• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.281-313
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• 2019

This paper was written to investigate the narrative traits of Lee Ae-rim's Comic Books. Lee Ae-rim arrived on the scene with the boom of comic book magazines in the 1990s. Although she started her career as a Comic Book writer, she expanded her own area gradually and has been working actively as an animation director as well. The superficial characteristics of Lee Ae-rim's works can be summed up as sexuality, grotesqueness, and fantasy. In other words, Lee Ae-rim's comic books are mainly characterized by the visualization of sexual, grotesque, and fantastic shapes. Lee Ae-rim has faced challenges with her own overwhelming and compelling images like no one else. For that reason, it is true that people haven't paid careful attention to the hidden stories behind her pictures. This paper considers that looking back on the narratives that Lee Ae-rim has been interested in, from early days to recent days, that is to say, the contexts of stories, is a shortcut to reveal a point of contact between her past, present, and future. Especially, this paper focused on the properties of the circulated and repeated stories, the stories ruled by fate and coincidence, and the stories in which elements of fantasy encounter an attempt of violation. As a result, it was found that the narratives of Lee Ae-rim's comic books demand us to face suppressed desires in a new way, by wrapping up the most fundamental aspects of human being in universality and constancy with specificity and grotesqueness. The reason why Lee Ae-rim has continued the avant-garde and omnidirectional works thus far explains what our society suppresses, inversely. Moreover, the narratives of Lee Ae-rim are significant, by being devoted to the right function of art not only to disclose suppressed desires but to satisfy them. Making an in-depth investigation of the narratives of Lee Ae-rim's comic books in various contexts, this research is intended to establish a diversity of Korean comic books, by adding meaning to the creative values of individual writers.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.41
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• pp.511-531
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• 2015

The underlying impetus of the birth of animated film is attraction about a moving image. And the animation image occurs from the process of performative relationship between an animator and apparatus. Therefore, analysing the method how the moving image is constructed will be the focal starting point to deal with an animated film as a text. In this context, that conveys the theme in more sensuous way will be examined in a dimension of the material, technique and image-making method. KIM Jin-man's is a Stop Motion Animated Film with Noodlescreen about a journey of a fish that wishes to go outside of the water. KIM created original and friendly images out of plain thin noodle which is a common ingredient in Korea, and dealt with the ontological introspection based of the concept of Nondualism. Nondualism based on the interconnected and cyclical eastern philosophy which is different from the western dualistic theory points to the idea that the universe and all its multiplicity are ultimately expressions or appearances of one essential reality. This paper focuses on KIM's recent work and sees how Nondualism is applied throughout the animated film by analysing the performative method of mediums, technique, and structure. First of all, the form of Noodlescreen will be reviewed in Chapter Two. Pinscreen Animation which was invented by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker will be also compared with Noodlescreen in the aesthetic viewpoint here. In Chapter Three, it will be analysed how the description of the image of binary opposition itself provides expanded sense and rich metaphor. Lastly, the format of Mise-en-abyme going constantly towards outer space will be dealt how it exposes the cinematic illusion and spatiality in Chapter Four. Throughout the whole chapters, it will reviewed how the concept of Nondualism relates the images of and deactivate the boundary of binary opposition in terms of both the story development and the visualization method. By this methodology, it will be confirmed that image of animated film not only explains the narrative but also activates the perception about the theme and provides integrated sensory experiences in the independent and expanded dimension.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.13
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• pp.211-221
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• 2008

Animation programs are regarded as bad genre in the aspect of advertisement revenues due to relative low viewing ratios. But programming of animation can be considered positively in the aspect of channel loyalty and preference. This study is based on the assumption that if the scheduling of animation genres could bring out the improvement of channel image of broadcasting stations in the long term, the terrestrial broadcasters could reconsider the increase of animation programs. The research questions of this study are as follows: 1. What is the relationship between the programming ratio of animation genres and the concentration of viewing patterns? 2. How has the increase of animation programming influenced the channel image of broadcasters? 3. Why is it necessary to increase of reinforce the programming of animation genre in the new media platforms? The teenagers aged from 8 to 14 can generally make a decision which program they want to watch. Likewise, the adult viewers aged from 30 to 40 can make a selection which commodity they want to buy. The results of this study indicate that the adult viewers have showed the strong preference for the same broadcasting stations which they have been exposed to in their teenages. This result implies that in the new media environment, animation genre can lead the viewers' loyally and preference for the broadcasting channel for a long period.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.38
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• pp.115-132
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• 2015

