Study Task 4 - Choosing a Research Question

My chosen research question is: How are characters' appearances perceived in animation?

This will have the theme of 'society' as I will consider how people may perceive characters' appearances depending on gender (gender of the observer and gender of the character), desires (e.g. erotic), races (e.g. stereotypes), how the personality of the character corresponds with their appearance and art style. The main aspect specified in this question will be character.

I can obviously explore a range of animation (cartoons, films, games, etc.) and look into online articles and books from the library discussing the appearance or art styles of different characters. Possible books I can use are:

- Jayne Pilling (1992) 'Women and Animation: a compendium'
- Amy Davis (2007) 'Good Girls and Wicked Witches: women is Disney's feature animation'
- Mike Madrid (2009) 'The Supergirls: fashion, feminism and fantasy, and the history of comic book heroines'
- Richard Williams (2009) 'The Animator's Survival Kit'
- Julius Wiedemann (2004) 'Animation now!'


Animations I can use that would relate to my question are Disney films such as Cinderella, Western Cartoons and Japanese Animations which show varieties of male and female forms. I can also find articles concerning male and female characters concerning their roles, appeal, etc.

Study Task 1 - Triangulation Exercise

L Mulvey is a feminist, avant-garde film maker (with her husband Peter Wollen), who teaches and writes about film/media studies and is best known for her essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' (Link: Mulvey, L. (1975) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'). Mulvey wrote this essay in the 70s, influenced by the women's rights movement. The essay argues that women in film are portrayed as objects for sexual appeal or desire while men are portrayed as the main protagonist for "advancing the story" and "making things happen" (Mulvey L. (1975) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', pg 20). Mulvey calls this the 'male gaze', i.e. a male protagonist gives the male audience a sense of authority and the females provide the "erotic look".

J Storey's essay 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' (Link: Storey, J. (2008) 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction') uses many references to Mulvey's essay ('L Mulvey Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', 'Cine-psychoanalysis', pg 81). Storey adheres and build upon Mulvey's opinion of the 'male gaze' confirming scopophilia (using the image of a person for sexual pleasure) is sexually objectifying, using the same term Mulvey uses to describe women in film as "to-be-looked-at-ness" (Mulvey L. (1975) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', pg 19) while "men look" (Storey J. (2008) 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture', pg 82).

Recent discussions of sexualisation and feminist opinions that I have found question/explain the reasons behind the sexual objectification of women by arguing that men are also objectified.

In a recent video entitled 'Women On YouTube (THE TRUTH)', where women talk about being objectified, threatened and explain how "difficult" it is to be a woman on YouTube, I only discovered through reviews which question the video. One review made by a female explains that many of the points the women make in the video also apply to men. She makes a point that the women in the video complain about being sexualised when they freely sexualise themselves if you look at their videos, one even had a photoshoot for Playboy magazine (Shoe0nHead (2016) 'being a woman on youtube').

Another video which has women ask men questions is also criticised. One question in the video in particular asks why men don't like rom coms. In response, Youtuber Dr Shaym (Dr Shaym (2016) '36 STUPID FEMINIST QUESTIONS ANSWERED'), says men don't like rom coms or most romance films in general for the same reason women don't like over sexualised female characters. He explains how most romance films in general "cause women to have unrealistic expectations of men in what love should be like". This is just as objectifying to men as previously explained by Mulvey regarding the objectification of women in film. As Dr Shaym says in his video men are the ones perceived as "selfish" or misogynists when they show their desires of women. Even when men show their emotions this is still criticised because of the expectation that they should be 'real men'. However women easily attract sympathy when they show their emotions and wouldn't be called "selfish" or misandrists (hateful against men).

