Talkin-Typewrita.
- Critique Talk
Alien Song
Sunday, October 12, 2008, 01:17
This is a classic piece of animation created by Victor Navone, which eventually led him to become an animator in Pixar.http://www.strimoo.com/video/10723847/Alien-Song-Dailymotion.html
The most prominent principle of animation in "Alien Song" is Exaggeration (although all 12 were incorporated), which is needed for animation because perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull. In "Alien Song", the character is the centre of attraction, so much exaggeration is needed to convey the message across.
Non-verbals play a huge role in "Alien Song" mainly due to exaggeration. Victor employs much use of kinesics: hand gestures as emblems (the very first pose depicting despair and clenching of fists during "i grew strong") and illustrators (lifting hand to signify "back from outer space", palms out during "i learnt how to get along"). These gestures and body movements are used throughout the animation.
Even though the character has only one eye, it is able to convey emotion effectively. Squinting of the eye depicts cynicism. Closing the eye during "i was petrified" paints a vivid image of fear, and opening the eye wide during "I will survive" hints the climax of the animation. The facial expressions complement the eye's behavior using secondary animation (which is also one of the 12 principles of animation): for instance, the head tilting and the antenna wriggling. All these small movements are crucial; without them the animation would not be as impactful.
Though the character is clearly lip-synching, there is certain paralanguage in Alien Song. For instance when the tone gets cynical during "i spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong", complemented by the kinesics and eye expressions gives the impression that the character is indeed feeling cynical, especially to viewers who are not familiar with the original song.
Proxemics also play a vital role. At the beginning of the animation, the camera slowly zooms in to focus on the character. First we get to see the full view of the character before the song starts. During the 2nd verse (with the disco beat) when the character starts walking, it gives the impression that the character is coming closer and getting more excited as the song progresses. At the end the camera zooms out to get a full view of the final view of the character...
All these non-verbal cues harmonize together to give maximum effect. At the end of the animation, the character gets floored by a giant disco ball. Perhaps somebody has got so affected by the character as the animation climaxes, and thus decided to put a stop to it. According to Victor, he is "not a big fan of disco, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity for a little comic irony".
Abrupt ending-wise aside, i think this is a very good piece to analyze non-verbal cues.
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