Early Walt Disney Animation

What is Caricature?

Walt Disney changed the game of animation and cinema from the very start of his creations. Walt grasped a new concepts that character creators had never really accomplished before. Sure, creators before Walt entertained their crowd, but Walt knew that it was much more than simply entertaining...and this concept alone changed the way animation was viewed forever. Walt Disney gave his characters their own personalities that emotionally invested viewers to watch his animations. Rather than simply watching a show for an hour of enjoyment, entire families were obsessing over the characters that Walt and his team developed. Overtime, Walt Disney's empire grew. Caricature is the word that defines the lively, relatable, and lovable animations that Disney created. Creating character actions that were easily defined by the audience that involved imaginative situations based on people's real-life experiences are ways that Walt Disney emotionally attached his audience to his caricatures(Thomas, 1981)

"Although emotions are typically described as mental states, visible signs on the face and body play a critical role in their expression and communication. Facial expressions and bodily movements were first related to emotional states by Charles Darwin in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). It is in this context that influence of the earlier meaning of emotion, as movement or bodily motions, most clearly asserts itself, in the (now theorized) link to more modern perspectives" -Raymond Williams                                

Raymond Williams is a Welsh academic novelist that define the term emotion in that it can be both felt mentally and  shown physically. Most already understand this definition, but Williams has done extensive research on the different origins of the word emotion and different meanings it has had overtime. The early definitions of emotions, such as bodily motions and movement that Williams describes above are ones that relate to the way Disney draws emotion from his audience. Disney genuinely wanted his audience to be emotionally invested in his caricatures that they mentally and physically reacted to his animations.

What is more true: Caricature or Realism Caricature and realism are very much the same, in the sense that they represent what is real about a person (or thing). Oxford Dictionary defines realism as the quality or fact of representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life. Caricatures are characters that are brought to life through animation, expression, and emotion. Realism shows the quality of how caricatures are represented. While caricatures do perform very imaginative and unreal actions, (ex. talking duck or mouse) their personalities and emotions are very human-like and relatable by audiences in those situations.

Images found on Creative Commons

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Blog Four

                                                                                                        Image found on: Creative Commons    

Have you experienced the feeling of being left out or excluded from social activities by peers? Perhaps you were even verbally or physically abused by a peer? According to the HBSC study, 35% of young people reported bullying others at least once within a two month period in 2014. So, you can imagine how many people these 35% of bullies had affected over that two month period (Craig, W. & Harel Y.). Bullying can be physical, verbal and mental. Cyber bullying has become a growing issue as people hid behind computers to harass others, yet still affect victims just as much as they do in person, if not more. People that participate in bullying have left me wondering how many times they were bullied
themselves, before they chose to give in to the harassment. Stopbullying.gov defines bullying as "unwanted aggressive behavior among school age children that involves real or perceived power imbalanced". However, I believe bullying can go well passed the ages of school children. Hitting, yelling at, and even rejecting your peers are just a few ways of bullying. In their study, Craig and Harel found that  boys are bullied more than young girls in every country out of their 163,000 participants in 35 countries.  My reason for studying peer rejection along with other forms of bullying is my upcoming Capstone event dealing with adolescence. My Capstone project is a concert that allows adolescents (as well as adults now) to comfortably celebrate their religion with family and friends. Because people have different beliefs, some may feel uncomfortable voicing their beliefs (especially adolescents) out of fear of peer rejection. It is important for adults to teach children early that bullying of any kind for any reason is simply unacceptable. And I believe it is just as important for children to be comfortable enough to speak to an adult as bullying can leave one feeling powerless.

KidsHelpPhone is a place for kids and teens to call if being bullied: 1-800-668-6868
or click http://www.stopbullying.gov/get-help-now/index.html to learn more

Animation "Newbie"

Approaching the World of Animation

Favorite color: purple. Favorite animal: dog. Favorite food: chocolate. Favorite style of animation: undecided?

