issues in representation.

The chapter begins by reminding readers that people see animation as an innocent medium for children. These people underestimate the meaning and portrayal of animated characters. Describing the degree of Popeyes masculinity, and questioning the effects of spinach on Popeye but none of his enemies, Wells proves how male characters are masculine and female characters are secondary in importance to the story. wells also points out that the female characters have exaggerated, unnatural female features. features like eye long lashes and big chests. The chapter gives credible examples like Popeye, Superman, and Mickey Mouse. Each of these characters are masculine and have a female counter part Olive Oyl, Lois Lane, and Mini Mouse. I agree with Wells but he says nothing about todays animation. Computers have completely changed the animated world and I wonder if Wells still believes the same thing about todays animation. Also, it is not just the technology that may have changed the "issues of representation" but the characters Wells exemplifies are from the 20's and 30's. Many women didn't work at all and fewer worked in the male dominated film industry. Race was also still a predominate issue that could explain the stereotype of race in animation during the age of Popeye and Micky Mouse .

Understanding animation ch 5

I found the chapter to be very enlightening and articulated a lot of ideas that are often denied by those in power- the animators and those who are empowered by the stories of masculinity and otherness.

"Womens' animation recognizes the shift from the representation of women as object to the representation of women as subject" (p. 200)

The chapter gave many examples of stereotypes and inequalities in charachter exhibited under the guise of comedy or "innocent" animations. The attitude of the animators always needing someone to marginalize for the butt of the joke is an unfortunate side of mainstream animation.

Final Project Animatic

Project 6

Project 5

Understanding Animation Chapter 5

This chapter discussed the representation in animation; specifically gender and race. The two sections that I found particularly interesting were about the way men and women are portrayed. Under the section called 'Faster than a speeding bullet...' Men and masculinity, Wells uses Popeye and Superman as extreme examples of how masculine men are characterized in animation. It is interesting how similar men and women are represented in the physical sense. Popeye and Superman have exaggerated muscles and inhuman abilities, while characters like Betty Boop had over sized eyelashes and bust lines. While men and women might have been both ridiculously characterize in the physical manner, Wells made an observation about their personalities and morality. Characters like Popeye and Superman were heroes and had very high morals that they stuck to no matter what. They did the right thing despite the consequences and never did anything that questionable or selfish. On the other side, women were often portrayed as "wayward girls and wicked women." They were fickle, immoral, seductresses. They would often serve as distractions to the male heroes, such as Olive Oyl with Popeye. Looking at different animations and comics over the years, it is interesting to see how these representations of gender held true.

Final Project Animatic

Chap. 4 Response

This chapter was interesting in how it deconstructed large active comic panels in terms of time and how our eyes move across the panel. I liked the section on subjective motion, and how instead of observing the action take place, you are the action taking place, and observe your environment moving around you. I am always trying to relate the concepts from the different chapters of this book to actual film and animation, and so I didn't like how this chapter was so grounded specifically within comics. That's not to say I didn't find interesting the points the author made in relation to comics. I especially found entertaining the section describing panels in terms of past, present and future, as well as the section that played with this concept, as well as the concept pertaining to which direction we read the panels, and how the author was able to weave a multidimensional story in different directions on one page.

3D Project