On Ecological Narration in Cross's Animation Films

On Ecological Narration in Cross's Animation Films

[Abstract ]2065 438+03 American animated film "The Klauz Family" made a big profit at the box office and received constant praise. The film not only brings a novel and vivid 3D visual experience to the audience, but also inspires the audience's nostalgia for ancient life. More importantly, the ecological narrative mode set in prehistoric time and space expresses the desire of equal survival, which not only reflects the multiple ecological relations of human existence across time and space under modern conditions, but also causes people to think about the modern survival dilemma from multiple angles. The film tries to coordinate the story development with the ecological holistic view, construct the relationship between man and nature, and lay the narrative process, which has certain enlightenment significance for the creation and dissemination of animated films in China.

[Keywords:] animated film; Ecological narrative; Ecological holistic view; space-time structure

[Abstract] 20 13 The American animated film "Klauz" earned a box office and continued to be well received. The film not only brings a novel and vivid 3D visual experience to the audience, but also stimulates the audience's nostalgia for ancient life. More importantly, it expresses the time desire of prehistoric people to set up equal survival in an ecological narrative way, which not only spans the multiple ecological relationships of modern human living conditions under the background of time and space, but also triggers the survival dilemma of modern people from an additional angle. The film attempts an overall idea of story coordinating ecological development, constructs the relationship between man and nature, and lays a narrative process, which has certain enlightenment for the creation and dissemination of China's animated films.

[Keywords:] animated film; Ecological narrative; Concept of ecological integrity; Time structure

With the increasingly prominent global environmental problems, people are thinking more and more seriously about the survival and development of human beings in the ecosystem. As one of the mass media with extensive influence, animated films gradually involve many aspects of ecological civilization thought in narrative. As a special film form, animated film has its own unique advantages in spreading ecological culture. Cartoon expression, anthropomorphic role setting and free narrative time and space creation all make the ecological narrative of animated films more vivid and flexible. Ecological narration is the integration and development of ecology and narratology, which advocates observing, explaining and dealing with practical problems from the ecological point of view, and permeating the ecological holistic view in the narrative process. In the development of animated films, combined with ecological narrative, we explore a new ecological perspective and guide people to pay attention to ecological problems closely related to life. The film has a distinct ecological consciousness in characterization, plot and environment setting. It is of great significance to explore the deep connotation of the film from the perspective of ecological narrative and guide the audience to accept it.

First, the ecological regression of narrative space-time construction

In the narration of animated films, the expression of narrative time and space not only explains the time and environmental background of the story, but also participates in the story level to promote the development of the story plot. According to its own artistic expression characteristics, animated films flexibly shape and expand the way of time and space presentation. The unreality of the animation story itself gives the animation story more free space to express its time and space. The narrative time and space in animated films is not only a presentation of reduction and contrast, but also a reasonable imagination based on reality and narrative content. It is in this free expression of reasonable imagination that animated films convey the ideal of building the real world.

Mr. Long Diyong believes that the spatial construction in narrative is based on the author's specific psychological source, and the spatial characteristics of creative psychology enable the author to flexibly express his imaginary ideological tendency in his works. (2) The film Dancing with Demons shows an obvious ecological regression in the process of constructing narrative time and space. This ecological return is not only manifested in the inanimate existence of forests, the earth, lakes, mountains, dogs, giant cats, mice and other common forest animals, but also in human beings, who are unique in the ecosystem. The anthropomorphic expression of flowers, trees and animals in the forest and the expression of human beast tend to merge in animation, forming a part of the space construction of animated films. People and other creatures are not only a part of narrative space, but also the narrative object itself. Croods is different from previous animations in that it is the animal expression of characters. Primitive people and other animal populations in the film exist equally in the natural system. As primitive cavemen, Xiao Yi's family is still as savage as animals living in that era. This film shows the primitive nature of animals and tells the story of Xiao Yi's slightly savage lifestyle and physical strength. If Yi Jia in the movie satisfies the audience's imagination of primitive people, then the young man is a ray of sunshine from the real society. Xiao Yi's jumping and running ability is comparable to that of primitive animals, which embodies the primitive instinct of human beings, while the creative concept of young beggars deeply projects the shadow of modern civilization. The strange and colorful images of animals and plants in the forest have become the unique symbols of this prehistoric time and space. The food chain of primitive society is integrated with the expression of primitive people's living conditions. The expression of ecological holism in the construction of time and space is by no means that primitive people care for animals unconditionally, but for the overall coordinated development of the ecosystem. Under the background of great changes in the earth's crust, primitive humans and animals living in this time and space have made their own efforts for survival. Although it is a beautiful imagination for human beings to communicate with monkeys, parrots, tigers, crocodiles, dogs and other animals in the film, the film aims to guide the audience to think about their own living conditions with an understanding attitude, so as to clearly express their responsibility to natural ecological life as a dynamic subject of the ecosystem. It is through this close presupposition and the exhibition of ideal living conditions that animated films arouse the audience's conscious thinking about the ecological environment and their own survival.

