Animism Analysis [SAP]

          In this session, we were introduced to the topic of Animism. Animism is a religious belief that objects, places, creatures possess and spiritual essence; everything is alive. We looked at several examples to animism. 

          The first example were the two animated shorts called "Bambi vs Godzilla" and "Poor God". In the short "Bambi vs Godzilla," comedic timing and sound effects were used to depict both peaceful and tranquil side of Bambi, and the menacing Godzilla when  he came in and stomped on Bambi. In the short "Poor God", everything in the animation was minuscule however sound plays a significant role in depicting the actions  of various elements. The posture of the "God" is seen slumped over leaning against a wall. Both animation uses sound in various ways to depict the occurrence of actions; giving personalities to characters.

The second example we looked at partial anthropomorphism, "The Hangnail" and "The Cat Came Back". Partial anthropomorphism means that characters that portray as animals have human characteristics; in the way they behave or the way they appear as. In "The Hangnail", the dog seeks revenge for the human that kicked it away when he tried to get his food when he acted neutrally. In "The Cat Came Back" the cat is seen wearing a bowtie. 

In the third example, we looked at complete anthropomorphism, "Get a Job" and "Kitty Kornered". In these examples, the characters act like humans; walking like one, wearing clothes and even being able to talk. In "Get a Job", the dog Bob feels fear and social pressure in getting a job. As being jobless was seen as irresponsible and would be ridiculed in Bob's world. The objects such as the TV, phone and hammer were seen singing. In "Kitty  Knornered", the cats were seen smoking cigars and drinking alcohol. The pig chasing the cats was also wearing a robe. 

Finally, we discussed about "Background or Character", whether the shown object is aa character in the story or just apart of the background element. In "Story Life of a Rock", the rock was sentient as it was seen sleeping, walking and being able to sense human emotions such as feeling discomfort and fear. The rock was a character made from background elements. It also grew limbs at times human features such as eyes, nose and mouth.

For the task, we had to animate something simple that revolves around the idea of animism. I decided to animate a lightbulb that was frustrated due to it not being able to light up. As it tries, it pushes itself to the utmost limit. finally being able to light up and shine brightly..