Based on the excerpt, Brick and Cameraless Animation, one quote that really stood out to me was , ” Animation enables me to give magical powers to things. In my films, I move many objects real objects. Suddenly, everyday contact with things that people are used to acquire new dimensions…” Since I grew up watching animation whether its from cartoons or from movies, I always thought that they magically come to life. However, I realized that it’s a tedious process that requires advanced technology to bring the inanimate object to life. One of my childhood shows was Tom and Jerry; a cat who constantly tries to capture the mouse but the mouse always outsmarts the cat. In reality, cats will always try to chase the mouse by scaring it away but animators make it more entertaining by enhancing their characters’ capabilities to the next level. For instance, Tom tends to injure himself whenever Jerry runs away so Tom may get a big bump on his head with birds flying over him. That is what’s so unique about animation. You can do what ever you want to make your character stand out. To me, there are no boundaries in animation, no strict rules that you have follow. An animator’s goal is to go beyond what is expected and do something unexpected so he or she could wow the audience and bring them away from reality. Animation starts off from ideas and sketches and with several alternations on the computer program, you can add or delete certain things. The sole purpose of animation is to make your ideas and characters move. Swankmajer also stated, “Animation challenges the orthodox understanding and acceptance of our existence”. He is saying how animation allows us to break the mundane rules and distort to make it more visually appealing to the eye.