The document 'Stars' (Link: Dyer, R. (1998) 'Stars') contains mixed opinions with R Dyers discussing the possible evidence of  'female gaze' in which males are sexualised and objectified in films prior to Mulvey's claims. This document therefore questions the evidence that films only contain 'male gaze'. It explains that the 'male body' is repeatedly used within films (Dyer, R. (1998) 'Stars', 'Stars and spectators', pg 187). One example is a rom com film called 'Picnic' (1955) in which Steven Cohan describes how the male actor William Holden's body is eroticised in the film. He also tells us how Holden's character "continually removes his shirt to reveal an athletic physique" and how the female actors "each register their erotic recognition of the objectified male body". Films such as this would counteract Mulvey's claim of the 'male gaze' only existing within films since 'Picnic' existed before her essay's publication. However, as said by Cohan, Holden's objectification is apparently counteracted by authenticating 'his masculinity' (Dyer, R. (1998) 'Stars', 'Stars and spectators', pg 188). R Dyer does explain in his opinion that the 'male pin-ups' do not suggest them as erotic objects. I hardly believe this as 'counteracting' since this just perceives him as a manly hunk for the 'female gaze' and shows Dr Shaym's point why most men don't like romance films. I also know of many recent female characters who besides their sexualised appearance are shown to be strong and/or dependable characters within their series, yet they are perceived as inappropriate for being there for the 'male gaze'. For example, the female character Revy from the anime series 'Black Lagoon' (2002) looks very much like Lara Croft. Just as much as Lara she is very dependable and has been shown to be the one to save the damsels in distress (i.e. the guy characters, which almost shows the females to have a sense of authority as most of the strongest characters in the series are women) but she is extremely violent compared to Lara. In contrast the anime series 'Free!' (2013) is a swimming anime which shows a group of shirtless teenage boys with slim toned bodies, yet I don't hear any criticisms about the 'female gaze' when it is clearly there. The supposed 'counteracting' described in this document with R Dyers still seems conditional depending on the gender. Even by R Dyers opinion I don't see how 'male pin-ups' aren't seen as erotic since such pin-ups are there for scopophilic purposes.

To summarise, as far as I analyse it Storey's opinions very much agree with Mulvey's, especially since he uses many references to her essay. Storey builds upon Mulvey's arguments that women in film are victims of 'male gaze' which he describes as scopophilia and therefore sexually objectify the image of women in film. He even uses Mulvey's own term of "to-be-looked-at-ness" and he describes the men as the ones who look (active male and passive female). The opinions in the document 'Stars', including R Dyers and Steven Cohan, are mixed as they talk about the existence of the 'female gaze' but try to prove that this somehow isn't as severe as the 'male gaze', as if to satisfy Mulvey's claims. The use of the rom com film 'Picnic' practically contradicts Mulvey's opinion who claims she wants to make a change within the film industry. In fact other films in the 50s like Disney's Cinderella portrays a female who is the main protagonist for "advancing the story" and "making things happen". These are descriptions Mulvey claimed were only exclusive to male main protagonists in films yet the Prince in Cinderella was the object of desire, the charming prince women dream of meeting. This shows the point made in Dr Shaym's video about how unfair it is to show what women expect of men, plus both Cinderella and the Prince are only attracted to each others' looks based on one night together. It makes it feel like 'male gaze' started to only exist in film when feminism started to exist and that these documents don't look to consider many possible films which contain 'female gaze'. Their arguments are based on their own opinion and are not evidence driven, because they are not looking at how it affects both genders.

What Mulvey and Storey explain is true, there is no denying that 'male gaze' exists even till this day. However, the document 'Stars' shows that 'female gaze' also exists prior to Mulvey's claims. As Shoe0nHead points out, there are many bad and objectifying things towards women which can also apply to men. Perhaps the real problem isn't whether or not 'male gaze' and 'female gaze' exist but society's interpretation. How would we feel about being objectified? Is it more embarrassing for women and why?

