually fit the style to the story rather than going for high fidelity and realism just for the sake of it. Turning Red felt like a great example of not going for the uncanny texture work outside of the clothing/hair sim teams which honestly felt more reminiscent of the work found in Monster's Inc. in terms of fidelity. This was not only because of budget reasons but also because it fit the need of the story, which was Domee Shi's presentation of a "comic strip" vibe she wanted akin to Peanuts.
For anyone who loves animation, I would really recommend the beautiful films of the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea). Their handdrawn style is unique and really moving, they remind me that, like you say, animation has an amazing potential of artistic storytelling in a more expressive way than live-action!
I think this is a good springboard to talk about the Disney photorealistic remakes of their classic 2D films like Lion King and Jungle Book: what is gained through this? Not much 😅
I personally find hyper realism, particularly detail, jarring on CG animated characters. It's why it took me forever to come around on 2011's Rango even though the movie makes it work. I don't like the very stylized but very "realistic" 3D humans in Disney and Pixar lately. My theory is Renaissance era 2D animation pickled my brain, but there's merit to my madness. The princesses of the 2010's teeth look like creepy glimmering bones wedged in a plasticcy face and hyper rendered eyes. Their perfectly textured clothes cling and hang freakishly (to me) against the very stylized proportions of their bodies. It doesn't gel for me. Soul walked a weird line with this for me. I honestly haven't seen it enough times, but I did just watch it's fellow 2020 "Best Animated" Oscar nominee, Wolfwalkers recently. Wolfwalkers by Cartoon Saloon in Ireland embraces a stylized 2D hybrid animation style like Spider Verse and even the Mitchell's vs the Machines. The film is lovingly rendered with hand drawn digital 2D animation, traditional backgrounds and traditional art of the region manifesting in buckets of exquisite digital effects. I super agree that animation should endeavor to fully embrace stylized artistry. I have a soft spot for animated characters against live action settings. It's one of my favorite aspects of prehistoric nature documentaries. Gollum from over 20 years ago remains a delight to watch for his lovingly crafted existence. I didn't see Toy Story 4, but that carnival looks uncanny enough in the same ways I disliked Toy Story 3.
I hate the trend of micro-eye movements the most. Its so unnecessary and unsettling. Like we dont need to see someone pupils move millimeters because thats more real. LAME!!
Two videos in 2 minutes? dam you work fast😆 update: Three? state your business on this channel and quit uploading everything original creator was going to🔫
