A reading known as “Seeing the Brick”.
I found this reading to be particular to my interests. I enjoy animation, and am willing to spend a large portion of my life to learn it. The reading mentions how tedious and time consuming the art form is, and I am not one to argue.
The article is particularly interesting in mentioning the early history of animation, and how it was devalued as an art. People merely saw it as a novelty that could only appeal to children, as many of the applications of animation was for children’s toys as well as for the entertainment of children. The article also mentions the power house that Disney was in the world of animation, in some regards, setting the “standard” for animation to come.
I like how the reading seeks to legitimize animation as its own art form. It describes how some animations hold their own values like traditional movies do. And that the effort and time put into the work should also be taken into account.
The reading also has an unpopular opinion that I seem to share as well. It states that Disney seems to have set the standard for many animations to come. It is actually something I’ve seen firsthand in the art world. Disney has actually seemed to create their own “style” in a sense, and an animation should be held to their standard to be considered “good”.
Despite this, the reading was interesting in my case. As someone that wants to learn how to animate, as well as a history guy, I enjoyed learning about the history of animation, and the many techniques people went through to get to where we are today with animation. I like how there are many different types of animation; types that aren’t even related to film or TV, yet accomplish the same goal: to make it seem like a picture is moving.