Webinar on Animation in Development Practice: Gender Focus facilitated by the UoP. This webinar discusses why animation has become a growing field within the development sector.
Links between and uses of animation within development
Animation can be a very powerful and important tool for communicating very sensitive and personal stories.
Through animation, we are able to communicate very powerful messages. It can have a lasting impact on those that watch and hear that message.
Tamsin Bradley, Professor, University of Portsmouth
At the webinar, Dr. Louis Netter spoke about the theoretical approach to how animation functions. He focused particularly on how animation functions as non-fiction.
There’s an interesting interplay between non-fiction, real data, real lives, and the sort of artificial construct that is animation.
Dr. Louis Netter, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art, Design, and Performance, UoP
Beginnings of non-fiction animation
Animation as an art form is diverse in its formal and technical properties. It embraces a wide spectrum of content from fiction to nonfiction, figurative to abstract, and all points between and beyond.
The prevailing conception of animation is rooted in the dominance and influence of early pioneers. This includes Walt Disney and the Fleischer brothers – work that is made for young and old audiences alike.
Animation is the fundamental conceit that moving people, animals, and objects have the illusion of life. And that we imbue life through some corporeal assimilation with that movement.
Meaning that we understand that they are alive through looking at our own movement and our own bodies. Our process of understanding animations involves recognition of the known and holding reality. The image can then be seen as a container of information.
Power of animation
Animation has many advantages from photographic representations.
For one, it is more agile. Animation can hone in on specific moments of interest and highlight subjects in a multitude of ways. It can promote understanding, bring clarity, and identify salient aspects of a narrative.
It can also objectify, emotionalize and dramatize aspects of a narrative. This can promote empathy, understanding, and connectivity with related subjects. Also, put the work in a broader context.
Animation can also use visual metaphor as a useful device for exploring thematic material present in non-fiction. And it can also be used for dealing with content in a sensitive abstracted way. This will be evident in Art and Gender in South Sudan.
Project: Art Heritage, Resilience and Humanitarianism in South Sudan
“My own animation uses findings from Professor Tamsin’s research on artistic practices and gender in South Sudan. After looking at the findings and transcripts, it was clear that the nature and consequence of artistic practice for these displaced women were not straightforward,” Dr. Louis added.
The artistic practices had provided employment income continuance of tradition, independence, and resilience. But it also reinforced negative cultural and behavioral traditions around the ownership of women.
Additionally, the backdrop of political and social upheaval due to war and displacement provided an important layer for understanding the complexities experienced by men and women.
“The process of animation does not always start with a formal script. Instead, it often requires an understanding of the visual world of the story. My first preference is to do drawing on the ground. But COVID made this impossible. So there had to be a bit of an imaginative leap there,” said Dr. Louis.
That meant exploring South Sudan in photographs. And thinking about compelling visual metaphors would enable difficult matters to be understandable. Dr. Louis used metaphorical transitions that emphasize linked ideas, scenes, and shared struggles.
By visualizing the invisible aspects of life, Dr. Louis imagined the world from someone else’s perspective.
Animation to communicate
Sajid Chowdhury – Director at Big Blue Communications – highlighted the aspects of the animation industry. He then talked about a few guidelines for animation and film production.
Big Blue Communications is a digital agency. They help people and organizations to communicate research and data in compelling and engaging ways.
“We do that are through animation, films, design, content writing. And also, through online experiences like website design, and application development,” said Sajid.
To produce great animations, the initial process is to understand your audience. And then find the language. The visual language can communicate with them and make an impact on them as well.
“So, there’s plain language and emotional buy-in. There’s a great script, sound, and, of course, visuals in animation,” Sajid mentioned.
Animation is all around us. It’s in education, entertainment, and science. It’s in documentaries, websites, and apps. Animation is now a priceless tool to communicate research and data.
It simplifies complexity and adds emotion. It sparks the imagination. It goes to the physical and imaginary spaces where cameras cannot and it crosses borders.