I'm almost convinced that there was some kind of pro-3D conspiracy to churn out well animated but poorly premised 2D works...
I don't think you're paranoid. I think that very likely, and have entertained the notion myself in the past. From what I've heard, it's mostly the fault of the bureaucratic and executive branches taking over the creative process and doing what they think will work best from a marketing standpoint, taking the creative decisions away from the people who actually know what they're doing. That's a death sentence right there.
I think the Western sentiment is more along the lines of 'animation is fun fluff for kids' that will drive it down rather than any sort of technical consideration, because it so drastically limits both the pool of possible source material and the number of people interested in seeing it. Anime may be going a little way to breaking this mindset, but it seems to be changing the attitude, instead, to 'traditional western style animation is fun fluff for kids; live action, CGI, and anime can be for anyone.' Even on the projects I've worked on and heard about, the general philosophy is that if you want people to take you seriously, you have to look like anime.
Sure, there are effects that you can do now in live action that used to be the realm of the animated, but there are artistic considerations you have to take into account. People still like artistic interpretations of reality as well as photography – maybe more than ever, if you look at advertising and suchlike. I've noticed (and I may be entirely wong in my perception) an increase in graphic design-style ads, especially fashion-related ones. Is this because the ideal beauty is now so unattainable in actual physical form that they have to resort to drawings, which can look like anything, and can be idealised far beyond the limits of anatomy? Or is it because people just like drawings? Anyway, it's graphic stylings that will be the saviour of 2D ... we probably won't see any more movies with the realism of Pocahontas but they may come back in a flatter, edgier style that can't be duplicated in live action or 3D.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-05-01 11:37 pm (UTC)I don't think you're paranoid. I think that very likely, and have entertained the notion myself in the past. From what I've heard, it's mostly the fault of the bureaucratic and executive branches taking over the creative process and doing what they think will work best from a marketing standpoint, taking the creative decisions away from the people who actually know what they're doing. That's a death sentence right there.
I think the Western sentiment is more along the lines of 'animation is fun fluff for kids' that will drive it down rather than any sort of technical consideration, because it so drastically limits both the pool of possible source material and the number of people interested in seeing it. Anime may be going a little way to breaking this mindset, but it seems to be changing the attitude, instead, to 'traditional western style animation is fun fluff for kids; live action, CGI, and anime can be for anyone.' Even on the projects I've worked on and heard about, the general philosophy is that if you want people to take you seriously, you have to look like anime.
Sure, there are effects that you can do now in live action that used to be the realm of the animated, but there are artistic considerations you have to take into account. People still like artistic interpretations of reality as well as photography – maybe more than ever, if you look at advertising and suchlike. I've noticed (and I may be entirely wong in my perception) an increase in graphic design-style ads, especially fashion-related ones. Is this because the ideal beauty is now so unattainable in actual physical form that they have to resort to drawings, which can look like anything, and can be idealised far beyond the limits of anatomy? Or is it because people just like drawings? Anyway, it's graphic stylings that will be the saviour of 2D ... we probably won't see any more movies with the realism of Pocahontas but they may come back in a flatter, edgier style that can't be duplicated in live action or 3D.