I need to read more.
I found some of what I need in an old book by Michael Sells that I got in my philosophy of religion class as an undergrad.
What the hell does philosophy of religion have to with Batcat?
Far more than you'd think.
I've gone back and forth over writing this thesis as an analysis of narrative structures of comedy or the kind of spiritual aspect that I see in absurdist humor.
I keep coming back to the spiritual. I think more concrete theories of comedy have to come into play, as well. But this is what I've realized in that four months: ideally, a Batcat cartoon should function in much the same was a Zen Koan does. Something that uses an established format to intentionally confound rational thought so as to create an unmodulated immediacy between the viewer and the emotional response.
Sells draws the analogy between trying discursively describe the ineffable nature of God and trying to explain the humor of a joke. Any comedian knows that if you have to explain it, it isn't funny. That because laughter is such an irrational, instinctual response, even without absurdity layered on top of it. The Batcat style of humor, or what I am still calling freestanding humor, ideally, would take that one step further. Explanation should not only be detrimental to freestanding humor, but in fact, barely achievable.
My advisor, Tina O'Hailey, recommended a book to me that I have bought but not yet read, which she told me at one point contains a passage regarding a theory of comedy that essentially states that comedy is created by creating and then thwarting or subverting an expectation. Freestanding humor should thwart that expectation itself, either by not turning at all, or by incorporating elements into the punchline that bear no relation to the initial volley of the discourse. I prefer the former, as I envision freestanding humor as a single moment that contains set-up, turn, and punchline simultaneously.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
HOLA MUCACHOS!
All right! No more annoying links. Nothing but hot embedded action!
So here are the first couple of animation tests for my thesis film, tentatively titled "The Batcat Project."
Batcat, the erstwhile deposed despot of an indeterminate third world island nation has fled to the United States to avoid prosecution by the U.N. for crimes against humanity. While he waits for theheat to blow over, he cools his heels at the Windy Meadows Maximum Security Animal Shelter, mixing with the other...unique...inhabitants, and doing whatever it takes to avoid death by boredom.
In the first sequence, Batcat harnesses the power of a new skill he's been working on. Some people work out in prison. Some fnd religion. Here, Batcat mixes the physical and the mystical as he discovers he had the ability to move - and destroy - objects with his mind. Unfortunately, his new power only works on objects produced by Oscar Mayer. The exploding weiner will be added in during post-production.
The second sequence is very much still in progress. Eventually, Batcat will smack his ping-pong ball right into the bulls-eye of the target on a dunking-booth/time machine, returning the miniature insurance-selling tyrannosaurus sitting atop the contraption to its proper time.
That may very well be the best sentence I've ever written.
Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think! Enjoy!
So here are the first couple of animation tests for my thesis film, tentatively titled "The Batcat Project."
Batcat, the erstwhile deposed despot of an indeterminate third world island nation has fled to the United States to avoid prosecution by the U.N. for crimes against humanity. While he waits for theheat to blow over, he cools his heels at the Windy Meadows Maximum Security Animal Shelter, mixing with the other...unique...inhabitants, and doing whatever it takes to avoid death by boredom.
In the first sequence, Batcat harnesses the power of a new skill he's been working on. Some people work out in prison. Some fnd religion. Here, Batcat mixes the physical and the mystical as he discovers he had the ability to move - and destroy - objects with his mind. Unfortunately, his new power only works on objects produced by Oscar Mayer. The exploding weiner will be added in during post-production.
The second sequence is very much still in progress. Eventually, Batcat will smack his ping-pong ball right into the bulls-eye of the target on a dunking-booth/time machine, returning the miniature insurance-selling tyrannosaurus sitting atop the contraption to its proper time.
That may very well be the best sentence I've ever written.
Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think! Enjoy!
Sweet!
That last post is a video my friend Dominic and I made. He used to sculpt cakes. I think this was about as good as anyone could do with a bunch of Kroger cake icing, a toothpick, and half an hour. But this means I can post up videos here directly. How sweet it is. Back in a jif.
actually....
I'm gonna try out this savvy new little trick I just happened upon and see how it works out.
I must run more tests before I can be sure!
