In this blog post, I will research Craig Bartlett - the creator of 'Hey Arnold'. I decided to look at this cartoon because it is a successful show for kids and it does have really interesting-looking characters.
Firstly, I wanted to touch on Bartlett's background as an animator. He has been working in Nickelodeon animation for over 26 years and right now he is working on two projects: 'Ready Jet Go' and 'Dinosaur Train' (Bartlett, 2021). This information shows me that Craig Bartlett is a really experienced animator. Especially the time he spent in Nickelodeon. Nick is a great studio that creates a whole lot of animations and it is one of the studios that all of the animators would want to work in.
The show Bartlett created for Nickelodeon is 'Hey Arnold' and it is the show I have personally watched when I was a child.
'Hey Arnold!' is a show with many interesting characters, I like to look at the main character and think about the imagination the creator had to have to come up with his head shape and the hair. It is truly incredible for me. This is the sort of flexibility I am trying to achieve and I think that looking at artists and understanding their thought process will help me become a better artist.
I knew that it was an animated series a long time ago but I was not aware of the movies. In a video with The A.V. Club (2017) Bartlett mentions that after 100 episodes, Nickelodeon wanted this to become a full-length movie. Apparently the first movie did not receive as much attention as Paramount expected (it was supposed to compete with 'Lilo and Stich'), therefore Paramount did not agree on renewing the movie for the sequel (Alexander, 2017). I have not personally seen the movie, but it does sound a little bit ridiculous for me that a movie that was a continuation of a show was supposed to compete with Disney's feature film. I think the expectations for the film were simply unrealistic. The movie from 2002 ended on a cliffhanger because the creator thought there would be a chance to address all of the unfinished matters. It took over a decade do create a sequel, since it came out in 2017. I think personally that it is a good think that the sequel did not come out immediately because that gave the people the reason to se their imagination and create their own theories. I think it makes the fans of the movie be even more invested in the film than if they had answers right away.
Also I do think that releasing the movie in 2002 was unfortunate because 'Lilo and Stich' came out the same year. However at that time big feature films were released every year and if it came out a year earlier it would be competing with 'Monsters.Inc' (from Pixar) and if it came out a year later it would have to compete with 'Finding Nemo' (from Disney and Pixar). I personally just think that it should not be even compared with those films because it is like for instance 'Phineas and Ferb' feature films. They are fun but they are created for people that watched the show. Bartlett himself thinks that it should have been made-for-TV movie rather than a movie for cinemas (Alexander, 2017). I personally think that he is right. There are more movies like this and they are successful.
In my project I am not really creating a cartoon that would be strictly a content for children, even though that interests me, but I am portraying the night. I am generally aware that it is tough to get that real feel of darkness when creating an animation because if everything was dark, it would be impossible to see the characters. In the theme song for 'Hey Arnold!' there is an animation that is showing action happening at night.
I personally really like the idea of a flashlight and it does not have to be a flashlight, it could be a candle or a lantern or any sort of a light source that would possibly create something to contrast the darkness. This would help to really create the feel of the night. I like how it is done in this cartoon opening. There is contrast and it is easy to realize that it all is happening at night or in the evening. I think this is a good idea and I can definitely use that in my project work.
At 0:30 in the video there is an action when characters are walking to the front, while facing front as well. It is generally a very difficult thing to animate traditionally. I reviewed this piece of the video a few times to understand how it is done so it works well with the characters' bodies. It needed to be anatomically correct so it doesn't create confusion. I decided to really study the movement to understand it. I have created a sketch creating how the body moves when the character is walking while facing the front.
This is a movement study I have created to understand this particular motion. I am not sure if I will use it in this project in particular, but I will use it apparently in my career. This is a part of me learning how to make a character real, not only moving. I think studying movement in this way and observing how other creators approached it so it looks good is definitely something that will help me evolve. I am happy with what I have learned while doing this research.
This research showed me a few things. I like hot Bartlett was able to finish his idea after over a decade. It shows how an idea that was born in a creator's mind never really dies. It also shows how passionate he was about the project and about addressing all the questions that appeared during after the first film. I think it really highlights how important it is to feel passionate about something that a person is creating. That passion can really add to the project and make it matter. I also looked at a way of approaching the night and creating contrast between the light and the darkness, I think this is very important for my project, therefore I am very happy I have learned something new. I have also studied a particular movement which is just a way of generally improving my animation skills and understanding motion. It may not be used in my animation this term, however I will try to incorporate it when storyboarding, but I will use it in the future for sure, so the things I learn are not wasted ever. Everything I learn and study is mine, so it is a way of getting better at something I want to master.
The A.V. Club (2017) Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett chats with us about the revival, 4 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlvZglLlE40 (Accessed: 02/05/2021).
Good combination of showing how your research elements are DIRECTLY impacting on your development in this project and your practise in general. The sketches are amongst the best you have made regarding creating action, dynamism and movement you have done this term.
I think Hey Arnold was quite niche, so was always going to struggle to cross over into films - it's appeal was quite limited, partly because it's animation was quirky but mainly because it was a fairly 'enclosed' scenario throughout it's TV run.
Good combination of showing how your research elements are DIRECTLY impacting on your development in this project and your practise in general. The sketches are amongst the best you have made regarding creating action, dynamism and movement you have done this term.
ReplyDeleteI think Hey Arnold was quite niche, so was always going to struggle to cross over into films - it's appeal was quite limited, partly because it's animation was quirky but mainly because it was a fairly 'enclosed' scenario throughout it's TV run.