Week 10 : Critical report_research
The research path I followed is the following:
At first, I watched different types of videos on the Internet to find the parts that really interested me, and summarized specific keywords and general directions. On this basis, I used keywords to search for relevant literature, and further refined my questions so that the problems could be analyzed in depth and detail.
In addition to the book mentioned in the last post, here’s another video that inspired me: Sewing Love
This is a 2d short film, and I have summarized three metaphorical approaches.
- Ontological Metaphor:
Concept: Using one object to metaphorically represent another, and this metaphor must be based on existing similarities. It implies the necessity of shared internal or external traits.
In the context of a film, the metaphorical use of a butterfly symbolizing freedom is introduced. Simultaneously, in modern society, the butterfly metaphor easily evokes thoughts of women, as in the expression “Look at that girl, she’s like a flower butterfly.” The association between butterflies and women has already been established in our everyday conversations.
Thus, metaphors are not purely abstract or arbitrary; they are shaped and constrained by our embodied experiences in the world.
Human emotions, psychological activities, and the like, although they can be directly experienced, cannot be fully understood on their own. They often require additional language for description, such as “family warmth,” linking the bodily sensation of warmth with the abstract concept of family.
- Establishing Structural Metaphors：
Concept: It involves using one concept to metaphorically represent another. For instance, love is likened to a journey, an embrace, protection, or possession. The latter concepts are more explicit in our experiences, more concrete, and narrow down the range of expression. Concepts with less clear boundaries (abstract ones) can be understood based on more defined concepts because concrete concepts are directly grounded in our experiences.
When audiences witness a male character enveloping a female character, associations of protection and harmony may arise. However, from another perspective, one may also sense feelings of confinement and restrictions on freedom.
Simultaneously, when using a metaphorical term to conceptualize a certain relationship, the differences in these metaphors reveal varying emphases among individuals in approaching the same thing or expressing different aspects. For example, someone viewing marriage as a partnership and another seeing it as a safe harbor have entirely different perspectives.
- Directional Metaphor in Cinematography:
Our physical and cultural experiences provide the basis for many possibilities for spatializing and orienting metaphors.
A low posture is often associated with sadness and depression, while a straight posture indicates a positive emotional state. Control or coercion is the best. To be controlled or coerced
For example, in the picture of the man grabbing the woman chasing butterflies, I adopted an extreme composition. The picture of looking up + weight imbalance made the man taller and more powerful, and strengthened the sense of inequality between the two.
While the man has been looking for the missing woman, the panic and perspective, and the feeling of weak heart can be expressed by following the camera and looking down.
In this video, I feel that two of these metaphors overlap with the three types of metaphors proposed by Prokhorov in the previous post. The short lacks a mega metaphor to define the context of the world as a whole, and instead (Love is a journey) is presented as a practical effect in the film, which in Prokhorov’s case amounts to a creative supporting metaphor. In the ontological metaphor of similarity, the mirror represents the relationship and the butterfly represents the girl are conceptual metaphors
Summary and further analysis of metaphor types:
According to Prokhorov’s work, as mentioned above, he proposed three types of metaphors, namely supportive, action-forming and destructive. I will use my understanding to briefly explain the meaning of these three metaphors
Supportive: To define the position of the whole plot, or the position of the characters, for both long and short animations. For example, in coco, the world of the dead (skeletons) is formed based on living memory, the existence of skeletons comes from being remembered by living people, and the photos placed on the family altar are the passports for skeletons to return to the earth
Action-forming: Based on an action, such as transporting, escaping, singing, etc. In partly cloud, the stork’s transport package is a metaphor for the cloud’s friendship
Destructive: I don’t understand this metaphor very thoroughly, for example, in The Blue Umbrella, when a helpless blue umbrella is on a busy road, so the crucial test is passed by an external force, whereas in a full-length film, it is likely passed by the hero himself. Which brings me to the other thing, the “critical test.”
However, in my subsequent research, I found that ontological metaphor, that is, concept-to-concept or object-to-object metaphor, was not mentioned here. According to this experimental video, three kinds of metaphors can be summarized, namely, ontological metaphor, structural metaphor and metaphor of time and space. Since the types of metaphors summarized in the short video lack articles and theoretical support, I selected several keywords: Color metaphor, animation, metaphor of time and space and film.
Continue to find relevant articles according to the summarized metaphor types
Article:Analysis of the Narrative Types of “Metaphor” in Animated Short Films
The focus of this article is
1) The application of metaphorical rhetoric in animation narration is discussed through literature review.
2) The image presentation of metaphorical narrative in animation and film is analyzed.
The article mentions Chaplin’s Modern Times, which describes the working class context and draws an analogy between workers and sheep, since sheep are generally believed to be characterized by obedience, cleanliness, and so on. Even the Bible uses the metaphor of a shepherd looking for his sheep to refer to the relationship between Jesus and the people. In this film, the workers are characterized by obeying the orders of their superiors and working continuously and unconditionally.