I typically decide pretty quickly what I favor about certain things. However, animation is a new topic that I’ve been introduced to in my college Animation and Communication class, and one that I’m not at all familiar working with. My focus in college so far has been more public relations related classes such as marketing classes, writing classes, research classes, etc.…Though I don’t know much about animation just yet, I really enjoy the animation created by Pixar. The realism of characters created by Pixar reflects that of an actual person so accurately that you can imagine yourself interacting with their characters.                                                            Video found on Youtube

 

This quick clip is one of Pixar's recent creations, Hotel Transylvania 2. The characters in this clip were created beautifully. Each movement of the body appears as an actual person moving in front of you. Of course parts are not completely realistic, but animations like this are entertaining because these characters are able to do things that people cannot. The movement of hair, blinking, and body motion are so accurate to a human that it's almost like your          watching real actors, because the detail is so stunning.

Pixar is known for its attention to detail in animation. This detail however, takes a great deal of time to perfect. For example, many Pixar movie lovers know the character Merida in Pixar’s Brave. She is highly recognized by her hair, even by those who haven’t seen the movie. Well, these luscious locks took Pixar 3 years of studying curls to perfect the thing that we adore most about this character's appearance.

It is the dedication of making a character so realistic that many love so much about Pixar movies. While I’ve yet to create my own animated characters, when going through the process, I’d love to understand more of the techniques that Pixar utilizes for their amazing creations.

Image Credit: http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/nov/15/pixar-brave-toy-story-4

Growing Social Skills in Adolescents

My Capstone project revolves around gathering a large group of adolescents that range from middle to high school ages. During my middle school and even high school years, I can remember from personal experience being nervous and somewhat apprehensive to attend events that involved a large group of peers. I'd imagine that today kids share these same feelings whether it be a school dance, party, sporting event, or in this case a religious concert. Socializing can be difficult for some adolescents as they attempt to find where and who they fit in with at this stage in life.

"Adolescence is characterized by the psychological changes that effect an individuals sense of identity, their self-consciousness and their relationship with others" -Sarah Jane Blakemore

People come from all different backgrounds with different experiences that are shaped during much their adolescent life. I believe by giving these adolescence the opportunity to celebrate their faith amongst peers in a safe and entertaining environment, such as a christian concert, you are giving them an opportunity to develop social skills that will carry on throughout future socializing opportunities in their lives. In comparison to children, studies show that adolescents,ranging from ages 14-19 are more sociable and form complex peer relationships. These studies also show that adolescents are more sensitive to acceptance and rejection during these years of life. (Blakemore, 2008)  I came across a quote during music research that I feel is a perfect explanation for the Music in the Mountains event.

“Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.” -John Denver

The experience that adolescents should take away from this concert is one that unites people with a common interest of faith, but positively educates one other from different backgrounds.

Symbolic Interactionism

Blog Two

                 George Herbert Mead developed the idea of Symbolic Interactionism. He was a member of the faculty at the University of Chicago as a social psychologist. A couple varieties of symbolic interactionism were developed by two students of different schools including the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa. No matter the favored variety of symbolic interactionism, both varieties believe reality is social and developed in interaction with others.

                “Most symbolic interactionists believe a physical reality does indeed exist independently of the individual’s social definitions, that social definitions do develop, at least in part, in relation to something ‘real’ or physical. Humans do not respond to this reality directly; however, they define the situation as it exists out there” (Burbank & Martins).

                I gained a better understanding after watching this video, which is simplistic yet relatable as it allowed me to apply this theory to my project. A student of Mead’s named Herbert Blumer of the University of Chicago, proposed three ideas that better explain symbolic interactionism.

1.       We act based on the meaning we’ve given something.

By relating this theory to my Capstone project, which is the Catholic concert, I was better able to understand the importance of making the concert successful for not only a majority of the group, but for every single person (if possible). Essentially this first idea is saying that if one of the youth or family members has an amazing time at the concert and relates the concert to happiness, warmth and wholesome fun, they will think about how enjoyable it was and are likely to attend the next one because of that positive experience.