Mr. Long Diyong believes that in narrative research, "specific space is the spatial representation of a certain kind of characters". As a representative of traditional parents, "Guage" lives in an almost closed dark cave, which implies the overly conservative lifestyle of the original family at the beginning of the film, and highlights the rebellious character of the protagonist Xiao Yi, thus leading to the main contradiction in the narrative. The beautiful world opens at the end of the film, which not only satisfies the audience's imagination of the new world and the expectation of happy reunion, but also indicates the breakthrough new development of the characters' personality through such space setting. Therefore, the space construction in the animated film is not only the place where a series of story events take place, but also the "space intention" used by the creator to express the characters, which is of great significance to convey the overall idea of the film.

The narrative of animated films is mostly fantasy stories, and the audience has accepted the assumptions and fantasies of the film while watching the movie, which allows animated films to use flexible time more freely and flexibly. Animated films can arrange narrative time according to narrative needs to show the flexibility of time. In the real-time and fantasy world, you can switch freely according to the narrative needs to achieve the purpose of film performance. The Claud family tells a family story of the Stone Age, but in this time and space, humans, mammoths, leashes, alligators, parrots, tigers and bananas coexist at the same time. Because the film doesn't show the story of an actual historical time and space, the film can freely set the creatures living in this time and space and their living environment, so as to realize the narrative purpose of Xiao Yi's adventure. It is this way of expression that makes the time and space settings in animated films blend with each other and clearly conveys the theme of the film. The Kloz family found a beautiful new home suitable for survival through adventure, and discovered a beautiful new world after their homes were destroyed. There are blue oceans, dense forests, flocks of seabirds, and fantastic animals like monkeys and giant cats, just like family members. The time and space of the story is set in the Stone Age, which shows the life state of primitive people living in that era. This kind of space setting not only serves as a gorgeous story background, but also has a strong metaphorical color. In the development of modern industrial civilization, the destructive exploitation and utilization of nature has greatly exceeded the carrying capacity of nature, and biodiversity has been seriously damaged. Human beings have an unshirkable responsibility for the deterioration and development of the ecosystem. The film focuses on the adventures of the primitive Xiaoyi family looking for a new home. The beginning and solution of the story are set in two different spaces. The destroyed homes not only remind us that the modern natural ecology has been destroyed by the impact of industrial civilization. Adventure is a metaphor of human efforts to rebuild a new home, which is intuitively manifested in the change of human positioning of animals from simple food to partners and friends in adventure. Ecology shows that nature always hides infinite mysteries, so it has the supreme power to punish human beings forever. ① The destruction of xiaoyi cave home by rock movement in the film clearly conveys the smallness of human beings in front of nature, and the spatial performance of the film also aims to arouse the audience's awe of nature. Both human beings and natural creatures are populations born in the ecosystem. The survival and development of human beings should follow the laws and order of nature, which is the only way for human beings to pursue harmonious and sustainable development. The appearance of a new home at the end of the film shows the audience the beautiful vision of the home and inspires the audience that human beings, as a dynamic and creative population, have multiple ecological responsibilities and obligations to treat animals and the natural environment well while developing themselves. The construction of new green living space needs to stand the test and make greater efforts.