An animation is a tool to represent the consciousness of an author. It is a medium that converts his/her consciousness to time by the means of spaces. Image is the most inherent element among the elements of an animation. Character is the element that has the very core function among the elements of an image because a character is a shape that can deliver a story through various actions and facial expressions. In this context, is a representative satire animation that describes a ranked and unequal human society and selfishness and absurdity of human beings existed in the human society, based on the original work of George Orwell. Therefore, this study aims to study what the work tries to satirize through the meanings and symbols that the characters, animals, and spaces in the work. As a result of the study, it was found that the characters appeared in the work are metaphoric symbols that imply the meanings of each character, not just simple characters or spaces. In the work, the farm is a symbolic space that symbolizes a human world. John, a human being, is described as a dictator in an absolute Russian monarchy who suppresses people. Old Major, a pig, is described as an old pioneer that preaches the appropriation of a revolution while Snow Ball, a pig that follows the Major is described as a naive leader that dreams to establish a real socialist state where everybody lives equal, through successful revolution. Another pig, Napoleon is described as the more greedy dictator than human being. He killed Snow Ball for his private ambition and suppresses and exploits the same race, animals. That is, setting man and various animals in the relation of dominant class and subordinated class, the author generates conflicts among characters. Although the characters pursue an ideal society through revolution, it requires another revolution in the process, which expresses repetitive contradiction of human history in a symbolic and strong way.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.30
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• pp.59-86
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• 2013

'Spectacles' and 'factuality' provided by computer technology are strengths of CG animation to still lure the audience and after commercial success of a number of theatrical CG animations whose typical producing companies are PIXAR and DreamWorks, were produced to be commercially successful and they win massive popularity even now. In Korea as well, several works tried to achieve a box office success including , , etc. but the result was truly miserable. In the past, this failure was often attributed to a lack of 'technical expertise', but it became clear that in the process of continuous trial and error, 'narrative' and 'images of imagination' which are bases and characteristics of animation are key elements of commercial success. Actually, statistics indicate that narrative is what is considered to be the most important by the audience when they select animation and its importance is so absolute that they say the most significant thing in animation is 'story.' In particular, it can be said that 'characters', 'situations', and 'ideas' play a key role in them which become elements of the story. This paper studied with what characteristics each animation aroused pleasure and fun focused on characters, situations and images in relation to , , and which are American theatrical CG animation films which succeeded in gaining popularity home and abroad. We hope that analysis in this paper will be helpful even just a little bit as a reference material, which allows domestic writers and producers to develop familiar and characteristic works based on imagination and creativity expressing each work's unique personality and characteristics.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.30
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• pp.1-25
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• 2013

The present study explores the problem of the placelessness and alienation through spaces of redevelopment in South Korean animation film since the 2000's. Actual space in South Korean society has been destroyed and changed unceasingly, and, in that space, humans have experienced existential conflict. While the swift development of digital technology has transcended physical restrictions to form one great network, humans are still limited as materially based beings. The recent steps in South Korean animation film are noteworthy because sociocultural changes since the 1990's and the relationship between the individual and the system are perceived in ways different from those of the past. and , the works analyzed in the present study, reveal the special sense of place in South Korean society, where the destructive reorganization of space leads to the instability of life. By intentionally bypassing a sense of place and the authority automatically bestowed on representational images, these works prompt the viewer to reexamine the relationship between reality and images. Space in these two works are presented representationally but immediately destroyed, and humans or the characters in the works accept this unfeelingly. The loss of place, which is committed by the massive system, and listless humans' weakness and alienation in response are depicted as signs of sociocultural abnormality. By showing the destructive loss of place and individuals who respond with self-anesthesia and self-estrangement, these works open viewers' eyes to South Korean society, where not only social alienation but also self-alienation is occurring. By perceiving South Korean animation film as a sociocultural phenomenon and analyzing it through the concepts of the placelessness and alienation, the present study seeks to expand further discussions on animation film.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.32
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• pp.1-21
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• 2013

Silhouette Animation has been recognized as a genre of animation since the very beginning of the animation history, and also Its segmental movement and Aesthetic expression has led a variety of semantic interpretations. Especially the French animation director, Michel Ocelot, recently integrated 3-dimensional digital to the silhouettes animation, and it extended the possibility of the silhouettes animation in many aspects. In his latest animation feature, , he showed how he made changes in 3-dimension by creating and evolving his own way and style of silhouette animation. Although mainstream digital animations preferably to show realistic images and motion, Michel Ocelot used very selective movement, subjective digital colors and extended space which couldn't be expressed in the way of creating traditional style of silhouette animation. This alternative slow movement and the unique aesthetics in 3-dimension emphasize the unconscious elements of color, composition, patterns, and it provides digitally enhanced images and pictorial impression. In addition, the acquisition of digital three-dimensional use of space made possible to provides the wider formative imagination to the audience. In this paper, we analyzed aesthetic characteristics of the digital silhouette animation, (2011), specially focusing on the aspects of Movement, Image, Space, which could not be found in the traditional silhouette animation. It is significant to obtain diversity of the future digital animation and its positive development. In addition, this provides opportunity to explore Michel Ocelot's new experiments and animation philosophy.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.45
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• pp.215-233
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• 2016

