William Kentridge
Casspirs Full of Love
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I am talking about different forms of engagement within the practice of the creative arts.
Improvisation is an exercised technique utilized and valued in many other creative mediums. On the basis of the case studies that I have been invesigating I have gathered examples that define improvisation as a valuable technique that can be utilized and practiced in the medium of animation. If one were to echo the techniques of the Playback Theatre or of the dancer Twyla Tharp to an animated production then this would position the improvisation technique into the highly structured process of animation. When animating, the creation of improvised drawings is not nearly as fast as moving one’s body around spontaneously or feeling and expressing an idea in the moment. However, if the animator using the straight ahead 2D technique has set up pre-production in such a way to allow for a sense of flow during their drawing process, (I argue) that this animator can improvise a) the movement of the subject, and/or b) the narrative.
I keep coming back to Kentridge, not because he proclaims to improvise, or because the narrative in his animation is solely improvised, but because his methods and animation process allows for improvisation. The content informs the process and the process informs the content. He resolves ideas in the moment through the process of animation.
"The drawings done for filming generally have to be done quickly. Speed in the drawing. Confidence of work…if not unconsciously, intuitively through the body, through the movement s of an arm.."
Kentridge from “Drawing the Passing Process", a documentary on the work of William Kentridge”.
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Some other animators who have utilized improvisation (in many different ways)
Norman McLaren
Steven Woloshen
Bruce Bickford
Florence Miaihle
Caroline Leaf
Len Lye
Bill Plympton
Marv Newland
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Improvisation in animation is not extensively written about. In documentation that pertains to the commercial animation industry the process is often acknowledged as a risk to valuable production time and risky in the sense of creating animation that is visually inconsistent. Documentation that investigates; history, aesthetics, small production houses and artists as animators, provides an acknowledgement and sense of value for improvised techniques.
As is the case with researching other creative arts practice, the question of “why do it?” is not the core reason behind the investigation. It is more a question of providing definitions of techniques that can be structured into the production process. Defining improvisation via the means of a comparative analysis houses these definitions within the frame of value.
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hmm
The act of creation contains improvisation. I'm trying to define it as a technique so as to structure it into the maticulously planned medium of animation.
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Definition of improvisation by director Frederico Fellini
"Improvisation is a mirage which tricks anyone who
does not know the technique needed in all creative work. Such a person thinks of inspiration as a kind of miracle, a hypnotic state that somehow settles all material problems. We aught to get rid of this legend of the inspired artist, living quite outside the world. The artist is responsible for what he does. He must use his own clear-sightedness to make something vigorous which respects the logic of the characters, the dynamic form of the film, and its technical demands. Improvisation becomes merely a certain form of sensitivity to the demands of the particular moment; for instance, when its a case of altering something at the last minute. In other words, it is concerned only with detail. The complete work must be carried out with mathematical precision."
Frederico Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, 1976, Eyre
Methuen Ltd. page 103
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I think Fellini is defining what Csikszentmihalyi calls 'flow'.
Csikszentmihalyi ‘s theory of 'flow' July 25 blog
'Flow' is contained within the process of improvisation, improvisation is contained within the process of creativity. The shin bone is connected to the knee bone.
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Now hear the word of the Lord.