I've posted some more footage of everyone's favorite bored and ruthless winged feline over on my site. You can check out the new clips at
www.akablack.com/temp.html
I'd love to hear what you think so far!
www.akablack.com/temp.html
I'd love to hear what you think so far!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Animatic
Two items of note: First I have a new portfolio website, which can be found at www.akablack.com, and second, I have posted an animatic for this thesis film on the site. The Quicktime movie can be found at
www.akablack.com/temp.html
the research portion of the project continues to go slowly, but the film is finally moving ahead. About 2/3 of the first sequence in the animatic is currently in-betweened. I will be posting the current version in the coming days, and new versions as I have them.
hail and saute! (I meant salute, but sometimes typos work for you)
www.akablack.com/temp.html
the research portion of the project continues to go slowly, but the film is finally moving ahead. About 2/3 of the first sequence in the animatic is currently in-betweened. I will be posting the current version in the coming days, and new versions as I have them.
hail and saute! (I meant salute, but sometimes typos work for you)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Layout 1
Long time, no posty...anyhoo...last quarter was hectic, but I did cobble together character and layout designs. Here is the first of five layouts. More to come!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Concept 9
I think this sketch is more successful use of Ninjafrog. And Pirate Panda. I'm thinking I'll scrap the vacuum cleaner fight. Something just wasn't clickign for me there. And I'm a little obsessed with the idea of Batcat casually mugging people. I feel like its probably his default setting. Like if he was really stuck for something to do on a friday night, he'd probably steal wallets. Or if he was bored in a lecture. You know, just to pass the time.
Possible dialogue:
"It's extra pepperoni tonight!'
"Tonight we dine on the chicken of the great General Tso!"
"Excellent work, Ninjafrog. Your service to the cause shall not be forgotten. Bring me the takeout menu!"
I'd been toying with the concept of Ninjafrog for about a week. Here the ninja side of Ninjafrog's personality wins out as the concept of hopscotch just kind of blows by him. I love the idea of a frog who just doesn't "get" hopping, but don't think this sketch adequately lives up to the comedy potential of that idea. Suggestions?
Concept 7
Again, a slight alteration...this is actually close to the original sketch I did way back when. I want to add one more element when I get to animation, which is Batcat snapping his fingers and making the hotdog disappear in a cloud of smoke. Or should it turn into something else, like a short stack of flapjacks, or a fire hydrant? What sort of magical powers should Batcat possess?
Second Stack
Here are some revisions and some new ideas. First up - Tyrannosuarus time machine. Just a few tweaks, and there will probably be a few more. I think the hat really sells it!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Concept 1
If anyone has any feedback on these concepts, please don't hesitate to post it up. I'm looking for feedback and suggestions on general concept (is it funny, do you get it -- as much of it as there is to get, etc?), staging, phrasing of dialogue, etc.
Possible dialogue for this sequence:
That's it, he's cut off!
Curse you, Sharktopus, I told you this would happen!
No more fuzzy navels for the pseudopod!
Fine, but you're going to have to drive him home!
First volley
Hello, and welcome to Thesis-O-Rama! the blog that says "Hey, I'm working on a thesis and I'm not sure if I'm a genius or a hack, so please tell me what you think of the stuff I posted up on this fershlugginer thing." Although maybe not in those exact words. But it could be...you never know....
Anyhoo, I'm working on a film involving a character named Batcat and some of his misanthropic friends. It will be formatted as a series or 3-5 15-20 second hand-animated vignettes: very quick, one gag sequences. Batcat is a study in modes of comedy, an exercise in something I started calling "freestanding humor."
The concept of freestanding humor is that traditional narrative joke structure is not necessary to make something funny. There are certain things that are simply funny, without any need of explanation by way of set-up. They are punchlines without jokes, made somehow more intriguing by their lack of explanation. For example, take my wife...please. But seriously, Lewis Black does a ten minute routine on overhearing a young woman say the phrase, "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college." As he mentions in the routine, it's a sentence that makes the mind reel. But there is, of course, a logical explanation. He, and we, just never get to know what it is. In an old episode of the Simpsons, Homer walks into his bathroom to find Krusty the Klown soaking in his bathtub while Bart, Jay Leno, and Krusty's helper monkey all attend Krusty. Homer's response to the bizarre scene is: "Oops. Sorry, son. I didn't realize you, Jay Leno and a monkey were bathing a clown." And this is where the other aspect of freestanding humor comes in. Not only is the bizarre right there in front of you, stripped of explanation, but in this case, it is treated as commonplace, blase. We hear and see outrageous, outlandish, bizarre nonsensical things everyday...but we are trained to carry on with our lives as though nothing incredible is happening.
In one of my classes last term, a friend and colleague of mine uttered the phrase, "I'll Trojan Horse the zombie animation in." In context, it made perfect sense. He was working on an animated film that involved zombies, but was redirecting his thesis away from pure animation toward a new motion capture system he was developing. Another friend had just had his thesis proposal rejected because it was technically oriented rather than being focused on animation per se. So the first friend was going to pursue his technical thesis, but he was going to be sure to embed some pure animation within it. In context, this all makes perfect sense, and is rather unremarkable. Out of context, however, the phrase, "I'll Trojan Horse the zombie animation in" forces the mind to try to concoct a context, and at the same time defies rational explanation. You kinda had to be there.