Second, the multiple ecological relations in the narrative theme.

The development of contemporary animated films is constantly full of thoughts on ecological and environmental issues. Sometimes through animal narration, the relationship between animals and people, and the relationship between people and nature as a whole, people and society, people and people, this kind of thinking situation is extremely swaying, and the audience consciously or unconsciously accepts and establishes an ecological view in this visual impact, imaginative horizon and happy experience expansion.

With the infiltration and development of eco-cultural ideas in various fields of society, the narrative of animated films not only conveys the concept of ecological integrity more and more consciously, but also shows the way to deal with various ecological relations in the establishment of narrative themes. Ecological holism is the basic viewpoint of ecology, which shows that human beings are species that depend on the integrity and stability of the ecosystem. Animated films create a fantasy world different from the real world, but the construction of this fantasy world is based on the understanding and care of the real world. Movies, like books, provide an inner world of fantasy and dreams. (2) Animated movies simplify the parts that are weakly related to the narrative theme in the real world through cartoons, and strengthen the parts that are strongly related to the narrative theme in the real world. This choice of unique expression based on animated film art enables animated films to establish clear contradictions and conflicts when expressing various ecological relationships, and guide the thinking direction of the audience. Animated films highlight the expression of animals, plants and natural environment in artistic expression, and in this way, the human or anthropomorphic protagonist as the protagonist is integrated into the expression of multiple relationships. Ecological holism emphasizes the equal birth of all kinds of life and the balanced development of natural ecosystem in human activities. Ecological holism not only emphasizes the sustainable development of the whole ecosystem, but also does not ignore the development of human beings. It is in this process that human beings can develop better and explore the road of sustainable development that takes into account the overall development of the natural system and stays in the survival and development of human beings. ①

The narrative of animated films is absurd and novel, but the narrative theme itself is not aimless imagination. Animated movies are very popular with the audience. With the development of animation technology, they show realistic themes closely related to public life. The movie "The Croods" got a score of nine points from Douban, which is not simply based on gorgeous 3D effects. In the process of watching movies, the audience not only gets visual pleasure, but also thinks more about a series of ecological relations. The film tells the story of the Yi family looking for a new home after their old home was destroyed, and highlights the changes in the relationship between family members from the narrative theme of this adventure. As a growing girl, Xiao Yi rebelled against her father's overly conservative lifestyle, and the emergence of young guy, a "new new human", made it possible for Xiao Yi to get along with "Guage". The film has unique views on family education, intergenerational relations and the growth of the younger generation of the family. As the guardian of the family in the film, Guage is timid, conservative and arbitrary, while his daughter Xiaoyi is full of curiosity and adventurous spirit. In the narrative of the film, the relationship between father and daughter changed from intense conflict and division to harmony. The adventures of Xiaoyi's family not only promoted the growth of a new generation of family members of Xiaoyi's brother and sister, but more importantly, the growth of his father "Guage", who is the pillar of the family. The "growth" in the film is not only aimed at the new generation of family members, but also accompanied by the maturity and transformation of all family members. The transformation of family members' relationship and family contradictions are all completed in a logical exaggeration way. The growth of a new generation is accompanied by the disintegration of absolute patriarchy, and finally the intergenerational relationship turns into a more equal development trend. This pursuit of equality is part of the multi-freedom ecological relationship. As an important part of the ecosystem, the relationship between people and society should be an important proposition explored by the ecological holistic view in practice. Although the story takes place in the preset primitive stone age, the theme reflected in the story is full of concern for family development in modern society. The reason why animated films can arouse the audience's conscious thinking on many issues is deeply benefited from their own cartoon artistic expression. Animation film is not a sermon, it triggers the audience's conscious thinking in a meaningful and implicit artistic way, and remoulds the audience's concept consciousness imperceptibly.

