10 of the greatest websites in HISTORY

Here is a selection of 10 cool website links that you should definitely check out!

1. http://www.youtube.com/
Well this website needs no introduction really, the most popular choice for videos online.

2. http://www.aniboom.com/
This is an interesting website I came across recently which is pretty much like youtube, but purely animation based.

3. http://www.newgrounds.com/
Newgrounds has been an old favourite of mine for a while now. This website specializes in
flash animation/games. Some Brilliant pieces on show here.

4. http://uk.gamespot.com/
Being a hardcore gamer I love to keep up to date with the latest computer games. It also has information about up-coming games, videos, forums, and much more.

5. http://failblog.org/
One of the most funniest websites I've visited. The basic idea around this website is displaying the worlds mistake's, i.e a fail. These are usually shown with videos and images. A must see!!

6. http://www.weirdasianews.com/
I discovered this website from a friend, its pretty cool but requires loads of reading. It reports news of weird things happening in Asia.

7. http://www.japanesebugfights.com/ (Not for the Squeamish)
If you loved Pokemon, you'll love this. This Japanese website puts insects/animals against one another in battle to see who is the stronger.

8. http://www.nintendopapercraft.com/
As mentioned before I'm a huge computer game fan and Nintendo are my idols. This website shows you how to make paper models of your favourite Nintendo characters. Origami Heaven.

9. http://www.engrish.com/
Similar to failblog but this website focuses more on typo mistakes or general bad English.

10. http://www.oekakicentral.com/
An Oekaki is basically a website that allows users to draw using an online Photoshop interface and displaying their work as soon as it's saved. At first the website may seem complicated, but once you understand how it works it can be fun.

Literature Review - BBC comedy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/comedy/advice_mackie.shtm

This page in particular of the comedy section was for both helping me to understand on a more personal note how it is to be an animator in Britain and also to read Nick Mackie's views on animation. His works have been so far, of the comedy genre.

The interview mainly focuses on Mackie's career as an animator rather than focusing on the actual comedy aspect of his work. He was asked; "Is creating comedy harder to do with animation?". Here he merely states that animation is the hardest form of film making in general and that the comedy gag may lose it's original spark, due to the long production process of animation.

Being quite short I didn't really get the best information I could from the link with regards to the essay. However, i did find some of his comments useful.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/comedy/advice_peak.shtml

This link follows an interview with Daniel Peak a comedy writer for sitcoms. This page was useful similarly to the previous, reading the point of view of a professional.

The ideas put across by Peak include spontaneous thoughts written down on paper. He proposes a theory similar to Sigmund Freud's "Automatic Writing" exercise, where by writing all jokes, gags, thoughts onto paper as soon as they pop up in your head.

This proved to be slightly more useful than the Nick Mackie article, but is just as short. A few interesting quotes may be used however from both articles, to help with the essay.

Literature Review - Scriptwriting

Wells, P (2007) Scriptwriting, Switzerland: Ava Publishing SA

The third book I have chosen to review is yet another by Paul Wells. I thought about approaching the essay from different angles and decided on looking at different aspects of animation. Scriptwriting is a major part and is where the 'gags' in animation originate. The book holds a large collection of different animation styles from different animators, which is interesting to see how through writing came these brilliant pieces of work.

Interestingly the book covers writing for different genres, including comedy. "The key preoccupation of the comedy writer is not the structure of the joke or gag, but the mechanism that prompts the laugh." The cartoon, "Johnny Bravo" is used as an example in writing a comedy script. The basis of the comedy is derived from the actual character design. Johnny is very muscular and strong, however has the brain the size of a pea. "His primary agenda is getting "chicks". Repetition is used in almost every comical animation. Johnny Bravo is no different as he is put into similar situations usually beginning with him talking to a girl with his pick up lines, and resulting with him being beaten up. According to Wells, there are seven key gag types and three theories of comedy; Superiority, Relief and Incongruity.

Personally this book has helped me understand how animators adapt scripts into their actual animations in their unique way and how they interpret different ideas. I will definitely use this knowledge and incorporate this into my own work.

Literature Review - Animation : Genre and Authorship

Wells, P (2002) Animation : Genre and Authorship, London:Wallflower Press

I decided to use this book to help with my research as it explores genre which could help me to understand not only comedy within animation, but of all genres. I also chose the book because the author Paul Wells proved to be a reliable source for my research in the previous book reviewed.