This is what I mean when I say that we encounter bizarreness and absurdity on a daily basis. The entire television show Seinfeld was based around this idea: taking, tiny, minute occurances, and shining a light on them. Or, in Seinfeld's case, a spotlight. With a magnifying glass thrown in for good measure. In the last issue of Newsweek in 2006, Jerry Seinfeld describes his job as a comedian, essentially, as noticing things. "How come the side of bathroom stalls don't go all the way up and down?" he muses, basically defining "observational humor." He notices what we all notice: little oddities, petty grievances. For the most part we let these things pass, because we have other things to worry about. But Seinfeld, like any other practitioner of observational humor, makes his living by questioning what the rest of us take for granted. He searches for context where there is none, and when he can't find any, he makes one up. Of course, I'm sure there is a logical, rational explanation for why the walls of bathroom stalls don't go al the way up and down. I'm also sure that the real explanation is simply not funny.
So this is what I am going for in these concept sketches: to create this level of commonplace, banal absurdity. To generate a situation that has humor inherent in it that would be diminished by rational, traditional narrative explanation. To boggle a little, and baffle; I want the viewers to come up with their own explanation, if they must, but it would be far preferable if the response was simply to be present with the fleeting absurdity, and appreciate it for what it is, without having to search the past to see what it might mean. And if the audience can use these vignettes as practice to see the humor and absurdity that constantly surrounds them, to appreciate what perhaps they had taken for granted, then this thesis will have been a success.
Anyhoo, I'm working on a film involving a character named Batcat and some of his misanthropic friends. It will be formatted as a series or 3-5 15-20 second hand-animated vignettes: very quick, one gag sequences. Batcat is a study in modes of comedy, an exercise in something I started calling "freestanding humor."
The concept of freestanding humor is that traditional narrative joke structure is not necessary to make something funny. There are certain things that are simply funny, without any need of explanation by way of set-up. They are punchlines without jokes, made somehow more intriguing by their lack of explanation. For example, take my wife...please. But seriously, Lewis Black does a ten minute routine on overhearing a young woman say the phrase, "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college." As he mentions in the routine, it's a sentence that makes the mind reel. But there is, of course, a logical explanation. He, and we, just never get to know what it is. In an old episode of the Simpsons, Homer walks into his bathroom to find Krusty the Klown soaking in his bathtub while Bart, Jay Leno, and Krusty's helper monkey all attend Krusty. Homer's response to the bizarre scene is: "Oops. Sorry, son. I didn't realize you, Jay Leno and a monkey were bathing a clown." And this is where the other aspect of freestanding humor comes in. Not only is the bizarre right there in front of you, stripped of explanation, but in this case, it is treated as commonplace, blase. We hear and see outrageous, outlandish, bizarre nonsensical things everyday...but we are trained to carry on with our lives as though nothing incredible is happening.
In one of my classes last term, a friend and colleague of mine uttered the phrase, "I'll Trojan Horse the zombie animation in." In context, it made perfect sense. He was working on an animated film that involved zombies, but was redirecting his thesis away from pure animation toward a new motion capture system he was developing. Another friend had just had his thesis proposal rejected because it was technically oriented rather than being focused on animation per se. So the first friend was going to pursue his technical thesis, but he was going to be sure to embed some pure animation within it. In context, this all makes perfect sense, and is rather unremarkable. Out of context, however, the phrase, "I'll Trojan Horse the zombie animation in" forces the mind to try to concoct a context, and at the same time defies rational explanation. You kinda had to be there.
This is what I mean when I say that we encounter bizarreness and absurdity on a daily basis. The entire television show Seinfeld was based around this idea: taking, tiny, minute occurances, and shining a light on them. Or, in Seinfeld's case, a spotlight. With a magnifying glass thrown in for good measure. In the last issue of Newsweek in 2006, Jerry Seinfeld describes his job as a comedian, essentially, as noticing things. "How come the side of bathroom stalls don't go all the way up and down?" he muses, basically defining "observational humor." He notices what we all notice: little oddities, petty grievances. For the most part we let these things pass, because we have other things to worry about. But Seinfeld, like any other practitioner of observational humor, makes his living by questioning what the rest of us take for granted. He searches for context where there is none, and when he can't find any, he makes one up. Of course, I'm sure there is a logical, rational explanation for why the walls of bathroom stalls don't go al the way up and down. I'm also sure that the real explanation is simply not funny.
So this is what I am going for in these concept sketches: to create this level of commonplace, banal absurdity. To generate a situation that has humor inherent in it that would be diminished by rational, traditional narrative explanation. To boggle a little, and baffle; I want the viewers to come up with their own explanation, if they must, but it would be far preferable if the response was simply to be present with the fleeting absurdity, and appreciate it for what it is, without having to search the past to see what it might mean. And if the audience can use these vignettes as practice to see the humor and absurdity that constantly surrounds them, to appreciate what perhaps they had taken for granted, then this thesis will have been a success.
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