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'Big Man', an Animated Film with an Accompanying Analysis of Its Relationship to the Theory and Practice of Art and Animation

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'Big Man', an Animated Film with an Accompanying Analysis of Its Relationship to the Theory and Practice of Art and Animation 'BIG MAN', AN ANIMATED FILM WITH AN ACCOMPANYING ANALYSIS OF ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ART AND ANIMATION by Michelle Stewart Student Number: 875878231 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Media and Cultural Studies University of KwaZulu-Natal, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa August 2016 DECLARATION I, Michelle Stewart, declare that The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. This thesis does not contain text, data, pictures, graphs or other information obtained from another person or source, unless specifically acknowledged as being so obtained. This thesis does not contain any other person’s writing, unless specifically acknowledged. Where such written sources have been used then they have always been acknowledged through the use of in-text quotation marks or indented paragraphs with accompanying in-text references and in the bibliography. This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged through in-text references and in the bibliography. Student name: Michelle Stewart Signature: ________________________________ Date: ______________ As the supervisor, I acknowledge that this research dissertation/thesis is ready for examination. Name: Professor Anton Van der Hoven Signature: ________________________________ Date: _____________ As the co-supervisor, I acknowledge that this research dissertation/thesis is ready for examination. Name: Dr Louise Hall Signature: ________________________________ Date: _____________ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Anton van der Hoven, for his consistent support and invaluable commentary. I would like to thank Peter Stewart for his creation of the soundtrack and his contribution to the post-production editing of the film. Lastly, I would like to thank my co-supervisor, Dr Louise Hall, for her support and assistance with the submission of this PhD project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ vi PREFACE ............................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 Overview of the study .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Re-imagining the biblical narrative ............................................................................. 3 1.3‘Big Man’ and the traditions of Western art and animation ......................................... 7 1.4 The ‘Big Man’ and the traditions of South African art and animation ........................ 8 1.5 Chapter outline ........................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2 CONCEPTUALISING THE VISUAL COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 A brief overview ........................................................................................................ 13 2.2 The initial visual narrative ......................................................................................... 13 2.3 Storyboarding Dr HF Verwoerd’s funeral,‘Prologue’ scene ..................................... 22 2.4 Exhibition works ........................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 3 THE ‘BIG MAN’ THEME ........................................................................ 34 3.1 A brief overview ........................................................................................................ 34 3.2 The ‘Big Man’ in Africa ............................................................................................ 35 3.2.1 The early emergence of ‘Big Men’ and the concept of the dictator in Ancient Rome ......................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.2 The ‘Big Man’: Precedents in South African art ............................................. 43 3.2.3 William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins: Ubu and the ‘Big Man’-inspired imagery ...................................................................................................................... 44 3.2.4 ‘Big Man’ images of Jacob Zuma: Brett Murray, Ayanda Mabulu and Jonathan Zapiro ........................................................................................................................ 69 3.3 The influence of Francis Bacon’s ‘Papal Series’ and William Blake’s ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ engravings on the ‘Big Man’ theme of the film ................................ 92 CHAPTER 4 TRADITIONAL ANIMATION PROCESSES AND THE DIGITAL PLATFORM IN ‘BIG MAN’ ......................................................................................... 115 4.1 A brief overview ...................................................................................................... 115 iv 4.2 The exploration of paper cut-out animation: ‘Prologue’scene(Dr HF Verwoerd’s funeral) ........................................................................................................................... 116 4.3 The integration of digital imagery within the cut-out animation process, ‘Prologue’ scene (Dr HF Verwoerd’s funeral) ................................................................................ 142 4.4 The combination of frame-by-frame, paper-based and cel animation and paper cut- out animation in the ‘Prologue’ scene (BJ Vorster’s inauguration speech)................... 152 4.5 The integration of digital imagery, ‘Prologue’scene ............................................... 161 4.6 The paint-on-glass process, ‘Epilogue’ scene .......................................................... 164 4.7 The integration of the paint-on-glass approach with live footage, ‘Banishment’ scene ....................................................................................................................................... 172 CHAPTER 5 THE DIGITAL PLATFORM AND‘BIG MAN’ ................................... 178 5.1 A brief overview ...................................................................................................... 178 5.2 TheFlash platform, embedded knowledge, authoring software and digital creativity ....................................................................................................................................... 179 5.3 The frame-by-frame and 2D puppet animation created in theFlash platform for‘Big Man’ ............................................................................................................................... 185 5.3.1 The frame-by-frame process in Flash ............................................................ 186 5.3.2 Frame-by frame animation using pixel-based graphics ................................. 198 5.4 Digital puppet animation in‘Big Man’ ..................................................................... 204 5.5 The visual and conceptual integration of digital photographic imagery and live footage in theFlash-animated scenes ............................................................................. 214 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 223 6.1 Independent 2D experimental animation and the digital platform .......................... 223 6.2 The importance of the PhD study to research and academic development ............. 227 6.3 ‘Big Man’ and its relevance to the contemporary South African context ............... 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 233 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................................... 244 APPENDIX 1: NOTES ON SOUND .............................................................................. 254 v ABSTRACT The focus of this practice-based PhD study is the production of an experimental, 2D animated short film of 10 minutes, 27 seconds, titled Big Man. The animated film is a retelling of several episodes that are found in chapters two and four of The Book of Daniel from the Old Testament in which Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, has troubled dreams that can only be interpreted by the Hebrew prophet Daniel. In the film, this biblical story is re-imagined using the former South African Prime Minister, Mr Balthazar Johannes (BJ) Vorster as the character of Nebuchadnezzar, thus linking the narrative directly to South African history. This is done using a variety of animation techniques, including stop-motion paper cut-out animation, digital and traditional hand-drawn frame-by-frame and cel animation, digital puppet animation and paint-on-glass animation. The written component of this research provides a detailed explanation of the conceptual, technical and creative approaches used in the making of the film prior to, during
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