Multiple ecological relationships are integrated in the theme of animated films. While constructing the theme of humanistic care, the film shows its own distinct natural ecological position in the narrative. There are many animal images in the narration of animated films, which makes the development of animated films have an indissoluble bond with nature. The narrative theme of animated films more and more clearly highlights the relationship between man and natural ecology. Nature is not only the environmental background of human existence, but also the relationship between human and natural creatures, especially animals with fresh life, is in the stage of repositioning.

The movie The Croods explores the ecological relationship between man and nature more clearly in narrative theme, which includes multiple relationships between man and natural creatures and between man and nature as a whole. Animals in the film are divided into two categories: animals that can be used as food or animals that threaten their survival and need to escape. There is a strong contradiction between the existence of primitive people and the existence of animals in nature. As a part of the theme, this conflict has completed the transformation from opposition to contradictory unity in narrative. In the film, the concept of existence of "Guage" has undergone earth-shaking changes. He changed from an old school who strictly abides by all the rules to an explorer who changed the rules. Animals entered the human world from the opposite of human beings, and as members of the "Guage" family, animals also entered the new world with them in the sun. The narrative theme attaches importance to the transformation of various ecological relations, shows how human beings seek new ways of life in the changing world, and shows a beautiful picture of the future world development through the shaping of the ideal world. The overall relationship between man and nature has also been designed many times in the film. Standing in the vast dark blue night sky, the smallness of human beings is self-evident. Under this specific scene setting, people's awe of nature can't help but arise. Lost in modern society, human beings are far away from the starry sky of nature and forget such awe. It is this forgetfulness that gives birth to the infinite expansion of technology to itself.

Various relationships in human society, the relationship between human and animals, and the relationship between human and living environment have all become the theme elements that Claude and other animated films try to express. This kind of animated films try to subtly change the audience's concept of existence, build the audience's concept of ecological integrity and deepen the audience's ecological awareness by exploring various ecological relationships. In a series of manifestations of human existence, the film focuses on the reflection on the overall organic operation of natural ecology and explores the healthy and sustainable lifestyle of human beings in the organic natural ecosystem. As an important mass media, animated films are making use of their unique artistic features to consciously guide the spread direction of ecological culture from the narrative theme setting. Through the expression of multiple relationships in narrative themes, animated films disintegrate the audience's traditional understanding of various ecological relationships, make them rethink their own ecological problems, determine correct ecological concepts and ecological positions, and coordinate various problems in human development with an ecological holistic view.

Third, the film's enlightenment to the narrative of China's animated films.

With the development of animation film technology and the expansion of narrative theme, the audience of animation film has expanded from the traditional young group to the ordinary movie audience. Cartoon forms get rid of the performance restrictions of real actors to a certain extent, and reduce the possibility of audience rejection caused by actors' preferences. No matter what the theme of animated films is, most of them choose a lively and relaxed way of happy experience. In animated films, the difficulties, setbacks and dangers in the real world are presented in a brand-new way, but the story comes from the real world but is illuminated by the sunshine of the ideal world in animation. This artistic approach is not only to create a relaxed atmosphere for watching movies, but also to present a new perspective to face problems in an exaggerated form. As the head of the family in The Croods, Guage's attitude gradually changed in the face of the challenge brought by Gai, a new human being, which accords with the general law that people face the changing world, especially the emergence of new things. The world is constantly moving and changing, and new things emerge one after another. The transformation and growth of "Brother Gua" is realized on this image that embodies the stubborn character of ordinary fathers, avoiding the conflict caused by real-life movies in order to make the audience sit in the right place in the simulated real scene. The exaggerated action of "Brother Gua" is not only to make the audience laugh, but also to create a relaxed atmosphere and let the audience understand the role of father more deeply.

