'Ghosts in the Machine: Experiencing Animation'

CONFIA is the International Conference on Illustration and Animation at the Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave, organized by School of Design under the auspices of the Masters in Illustration and Animation.This is CONFIA's fourth conference after previous editions in Ofir, Porto and Braga. It is intended to be a pivotal moment in the contemporary discussion of these areas, which have a long tradition and, at the same time, are pioneers in technological innovation. We intend to broadly explore the multidisciplinary space that includes illustration and the animated image, from the construction of the narrative to character development, from art theory to critical reflection on the objects that populate the market and the industry.

PREFACE “These three fields require a high degree of collaboration with artists, producers, story editors, directors, programmers, and any number of other people in both the executive and creative ends of the business.This is most emphatically true for animation and games. Depending on the project, you will receive notes and feedback from any variety of people. In animation, from story editor, producers, more producers, the producer’s pet sitter, maybe a toy executive—whoever is allowed to have a say. In comics, primarily the editor, but your artist must feel that he or she is an integral part of a team, not a hired hand. In games, you might get feedback from anyone on the design team—publisher, producer, designers, programmers, animators, and so on.” Christy Marx, in the preface of her book Writing for Animation, Comics and Games, pg. xix. We open our book of proceedings with the words of Christy Marx, mainly because CONFIA 2013 - International Conference on Illustration and Animation aims to be synonymous with plurality, multiplicity and interdisciplinarity. Our teamwork and above all our passion are ever present in CONFIA’s areas of focus: illustration and animation. We started with the need to build critical mass around the subjects we research and teach in our educational institution - graphic design, illustration and animation in graduate and postgraduate programs - and today, we are proud to present another edition of CONFIA. It is very important that this opportunity serve as a moment for reflection and questioning, as it is not possible to understand illustration and animation in a contemporary world without thinking of the strong growth experienced by both fields in recent years. Their ability to adapt everyday to new visual languages, mainly due to the constant pressure exerted by constant technological developments, is also a key factor. Both illustration and animation have been showing strong signs of being autonomous, inside the broader areas of art and technology. We therefore believe that these two collaborative subjects have shown that there is a wide space for discussion and a vast field for research practice. Indeed, this international conference represents a meeting point for researchers from around the world, with speakers from all continents joining us this year. As we write these words, we are already certain that the second edition of CONFIA will be successful for two reasons: first, the high quality of the papers we received, and second, the multiplicity of activities carried out by the authors in the present edition. The conference features a wide range of specialists, lecturers, researchers and illustration and animation artists, who are often active in both theory and practice, which makes the debate and the quality of proposals richer. We go from theory to practice and then return to theory. This translates into the 45 selected papers in this publication, covering a variety of broad subjects such as drawing/illustration, animation and art theory. The content discusses specific areas of knowledge including traditional drawing, contemporary drawing, graphic illustration, information graphics, editorial illustration, illustration for children, character design, comics & graphic novels, scientific Illustration, 2D and 3D animation, animation for video games, character animation, animation for virtual and augmented reality, animation in interactive media, motion graphics, sound and animation, linear storytelling, creative writing, visual culture, interactive storytelling, narrative and non-narrative animation illustration and animation pedagogy and authorship in animation and illustration. In such a diverse context, we are pleased to have as guest keynote speakers Professor Paul Wells of Loughborough University, director of the Animation Academy, and Professor Martin Salisbury of Anglia Ruskin University, with extensive research experience in animation and illustration, respectively - which strengthens the link between research and practice in the resulting academic debate. So with the mission of discussing these issues, challenges, opportunities and trends related to everything from tradition to the constant new developments and applications, the overall objectives for the conference were achieved and now lie in the readers’ hands: to present new ideas, new technological developments that fulfill the requirements of the market and practical, state-of-the-art solutions; to provide guidance for further research and development; and to strengthen the bridge between research and practice. Welcome to CONFIA 2013 Paula Tavares and Pedro Mota Teixeira Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal

CONFIA is the International Conference on Illustration and Animation at the Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave, organized by School of Design under the auspices of the Masters in Illustration and Animation.This is CONFIA's fourth conference after previous editions in Ofir, Porto and Braga. It is intended to be a pivotal moment in the contemporary discussion of these areas, which have a long tradition and, at the same time, are pioneers in technological innovation. We intend to broadly explore the multidisciplinary space that includes illustration and the animated image, from the construction of the narrative to character development, from art theory to critical reflection on the objects that populate the market and the industry.

