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From: ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian)
Newsgroups: net.movies,net.comics
Subject: Re: An OZian view..[actually Claymation]
Message-ID: <92@fai.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 01:23:51 EST
Article-I.D.: fai.92
Posted: Tue Mar  4 01:23:51 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Mar-86 00:19:55 EST
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Reply-To: ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian)
Organization: Fujitsu America, Inc.
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Keywords:


>But what of the animation you say?  I can't think of the words that I need
>to  get  you  to leap up from your terminals and run to see if there is a
>showing of this film right now.
*****

I haven't seen The Adventures of Mark Twain, so I can't say one way or
another what the animation looks like.  But in general, I am simply
not impressed with Claymation.  I've seen it in various Christmas
specials, the Miracle of Claymation special (3 shorts, The Little
Prince, Rip Van Winkle, and one I can't remember) and the Claymation
sequences in Return to Oz.  Nowhere did I see an example of animation
with clay that in my opinion couldn't be done better in a different
medium.  I think it's partly the unnatural movement of start-stop
photography (see footnote) and partly the liberties the artists take
with the medium.  (The Rip Van Winkle dream sequences, for instance.)
That is:  'Special' effects with Claymation look like....clay photographed
a frame at a time.  I guess I just don't get it.  (I'm sure people
will tell me that cartoons look like drawings photographed one frame
at a time.  Nevertheless, there *is* a difference.  The medium of con-
ventional animation can be transparent to me in a way that Claymation
can not.)

Return to Oz is in my opinion a great movie somewhat spoiled by the
'Miracle of Claymation' sequences.  I know that many people panned RtO
for other reasons, and lots of people like the effect of Claymation.
Just my opinion, folks.

Footnote:  The only example of start-stop photography I've ever seen that
didn't *look* like it was the Imperial Walker sequence in The Empire Strikes
Back.  There were other parts where the effect was noticable, (like similar
footage in Return of the Jedi)  but for some reason the technique really
worked in that one section of film.


			Ron
-- 
--
		Ronald O. Christian (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calif.)
		ihnp4!pesnta!fai!ronc

Oliver's law of assumed responsibility:
	"If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."