The book's chapter 4 entitled, genre in animation talks about genre in depth. It tries to argue whether if genre itself is necessary for categorizing film, or if it simply over complicates. Mise en Scene is a big part of distinguishing genre. A western for example would consist of a desert, saloon, horses, cowboy's, guns, etc. The book explores this and explains of how animation uses these cliches and iconographic themes. In particular a 'Bugs Bunny' cartoon was referenced which therefore led Wells to talk about comedy aspects of the episode. "Tom and Jerry" are also referenced in an episode called, "Dr Jekyl and Mr. Mouse". There is definitely a play of the horror story "Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde", but being the cartoon that it is, Tom and Jerry incorporate humour. The 'Suspense' and 'surprise' factors of horror are used now "to amuse rather than frighten"

I found this book to be useful as it gave me an over all view on genre as well as how genre is distinguished within animation. The examples used in the book include case studies that I have been using for my essay which is a bonus.

Literature Review - Understanding Animation - Paul Wells

Wells, P (1998) Understanding Animation, London:Routledge


I think that this book is one of the best sources for animators to understand the key elements that make up animation. As the title suggests, the book is all about 'understanding animation'. It covers a very broad range of ideas within animation including; the theory, the narrative, and comedy in animation.

According to the book, "comedy is assumed to be at the core of most animated films". This is explained thoroughly through the book's chapter 4 entitled, "25 Ways To Start Laughing". Comedy styles vary as not everybody holds the same sense of humour, however with animation the comedy is usually of a more general approach. One of these includes slapstick comedy which can be seen in so many animations but most noticeably in 'Tom and Jerry'. The chapter discusses many different techniques used to create comedy in animation such as the element of surprise, how characters performed 'comic behavior' and how 'the personality of the victim of a gag determines just how funny the whole incident will be'. Animator Tex Avery's approach to involve comedy to suit a more mature and adult audience is also explored in this chapter. I find it interesting how the book looks at animation as a whole and is not biased by only looking at animation for children as most people would associate the medium with.

With the broad range of ideas mentioned in the chapter, I am able to look into these different aspects in my essay. This book has helped me greatly with my research and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in animation.

Television Review - Tom and Jerry: The Cat Concerto

Tom and Jerry are the most well known cat and mouse duo in animation. As there are over 100 different episodes of Tom and Jerry there are always different scenarios and situations. However, the majority of the time the main idea is the never-ending rivalry between the two.

The comedy from the cartoon is usually derived from the comedic violence dished out on one another. None of the characters are seriously injured which allows the violence to be humorous.

In this particular episode, Tom is performing a concert playing "Hungarian Rhapsody No.2" on the piano, Jerry just happens to be sleeping inside of the piano and the conflict begins. The music is played continously throughout the cartoon even when Toms hands have been damaged by Jerry's Shinanigans. At one point Tom looks inside the piano with his upper body whilst he continues playing with his toes. Jerry also has his fair share of punishment in the episode and is knocked around by the inside of the piano. In the end, Jerry breaks off two sticks from within the piano and plays the tune extemely fast. Tom not wanting to lose face attempts to follow along but becmoes exhausted at the end with Jerry taking credit for his work.

It could be argued that Tom and Jerry have influenced everything within the slapstick comedy genre. Their most recent and noticeable influence is the cartoon cat and mouse duo from "The Simpsons", "Itchy and Scratchy". The mini cartoon is a parody of Tom and Jerry but with a much more violent and gory nature. Even the intro image of the show mimics that of Tom and Jerry.

Television Review - Family guy: Don't Make Me Over

Family guy is an animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane. The story follows the semi-dysfunctional family who are drawn into ridiculous situations. The series is well known for their random "cutaway gags" which is where I'm sure the popularity lies.

In this episode of Family Guy, the daughter of the family "Meg Griffin" is distraught about being unattractive. Making fun of Meg's character is an occurring joke in the series. After witnessing two people committing suicide from looking at Meg, mother "Lois" decides to give her daughter a makeover. Now treated differently because of her new looks her personality changes with her new found fame. The episode is resolved once Meg is taken advantage of, thus angering father "Peter Griffin" leading him to beat the person responsible.

Parodies from this episodes famous "cutaway gags" include: Neil Armstrong walking on the moon was fake, The Wizard of Oz where the tinman is a homosexual and former president George W. Bush Jr, acting extremely child-like. I think that the cultural references to things that the public are familiar and poking fun at them is one of the keys to family guys success.

Family guy has been described as a rip-off of 20th Century Fox's other television series, "The Simpsons". The family members are exactly the same in numbers with the addition of "Brian" a talking dog. An episode of The simpsons actaully displays an image of main character Peter in a book with "Plagerism" written beside it.