Study Task 4 - Triangulating and Harvard Referencing

In the following I am to produce short pieces of academic writing based on the following manifestos:
- 'First Things First Manifesto' by Ken Garland
- 'First Things First Manifesto 2000' by Adbusters
- 'Fuck Committees' by Tibor Kalman


Triangulating Manifestos:

Within the first two Manifestos by Ken Garland and Adbusters they both start off with rather similar introductions. Both addressing the "undersigned" as graphic designers, besides Garland also addresses photographers and students whereas Adbusters addresses art directors and visual communicator. They both mention how advertising has been presented the undersigned as "the most lucrative, effective and desirable means" of using their talents. Both show lists of the menial products (e.g. cat food, detergent, toothpaste, lotion... etc.) with which they claim "skill and imagination" are wasted on. With all three Manifestos they mention at least some type of improtance towards culture, that it is (one out of many listed) worthwhile for the undersigned to use their skills for and support ("Urgently require" their "expertise and help").


Analysis of an animation:

Relating to the first Manifesto by Ken Garland I have identified an animation which makes his point of designers flogging "their skill and imagination" for the selling of products. The animation I identify is "Coca Cola Animted Short 2015", it shows incredible amounts of animation capturing the movements of the interactions with an owner and his dog. How the dog sees the world through its' eyes provide some wacky and imaginative animations (e.g. chasing his tail and chasing squirrels). Yet all this effort is used for promoting a sugery fizzy drink. If Garland means what he said how he would react to such an animation selling a drink which has proven not to be health.


Evaluation on 'First Things First Manifesto 2000" by Adbusters:
The introduction does well to address a range of artists/designers relevant to the argument the Manifesto makes. Telling us at the beginning about artists/designers raised to believe their their skills are much needed for advertisement suggests some criticism. Then later on in the text it confirms that it's being negative through the list of menial products and stating that "there are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills" suggested that the product advertisements mentioned are not worthy of their "problem-solving skills".


Summary of "First Things First" by ken Garland:

We undersigned (graphic designers, photographers and students) are raised to believe advertising is a lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talent. Publications bombard us with such belief, congratulating skilll and imagination wasted on selling cat food, detergent, toothpaste, lotion... etc.

Great time and effort is wasted on trivial advertisement purposes with no contribution to national prosperity.

With increase to the number of general public we hav reached a point where the scream of consumer selling is just sheer noise. We believe in other thing worthy of our skill. Signs for streets and bildings, books and periodicals, industrial photography, educational aids... etc. and any media we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awerness of the owls.

We do not promote a ban on high pressure consumer advertising (not possible). We propose a change of priorities to favor useful and lasting forms of communication. Our hope is that society grow tired of gimmicks, such as merchants, and that our skill be used for worthwhile purposes. Keeping this in mind, we propose to share and make our experience and opinions available to colleagues, students and others who show interest.

COP 1 Lecture 4: The History of Type

Written words endure while spoken words disappear.

Type is the form with language is represented in (i.e. words, letters and symbols).

Typography is the process of creating type in a specific style or appearance. In a form which will appeal to most people and would last for a long time.

Using symbols as a form of recording information has been confirmed to originate from Mesopotamia. The form of early writing started of using pictograms which were used to communicate basic information. This changed through the years into the form of a script.

Mesopotamia pictograms

Mesopotamia, origins of writing

For a language to be established in any part of the world by a group of people there must be an agreement that a word or letter will stand for something.

The first alphabet therefore was the Greek alphabet developed by the Phoenicians. Futher development of the Greek created Latin which is a widely used alphabet today.

Latin

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

COP 1 Lecture 9: Modernism

Kaiserpanorama (1883) - a form of stereoscopic entertainment
in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Modernism is created through artist's and/or designer's intuitive responses. Modern suggests novelty and improvement.

As a result of Modernity a range of ideas and styles were created.

Anti-historicism sees no need to look back towards older styles, rather look towards aesthetic futurism in architecture. Styles with defy traditions and historicism.

Historicism - show regard for past styles.