In addition, the authors refer to ontological metaphor theory, stating that metaphors of place and space are constructed in physical and cultural experience, such as “high” and “up” representing “happiness,” “dignity,” and “positivity” in experience. The object of metaphor in the scene is the change of mood. From the fierce rain to the calm sky, from darkness to light, the audience can perceive, from sadness to happiness, from tension to relaxation, from tragedy to happiness, and so on. Moving the camera up also provides a hint.
Another example of the use of space as a metaphorical representation is negative space, where the art of packing suitcases is used as a metaphor for the relationship between the father and the main character. The author combines time and space as a metaphor for time travel from the present to childhood memories. In this case, the change in time is metaphorical through the change in space, in which the action of the present is related to the spatio-temporal context of the past.
Spatial metaphor conveys the reference target through the nature of the object. Its biggest difference from role-playing is that it describes the plot through simple phenomena and also represents the meaning that the original properties of the object must be translated into context. Even so, the nature of space does not change.
In this study, I summarized two types of metaphor, namely, the metaphor of time and space, the metaphor of image, the metaphor of lens and light and shadow, and the metaphor between figurative meaning. These points are different from the three metaphors summed up in Sewing Love, but the content is very similar
For example, figuration-figurative: butterfly – girl, worker – sheep; Concretion-concept: luggage – father-son relationship, mirror – love relationship; Concept – Concept: Love – travel, space – time. The above three types can be summarized as symbolic types. The symbolic class can also include color metaphor, location metaphor and so on
After the above preliminary reading investigation and research, I have identified one direction that I want to study: to analyze how the use of different types of metaphors affects the narrative structure and effect presentation of animation. In terms of narrative structure, it can be divided into supporting metaphor (determining the world view of the overall hero story) and behavioral metaphor (defining the hero and limiting the development of the hero). This book mainly refers to The Hero’s Journey and Three Types of Metaphor in Pixar Animation. In terms of effect presentation, it can be divided into color metaphor, symbol metaphor, Main references Analysis of the Narrative Types of “Metaphor” in Animated Short Films and Sewing Love
The main types of metaphor discussed in my research can be basically summarized as ontological metaphor (concept-concept), which can be simply divided into: in terms of narrative structure, supportive metaphor (determining the world view of the overall hero story) behavioral metaphor (defining the hero and limiting the development of the hero), in terms of effect presentation, color metaphor, and symbolic metaphor.
Week 9 : Topic change and Literature review
Evolution of topic selection
My initial research topic was about the impact of narrative documentary animation on social confilcts. However, during the search, I found that my topic was too broad, making it difficult to concentrate on a specific impact or field for detailed research. Therefore, I attempted to modify my keywords, narrative animation and its effects. Then, I came across a book.
Artical: The Hero’s Journey and Three Types of Metaphor in Pixar Animation by Artem Prokhorov
This book examines the distinctive ability of animation, in comparison to cinema, to employ metaphors more freely and boldly. It analyzes how metaphors impact the narrative and plot structures of both full-length and short-length animations.
The author reveals and describes three primary creative metaphor types within a narrative context: supportive, action-forming, and destructive. The primary focus is on examining the role of metaphors in storytelling and plot development within both full-length and short-length animations produced by Pixar. In reality, I believe that relying solely on Pixar’s individual animated works may not adequately encompass all types of contemporary productions. Given this limitation, the accuracy of the analysis results may not capture the broader landscape effectively. Moreover, Prokhorov’s metaphor types specifically address the narrative and plot aspects of animation, omitting other components such as effects and influences.
In my previous understanding, the narrative and plot of movies were divided into several parts: beginning-middle-end (illustrated). However, after reading Prokhorov’s article, I gained insights into a new concept: “the Hero’s Journey” proposed by Joseph Campbell (1949).
Campbell’s concept has become a universal template for the hero’s journey, significantly influencing world art, especially filmography. In essence, Campbell’s monomyth comprises sixteen stages: Initially, the hero hears the call to adventure (1) but refuses it (refusal of the call) (2). Then, with some supernatural aid (3), the hero crosses the first threshold (4) and begins the journey. Subsequently, the hero is swallowed and immediately enters the belly of the whale (5): an unknown and perilous place. Following this, the hero embarks on the road of trials (6), reaching a meeting with the goddess (7). At this stage, the image of the hero’s bride or mother may be embodied in this divine character (at this point, the hero may even be tempted to abandon the journey). Next comes the reconciliation with the father (8) and apotheosis (9): the symbolic moment of the hero’s death and resurrection. At the culmination of the journey, the hero receives the ultimate boon (10) and may even refuse to return to their own world (refusal of the return) (11). However, with the power of magical flight (12) and/or external rescue (13), the crossing of the return threshold occurs (14). As a result of the journey, the hero becomes the master of two worlds (15) and gains the right to live freely (16).