Most American animated films adopt the Disney-style traditional creative purpose of "bringing joy and information to people of all ages in the world", but in fact, the audience of animated films in the modern media environment is diverse. In the choice of narrative theme, most of China's animated films pay attention to the development of classical themes, seriously ignoring the development of current themes. ② In the development of China's animated films, animated films with the same theme are constantly being remake, but the lack of a new interpretation perspective has seriously hindered the development of China's animated films. The narrative of China's animated films lacks the sense of the times and the expression of intention that causes * * *. In terms of audience positioning, animated films are firmly confined to young children. Facing the growing audience of animated films, the film narrative theme should actively adapt to this development trend, involving multiple relationships closely related to the audience's reality, and coordinate the contradictory development of multiple relationships with the ecological holistic view, thus actively guiding the sustained and healthy development of mankind.

Ivan Salber, a former MGM producer, once said in an interview, "It doesn't give the audience taste, style, views and morality, but only reflects what the audience already has." Movies are not preaching. Today, with the rapid development of film art, animated film narrative can't talk to itself, expecting the audience to accept it completely. Instead, it finds an open and heuristic narrative mode, pays attention to practical problems closely related to real life, and creates an open thinking space for the audience through artistic processing. Excellent animated films can not only bring a pleasant viewing experience to the audience, but also subtly guide the audience's thinking, which benefits from the artistic treatment of multiple relationships in film narration. On the theme of expressing affection and growth, there is no absolute right or wrong for the crowder family to regard Guage as the father or Xiaoyi as the rebellious subject of the new generation, but it is this humanized characterization that touches the audience's * * * experience and causes the audience's psychological * * * sound. Although the ecological concept is consciously conveyed in the film, this concept is not a one-sided expression in textbooks. Ecological holism holds that while developing itself, human beings should maintain the dynamic balance of the ecosystem and reflect their responsibilities to others, society and the biosphere. The dynamic balance of the ecosystem in the film is not the extreme expression of human giving up the development and utilization of nature, but the pursuit of better development and the construction of a beautiful home for human beings in this rational development. The narrative of China's animated films should enrich narrative themes from multiple relationships, and consciously inject humanistic care and ecological holistic care into narrative expression, so as to adapt to and guide the current audience's acceptance trend.

As a kind of mass media that relies on image communication, animated films gradually change from the foil of human heroes to bear more ecological and cultural significance through artistic treatment of animal images and natural environment. The image of parrot and tiger in Crodes has the color of parrot and the body of tiger and giant cat, so it is difficult to present this combination and variation of animal image in real-life movies. This visual image not only refreshes the audience, but also shapes the multiple personality characteristics of the role. The giant parrot tiger threatened the survival of Xiaoyi's family when animals appeared, but it showed cat-like play and intimacy to human beings in the cave. This kind of concrete characters based on realistic animal images and fantasy artistic conception is conducive to the film to express complex characters according to narrative needs. It is the appearance of this brand-new image that makes the animal characters in the film have better emotional communication with the audience. As an element of film narrative language, color has more meanings while undertaking the task of deepening the theme in the film. The strict division between green and gray shows obvious opposition and conflict, and the transformation between the old and new worlds is realized through gradual exploration. Human civilization and wisdom are not the initiators of destroying nature, and technology is the crystallization of the development of human wisdom, but the use of technology should have a correct value judgment.

Four. conclusion

More and more narratives in animated films explore many aspects of human existence. China animated films should also explore the sustainable development of human beings in the whole ecosystem and pay attention to human existence. The owner of the film "The Claudes" is facing the crisis of destruction, which implicitly conveys his worries about the development of the real world. The destruction crisis of natural ecology is presented in an intuitive way in the film, and the audience can gain a unique aesthetic experience through the performance of the film narrative process, which can trigger the audience's ecological thinking. This survival crisis of animated films is intended to change the attitude of the audience to stay out of the way when thinking about ecological problems. The film highlights the overall changes in the natural environment and gives the audience an intuitive experience of the changes in the world. To be or not to be, this sharp contradiction makes the audience have to think about many ecological and environmental crises we are facing. The development of China's animated films should pay more attention to the animated narrative itself while pursuing continuous technological progress. The development of China's animated films should pay attention to the animated story itself, inject the spirit of the times and the concept of ecological integrity into the narrative development, and explore their own way forward through the continuous progress of technology.

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