Chronophotographic gun (1882) - an antique photographic technique from the Victorian era.

'Truth to material' is a principle of modern architecture which dictates that material must be used appropriately for simple geometric forms.

'Form follows function' is a concept relating to modernist architecture and industrial design of the 20th century. It follows the rule that an object or building must be shaped appropriately for it's function or purpose.

The Bauhaus (1919 to 1933) - school of art and design founded by German architect
Walter Gropius

Internationalism - supporting a greater political or economic cooperation among nations and peoples.
Within art this is interpreted as designing a language that can be easily understood on an international level.

Harry Beck, London Underground Map 1933

COP 1 Lecture 14: Semiotics

Semiotics - the 'science' pf studying signs

Just like how we discover meaning behind every language by understanding the written and spoken material we can also find meaning within cultural practices (if we perceive culture the same way be do language).

In order to make sense of cultural artefacts we need to learn and understand their codes. That codes rely on shared knowledge.











Signs are made up of two parts, the signifier and signified. Signifier is a sound, word or image that suggests the sign and the signified is the mental concept of that sign.
For example: Sound of a dog (signifier) + Mental concept of a dog (signified) = Dog (sign)
There is no logic behind the relationship between the signifier and the signified in language.

Denotation - basic understanding behind the meaning of a word through the feelings or ideas that word suggests. For example: Dog = animal etc.

Connotation - ideas or feelings the word associates with in addition to its' actual meaning.
For example: Dog = loyal pet etc.

The meaning of a sign isn't determined by the object but by the people who identify them.
Therefore the meaning of a sign can change.

Dog = animal, canine, furry, four legged, noisy, pet, playful, loyal, loving, etc.

COP1 Lecture 11: The Designer as Social Critic

The techniques of advertising have persistently been shown as lucrative, effective and a desirable use of us graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators' talents.

Encouraged towards this direction, the skills and imagination of designers are applied to sell products such as designer coffee, detergents, hair gel, sneakers etc. This has now become what graphic designers do and how the world perceives design.

There are those designers whose efforts are devoted towards advertising, marketing and brand developing. In turn they are supporting commercial messages that are changing the way consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact.

There are many other issues more worthy of our attention and problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crisis demand our attention. Cultural interventions, books, exhibitions, films, charitable causes etc. also require our help and expertise.

We propose that more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication are prioritised over product marketing. Consumerism must be challenged by other perspectives expressed through the visual languages and resources of design.

COP 1 Lecture 5: What is Research?

Research is a process of finding facts and using what is already known which will lead to ideas.
Collecting information from  a range of sources such as books, journals and the internet. Making experiments or talking to people and the analysis of this information is another method. Research is finding out by asking the  questions 'How?', 'Why?' and 'What if?'.

The following show proof of creative practice during researching:
- Knowledge: The Learner remembers or recognises information.
- Analysis: The Learner separates information into essential parts.
- Comprehension: The Learner presents information into a different form, format or media.
- Application: The Learner solves problems by using appropriate knowledge and concepts.
- Evaluation: The Learner makes quantitative and qualitative judgements relating to established criteria
- Synthesis: The Learner solves problems by combining information through original and creative ideas.

"Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there." - An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth - Bruce Mau design In. 2006

"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought."
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Types of research:

- Primary Research: developed and collected for a specific end use. Involves the collection of data that does not yet exist.
- Secondary Research: data that has already been collected, not for the purpose of the current study. Analysis of research that has been collected at an earlier time.
- Quantitative Research: uses facts figures and measurements. Produces data ready for analysis. Creates numerical data, or data that can be converted into numbers. The process of gathering and analysing  measurable data. It relies on statistical analysis.
- Qualitative Research: tries to understand people's beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behaviour and interactions. Creates non-numerical data. Interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis and participant observation are used to gain Qualitative Research. It's information that is not statistical, rather gives an idea about perceptions or views.