2.       We give meaning to things based on our social interactions

For example, if someone at the concert had a negative experience they’d be less likely to attend the next concert, and may push this idea on others. This negative experience could range from having trouble getting tickets, a rude vendor at a food stand, or even dirty public facilities could turn someone’s experience bad. Just one negative experience could change a person’s entire perception from another’s perception of something.

3.       The meaning we give something is not permanent and it can change due to everyday life.

Blumer’s last idea is that our views and ideas about something can change no matter our positivity towards it before. If the person with a positive experience returns to the concert the following year, and have trouble getting tickets or come across a rude food vendor or uncleanly facility, they make now associate the event negatively. However, this depends on the person, as another may simply disregard these incidents and still view the concert as a positive experience.

This theory explains how people grow and develop their own personal views and opinions throughout life. For example, when a child returns home to his/ her family with views that stray from family beliefs, it is because the child has been exposed to new experiences and developed their own ideas through symbolic interactionism. I like this theory as it relates to my Capstone project, because as someone who is marketing events and reaching out to a large number of people, it is extremely important to make the experience positive for all youth and family. And if someone has a negative experience, I feel it is just as important to quickly respond with positivity to make the rest of the experience as enjoyable as possible.

The Beginning to Music in the Mountains

A Catholic Christian Celebration
Music in the Mountains is a Catholic music fundraising event for the youth in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and the states surrounding.This event is a perfect opportunity to test my public relations skills for my senior capstone project. The featured artist is Matt Mayer, a Christian music artist, songwriter and worship leader who was recently awarded "Songwriter of the Year" at the 2015 GMA Dove Awards. This event is hosted by St. James Catholic Church in Charles Town, West Virgina. St. James Catholic Church is the largest Catholic Church in the state of West Virginia, which is a great location for their anticipated 450 guests. Music in the Mountains is a fundraising event that will benefit youth mission trips for the upcoming summer. This is the first time the church is holding this event and it will be the largest event they've ever done. They have no social media presence and find difficult to connect with youth besides email and word of mouth. I intend to create multiple platforms for this event to reach out to youth and educate them about Music in the Mountains. This will allow me to attract youth and their families to the event with constant communication and provides the opportunity for engagement between youth and the church. The process of budgeting and scheduling are included as vital parts of my project.

VALS Survey Results

Write & publish a blog post about your results and how you feel they reflect or fail to reflect who you are as a person. 
After taking the VALS Survey, my results read: Your primary VALS type is Experiencer 
                                                                                   Your secondary type is an Achiever 
I believe that my primary result is spot on.  I absolutely consider myself someone who loves to experience new things that are very thrilling and interesting and I love to make things happen. My idea of interesting and exciting experiences that I have done are things such as traveling, doing physical activity, riding roller coasters, free falling, tubing,  tasting new foods, cliff jumping etc... My future exciting plans include skydiving, snorkeling, hang gliding, and more. 
I believe that my secondary type is more of a thinker rather than an achiever. I know that I am someone who really analyzes every possibility of something that I do or will do and how it may affect me later on. I love the feeling of achieving things, however I find that I often over-think things, which is the reason I feel that I am more of a thinker rather than an achiever. 

What have you learned about yourself through this exercise?

Through this exercise I have learned that I know how to distinguish what kind of person I am regardless of what an assessment says that I am. 

  How do you think this information may be used to appeal to you as a consumer?

 I think that this information would appeal to a consumer, because as a professional they would see that I am the type of person that loves taking on new experiences that are challenging and exciting. I really enjoy making and creating things that are useful and successful. Although the test says that I am an achiever, I also think that my thinking skills would be very appealing to a consumer, because I can use this skill to dissect every possibility that would create a successful .