Food for Thought

"If the audience becomes conscious of the quality of your drawings,
it means that you have lost their interest in the scene."

--Ollie Johnston, in a letter to my old mentor Børge Ring.

Think about it for a while...

Comments

  1. Bob CowanMay 30, 2008 at 11:13 AM

    Hans- Your comments are right on target. I had a media teacher that was fond of saying "Technique should be the second thing a viewer notices" - the implication was that the message/intent should alway be first. The issue of technique and awareness always bothered me when watching Sleeping Beauty. There's no question that Earle's work is amazing, but I remember being so struck by this "new look" that I think I missed some of the more subtle ways that characters were handled...
    -bob

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  2. Hans PerkMay 30, 2008 at 11:20 AM

    Bob, in my mind, your media teacher should have said "Technique should be the LAST thing a viewer notices!"

    I know what you mean, about Sleeping Beauty. When I saw it in the cinema the first time in the late 70s, my mother whispered to me during the first scenes: "Are you sure this is a Disney film?!"

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  3. Hans PerkMay 30, 2008 at 3:20 PM

    Børge felt that the quote best stand alone, and I can see his point - that is why I moved my comments to here - the comments section. Here is what I removed:

    You will realize that it also indirectly can mean that whatever style a picture is in, if the audience thinks about this style, they are lost for the story. Which is what killed hand-drawn animation, at least temporarily, a few years back...

    I somehow also recall a similar quote from The Illusion of Life, which does not make it less important here. I really need to read this our Good Book again soon! Everybody should, actually...

    It reminds me of the old James Stewart documentary on tv yesterday, in which he says something like "If you act so that the acting doesn't show through, you are doing a decent job."

    ReplyDelete

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