Arts & Technology Capstone Project

This video was part of a larger presentation. Similar characters and props were presented with various mediums in short 3-minute segments. The project was an exploration of how a medium might intrinsically affect the outcome of circumstances, and how worlds existing within different mediums might affect one another. I was responsible for the following segment:

Artist Statement

This animation explores the influence of the cartoon world on its characters. How might that world affect how a story gets told, and how might people within that world act? There are many stiles and subjects presented in cartoons and animations, however the medium itself both connects them and sets them apart from other mediums. In my work, I have tried to find the unique ways that the cartoon medium might influence the outcome of a story and the interaction of the characters.

One of the most interesting aspects of the cartoon world is that the laws of physics don't apply. Nothing has weight unless it is so animated. People can carry objects much larger than themselves. Their very physique is not restricted to normal proportions, and their tolerance for pain can be extremely high. With these departures from normal expectations, I see a natural loss of the more serious realities of life in the animated medium. Because of this, I have made no use of suspense in my cartoon. The plot is developed and resolved within 2 1/2 minutes. It ends with a mishap that would be devastating if experienced in any other medium. I was explaining to my brother that the story ends with a bomb exploding. He asked, "...And then everybody dies?" To which I replied, "Yes, and there's blood everywhere," after which I was brought to think about the contrast between what one might expect in reality, and what is acceptable in a cartoon.

Although it has the apparent characteristics fo a Flash-animated web-cartoon, such as characters being animated through the movement of rigid shapes, and sometimes lacking a significant amount of animation detail, my cartoon is intended to be a representation of the type of cartoon you might expect to see on TV. The most challenging part of this project was to work toward the intended result with the limited time and resources I had, as well as discovering both the strenths and the limitations of Flash as an animation tool.

Jeremiah Darais