CONFIA 2017: 5th International Conference on Ilustration & Animation, 2017

Animation theorist Vivian Sobchack expresses her predilection for animated films that “visibly labor”, and describes 3D animations as “effortless” in appearance [1]. While many theorists may lack the practical experience of creating animation, essential knowledge of the nature of labour in 3D animation is gained through first-hand practice alone. Without this knowledge, much creative work in 3D animation is misconstrued as mere automation. Using my experience as an animator, actor, and educator, I engage in a self-reflective analysis to interrogate how evidence of an animator’s individual contributions can be detected in 3D animation. I employ the metaphor of “the artist’s/animator’s hand” as a means to understand the nature of this involvement. I establish a set of parameters for non-practitioners to employ when trying to locate the contributions of individual animators within 3D animation. With these tools, animation theorists will have a practice-informed lens by which to better understand the act of animating through 3D software, as well as strategies for locating individual animators’ contribution in 3D animation.

5th CONFIA International Conference on illustration and Animation Proceedings, 2017

Arianna Dagnino in her essay Transcultural Literature and Contemporary World Literature points out that “with the denationalizing wave of globalization, even national literatures are under pressure to find new arrangements of form and content to adapt to a changed cultural and social paradigm. In other words, a mutation is under way within the global acumen of letters where new notions of belonging, as well as definitions of selfhood and identity are externalized through new creative artistic and literary processes. Within this emerging social, cultural, and literary scenario, scholars feel the urge to identify new relevant literary paradigms, especially when dealing with the so-called "New Literatures in English" represented by the works of, say, Zadie Smith, Hanif Kureishi, Kamila Shamsie, Michael Ondaatje, or Joy Nozomi Kogawa” or recently through Anime with its heavy borrowing of motifs from western canonised literature and its gradual popularity as an emerging form of literary creativity. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, anime is "a style of animation originating in Japan that is characterized by stark colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic themes." While Oxford Dictionary dictates anime as "A style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children", the Urban Dictionary explains anime as "a style of animation that originated and is still heavily centered in Japan." However like any other art form, confining this art within just few words would be highly unjust. Still to provide a more technical approach, we can look forward to animenewsnetowrk.com's definition of anime, which perhaps shed more light on this complicated matter. According to them anime is "Japanese word for cartoon and animation. In Japan, "anime" refers to any and all animation or cartoon - regardless of the genre, style, or nation of origin. Outside of Japan the word "anime" has come to refer specifically to animation of Japanese origins, or animation of a particular style..." The vast world of anime has its roots embedded very deep inside light novels, manga, visual novels, games and much more, which altogether known as the ‘otaku culture’ in Japan. Japan’s existence as an island civilization, far separated geographically from the mainland of Asia has led to the development of its own distinct culture and Anime is a reflection of Japan’s own cultural heritage; far distinct from its pan-Asian counterpart. It can be said that anime is a high quality art form, a much ignored one though. But it is an art form of purest quality which have protected itself from the cultural imperialism and proved itself truthful to regional originality for almost a century. The growth and popularity of anime was quite evident since its origin. Anime first surfaced as propaganda feature films during World War II, later it fully bloomed in the hands of 'Godfather of Anime' Osamu Tezuka. Just like Walt Disney's works, it made strong appeal to children. However later the plots and arts became more oriented towards the young-adults too. Certainly it paved anime's way towards a constant growth. As researchomatic.com states “... However, the familiarity of anime and manga is not restricted to the adolescents; but, it has been successful in attracting adults over a period of time...” Another reason for its growth could be its intricate character detailing and building, to which the audience can easily relate themselves and emphasize. One must not ignore the metaphysical aspects of anime too, as a Quora user Sawyer Cotherman points out “People watching a live-action show relate the show's universal metaphysics more to our own universe (reality). In an animation, we do not relate the metaphysical laws in its universe to our own as much and we are more ready to accept what is posited, therefore, we may concentrate on the other aspects which an animation presents: the relationships which characters have between one another, the human virtues, justice, ambition, and other human qualities of life." And perhaps this strong harmony of metaphysics and escapism which has provided anime this alluring enigma throughout the ages. Though it is true that anime and serious literature have always been hostile towards each other, however with the coming of the new century new hope arises as more liberal minds are considering different arts as part of literature, such as music and painitings. One can hope in near future anime shall be considered as a serious art form too. To state that fact the Otaku stereotype was a prevalent theme in almost every literary work from the literature review. While very little of the western canonized literature has been adapted into anime, yet some of the exceptional and remarkable works are, Howl's Moving Castle, Romeo × Juliet, Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple, The Story of Cinderella, Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli, The Secret World of Arrietty , Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo , World Masterpiece Theater, Tales from Earthsea, Nils no Fushigi na Tabi, Blast of Tempest, Takarajima, Tokyo Godfathers, Pandora Hearts or Miyuki-chan in Wonderland. However, it seems that the negativity toward Otaku culture progressively lessened as the articles approached modern times. There is still a slight negative stigma to anime, despite attempts to educate people on the nature of anime, and people still believe anime to be a violent art form (Borrelli, 2002). Acceptance of Otaku culture and the anime wave has become more acceptable, however, as more scholarly research is conducted and more libraries stock anime (Halsall, 2010).” (Samantha Nicole Inëz Chambers, Anime: From Cult Following to Pop Culture Phenomenon).

Animation studies, 2009