Timelapse which was appeared Georges Mellieoseu in 1897 was not familiar to people and was not popular in film or broadcast industry in spite of long history. But about 5 years ago, timelapse has become distinguished in all around image art, because it show us aesthetic extraction of time and variation of color in Vimeo and Youtube which neve been seen before. So nowadays latest camera has come out with default menu which can shoot timelapse. But popularity of timelapse seem not development of cinematography technique or appearance of new function but production of image which reflects ages of present with fully accept digital media property. This study is approached from two formative characteristics. First it is strengthen of time which is showed timelapse and analog media from a comparison angle. Second, it is how to extend their sense and imitate images through resolution which can be possible high quality image and color especially with Raw data Through these methodology, this study defines correlation of character of digital media and artistic value of images in timelapse. And also it cleary assures the era of penetrating art has not only visual amusement as known but, also representative value of our ages and technology of media.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.38
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• pp.53-70
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• 2015

In industrialized societies throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Over Produced and Mass consumption images were constantly shown to people via Mass-Media as means to provoke one's desire. Frank Mouris, the American independent animator, captured and showed the infinite nesting of industrialized image with his autobiographical story through his work (1973) and made it as an intense visual flow. This innovative art animation has broke the traditional form of narrative animation and won the Annecy Animation Festival Grand Prix and the Academy Awards in 1974. This was also selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant in 1996. This study explores and shows that how these a-half million images to express Franks Mouris's autobiographical story in could be analyzed by the concept of Walter Benjamin's 'dialectical images'. Typically, the term 'dialectic' need to be formed by contradiction or opposite concept in the basic principles, but a dialectical image of Benjamin could be formed without any opposite concept while maintaining the uniqueness of each new relationship of the past. Benjamin's dialectical images are no longer stay in the historical past, It always meets with the present when someone realizes the past in the present moment. I suggest three different aspect according to Benjamin's point of view to analyse this animated film such as 'Historical-dialectical imaging of private/collective memory', 'Reconfiguring of present through analysing the relationship between the image flows and its own time/space', and 'Old future over the existing fragment and the presence of fragment. has the great value not only to present the experimental and innovative aesthetics of animated film, but also to show an analysis of contemporary culture and social aspect in mid-20th century. This study is to explore the diversity of animation representation, aesthetics, and also to suggest a new aspect of animation studies.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.33
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• pp.31-53
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• 2013

In the early twentieth century, history of animation began by modern artists, they produced various experimental images with the newly invented film and cameras. Artists in the field of movie, photography, paintings and others manipulated images in motion. But as some animated movies won industrial success and popularity, they became the trend but experimental style of early animation preserved by so-called non-mainstreamers or experimental animators, counteracting commercialism. Disney animation also followed the trend by applying realistic Hollywood film style, the worse critics placed a low value on the animation and it tarnished the image, although it was profitable investment from a business standpoint. To make images realistic, they opened a drawing class that animators developed skills to imitate motions and forms from subjects in real life. Also some techniques and gizmos were used to mimic and simulate three dimensional objects and spaces, multiplane camera and compositing 3D CG images with 2D drawings. Moreover, they brought animation stories from fairly tales or folk tales, and Walt's personal interest in live-action movies, they applied Hollywood-film-like narratives and realistic visual, and harsh criticism ensued. On the surface early disney animations' potential seems to be weakened, but in reality it still exists by simplifying and exaggerating forms and color as modern arts. Disney animation employs concepts of the modernism paintings such as simplified shapes and colors to a character design, when their characters are placed together in a scene, that visual elements cause mental reaction. This modification gives a new internal experience to audiences. As conceptual colors in abstract paintings make images appeared to be flat, coloring characters with no shading make them look flat and comparing to them, background images are also appeared to be flat. On top of that, multi-perspective at background images recalls modernist paintings. This essay goes in details with the animation pioneers' works and how Disney animation developed its techniques to emulate real life and analyses color schemes, forms, and spaces in Disney animation compared with modern artists' works, in that the visual language of Disney animation reminds of impression from abstract paintings in the beginning of the twentieth centuries.