Animated Sound and Beyond
By Robert Russett
During the 1930s a holistic audiovisual approach to film animation
was developed that is unlike any other technique used in the production
of motion pictures. Labeled "animated sound" by Canadian Film
Board animator Norman McLaren, this unique but little known method
of conjugating sound and image has been explored and developed
throughout most of the early and mid-twentieth century. In recent
years, with the arrival of new technologies, animated sound has been
expanded upon by a new breed of artists who are using digitally
based forms of dynamic media. These new works, like those produced
earlier on film, have a Fine Arts lineage and are not, strictly speaking,
a product of the motion picture or television industries. Rather,
they are independent productions that project a highly personal sense
of vision. Indeed, the unified audiovisual structures that are currently
driving these works are not only devoid of big studio formulas and
clichıs, but are providing fresh technical and artistic alternatives that
could very well broaden the way we think about art, entertainment,
and the communication environment that lies ahead.
|
|
