Animation Movies...where To?
By Vlad Balan, Sat Dec 10th

If we take a look at the recent releases, there is no majormovie based on 2D animation. Is 2D animation worn out, or justnot commercial enough? Even if those classic animations arealways a pleasure to watch, you have to admit that the modernanimation is more attractive. They are more real, and peopleseem to love that. If we take a look at the box office, we see 2animation in top 10 (Shrek 2 and Finding Nemo) with 1,7billion dollars revenue. That is amazing. And for both moviesCGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) was used.

So, why do studios use CGI, and why do we like it so much? Itend to say, that from the film fan's point of view, it's thestory that makes the movie so attractive, because, anytime Iwould like to see a movie like Shrek, with real actors, scenes,and other real stuff. But it's the story that does all thetrick. From the creators' point of view, it is cheaper. Because,with today's special effects, anything is possible with realactors, and they can't deny that. But, like I said, it's cheaperthan physical methods, such as constructing elaborate miniaturesfor effects shots or hiring a great deal of extras for crowdscenes, and because it allows the creation of images that wouldnot be feasible using any other method. It can also allow asingle artist to produce content without the use of actors orother contributors to the project.

The first studio to release a fully computer-generated featurefilm was Pixar, with their Toy Story. The movie was a major boxoffice hit, generating $360,000,000. Pixar is also "responsible"with other successful animation movies, such as Finding Nemo, ABug's

Life or The Incredibles. The other real competitor forPixar is DreamWorks SKG, with Shrek, Shrek 2(this is theanimation that generated the largest income for an animationmovie, over 880 million dollars), Antz or Chicken Run.

Now that I mentioned Chicken Run, this is a very interestinganimation, because it's not like the other. For this movieClaymation was used. What exactly is Claymation? Well, in clayanimation, each object is sculpted in clay or a similarlypliable material such as plasticine, usually around an armature.As in other forms of object animation, the object is arranged onthe set, a shot is taken and the object or character is thenmoved very slightly by hand. Another shot is taken and theobject moved slightly again. To achieve the best results, aconsistent shooting environment is needed to maintain theillusion of continuity. This means paying special attention tomaintaining consistent lighting and object placement. Even ifChicken Run was not a huge hit, DreamWorks used Claymationagain, for the remake of Wallace and Gromit.

So, no matter what techniques the creators use, it seems thatthe 2D animation days are gone and computer-animated moviesbecome more real with every release, breaking revenue records.

About the author:Vlad Balan is the owner of www.contentking.info/itsanimated awebsite for all animation enthusiats. Here you can findthe latest news in animation industry, previews and reviews foranimation movies, hot interviews and products.