Application of Shadow Play Elements in Animation Design

Application of Shadow Play Elements in Animation Design

Shadow play is an important part of our intangible cultural heritage. It is not only a folk art in China, but also the crystallization of the wisdom and creativity of ancient working people. Below, I searched and sorted out the application of shadow play elements in animation design for you. Welcome to read the reference, I hope it will help you! For more information, please continue to pay attention to our fresh graduates training network!

Shadow play is an art form that combines drama, painting, dance and music. With a high audio-visual experience, it is memorable in real performances. Its line art, formal beauty and artistic conception have high application value for animation design.

First, the application of shadow play line art in animation design

Lines are one of the elements of nature. It can be natural or man-made. The creation of lines is mainly reflected in painting, and the shape of lines is changeable, which can be soft and tender, or thick and sharp. The organic combination of lines forms the outline. Shadow play is an outstanding art using painting, and lines run through the whole process from design, production to performance. The lines not only outline the shadow play, but also show its internal organization and the relationship between organizations. In the performance of shadow play, there will be some movements such as bending over and turning around. These movements are based on the changes of lines, aiming at expressing the psychological activities of the characters and setting off the atmosphere of the story. In animation design, we can learn from the line art of shadow play, and show the psychological changes of characters and the development of story atmosphere by modifying the line combination of animation and changing the thickness of lines. On the animation design line, drawing lessons from the line art of shadow play, comprehensively using different line drawing techniques such as meticulous painting, pencil drawing, paper-cutting and sand painting, and combining with modern technical means, excellent traditional art is displayed through superb lens expression means and film and television special effects, so as to design an animation that can not only show modern popular art but also contain traditional cultural charm. In this respect, Kung Fu Panda is the most successful. As a commercial film made in the United States, its mastery of China elements can be described as perfect, especially the application of line art in shadow play (Figure 1, Figure 2).

Second, the application of formal beauty of shadow play in animation design

Shadow play is a kind of formal art with high formal beauty. This kind of formal beauty is mainly expressed by silhouette and the change of silhouette. Shadow play is characterized by five senses moving, joints moving and other places not moving, which is realized by controlling each node. For example, by controlling the nodes of the plane shadow people, let him sit, lie, walk, turn and other actions, so that the original stiff shadow people can come alive, have it? Life? Vitality The formal beauty of shadow play is also reflected in the costumes, headdresses and facial features of the characters, which are used to express the identity and status of the characters. Therefore, in animation design, we can use the formal beauty of shadow play from these three aspects: (1) using the method of joint setting for reference to express the light and flexible design requirements of animation; Draw lessons from the design of clothing, headdress and facial features to show the personality characteristics and identity of animated characters; For animated characters? Activities? , vividly presented to the audience. There are many animations that use the formal beauty of shadow play, such as Butterfly Lovers designed and produced by Fudan University and Peach Blossom Garden produced by Shenzhen Global Digital Company. In the design stage, these animations are based on modern digital technology, fully draw lessons from the modeling elements and formal characteristics of shadow play, and make the animations lifelike through joint setting and structural characteristics. ③

Thirdly, the artistic conception beauty of shadow play is applied in animation design.

Artistic conception is an important category of China's traditional aesthetics. In the performance of shadow play, the actors' bending, hip lifting, waist pinching, hand raising, hip twisting and turning are full of charm, and different emotions are expressed through different actions, such as slight ups and downs in the chest and abdomen, shyness with sleeves half covering their faces, and trembling anger with fingers. The change of artistic conception outlines different artistic conception, which enables the beauty of artistic conception to be expressed in the expression and catharsis of various emotions, and continues the tradition of paying attention to the beauty of artistic conception in China art, which is also one of the characteristics of shadow play. There is no doubt that successful animation has its own uniqueness in the expression of artistic conception, such as the Japanese animation "Witch Home Delivery". Animation is very prominent in the expression of artistic conception, not only through the performance of witches, but also some unconstrained scenes and romantic and fantastic colors, which remind people of childhood dreams and those whimsical ideas. ④ The American animation Travels around the Flying House tells dreams and love through the story of Carl who sells balloons, and shows the greatness of pursuing dreams through various artistic conceptions. If the artistic conception beauty of shadow play can be applied to animation design, it will enrich the expression form of animation artistic conception. The artistic conception beauty of shadow play is expressed through the screen shadow, and different screen shadow lighting effects correspond to different artistic conceptions, either far or near, or virtual or real. It can be used for reference in animation design, so that the color of light can render the artistic conception of animation and increase the charm of animation.

In short, in many excellent cartoons, we can often find the elements of shadow play. Using shadow play elements in animation design can not only enrich animation design methods, but also increase animation humanistic feelings and make animation look more trendy. For domestic animation design, we should learn advanced creative techniques and means from the West, and at the same time, use China elements including shadow play elements with confidence and courage to form our own unique creative ideas and methods.

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