Monday, October 17, 2011

Blog #6


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I'm quite a fan of animated television and movies, so it was a hard choice to pick two animated shows to compare and contrast. "South Park" is depicted in the first picture, during the superhero episode where all the kids dress up and "gain" super powers to fight evil around the city. This is one of my favorite episodes of this show in terms of writing. "One Piece" is depicted in the second picture. This picture is just a still of the characters from the beginning of the anime, showing Luffy's (in the straw hat) core pirate team. Obviously from looking at the two stills, the two series are animated completely different. However, both shows have essential elements to them that make the two stand out. "South Park" is more humor driven than "One Piece", so the show focuses less on the actual animation and more on the writing and content of the show. The slim-to-none shadowing in "South Park" is purposeful, though. The creators are most likely trying to take the attention from the animation and make the story and dialogue stand out more importantly. The way the characters are drawn gives the show a lighter mood, even when the scene is trying to be "serious". "One Piece" is heavily shadowed, trying to let the viewers "believe" the anime more. Shadows on each character gives a semblance of real life to the animated characters. Animes tend to pay close attention to detail with drawing, unlike "South Park", to set a more serious tone that lends to the story. Despite the differences in shadowing, both animated series use color to their advantage in some way. Characterizing always utilizes colors; Mysterion in the "South Park" episode is trying to be...mysterious, so he is shown in darker clothing and color. Meanwhile, Mint Berry Crunch is shown in ridiculous pinks and greens, making his character seem more pansy than the costume already does. Luffy in "One Piece" is dressed in a red shirt, with a yellow straw hat...bringing all the attention to Luffy (yellow) while making him seem even more courageous (red). With or without the use of shadow and color in an animated series makes all the difference; "South Park" and "One Piece" both use shadow and color in their own ways to steer the animations in the exact direction the creators want. The creators of both shows tweak these elements purposely to get the viewers attention consciously and subconsciously.

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