What is it that draws you in?  Is it physical attraction?  Your own personal preference for the model’s features?  Their expression?

Accepted wisdom (and research) says that it’s the eyes that tell the story and draw us in.  But what exactly is it in the eyes: color, shape, familiarity, lighting, size?  Apparently this is far more difficult to pin down and may vary from individual to individual, but something that is inarguably universal is a feeling of connection in those eyes.  And how is such a connection created?

Simple.  With large pupils.

Wait, you say.  What?

Yes - pupil size matters when it comes to forging a connection with the viewer.  Interestingly, when humans gaze upon something that we feel a strong and positive emotional connection to – or in simpler terms, something we like – our pupils widen (or dilate).  When we see something we don’t like, or respond negatively to, or even hate with the intensity of a thousand suns, our pupils contract.  Note the findings of Eckhard Hess: “…Studies have demonstrated that people rate models in photographs as more attractive if the photo has been altered to make the pupil area larger, compared to the same photos of the same models in which the pupils have not been retouched.” (1975, source)

This has been accepted as a given in Japanese and Korean advertising in the last 5 years or so, with an inordinate amount of their beauty advertising featuring models with gigantic, Photoshopped pupils…and a booming market for contact lenses with slightly enlarged irises and permanently-dilated, larger-than-life dark-ringed pupil areas.  The difference in connection with the viewer – and perceived attractiveness/beauty/cuteness – is subtly visible…yet psychologically profound.Apparently Rimmel London didn’t get the memo with their Fall 2011 ad campaign for Volume Accelerator Mascara, featuring Zooey Deschanel.

Flipping through magazines I’ve come across this ad many times before, and I’ve always been stopped by the actress’ eyes.  They hold me, but I feel extremely unsettled.  I do not feel enticed or “connected” to the brand (though I have no personal feelings towards it otherwise and even own some Rimmel products)…instead, I feel extremely put off.  And somehow irritated.  Why?  The actress is pretty, looks fresh and happy, has strikingly lovely light blue eyes, and seems to be smiling, but something in her eyes is telling me a different story.

The pupils are all wrong.  Her pupils are telling me she’s looking at something she despises.  (Though in reality she’s just staring into a bunch of bright lights.)  Could it be me she hates?  Or this mascara?

How off-putting.

Note the difference when I alter her pupils in Photoshop.
Before.

After.

And just for kicks, super, duper-huge.

Aaaaah.  Is it just me, or is there a relieved sense of harmony now emanating from this photo?  I suddenly feel that all is right with the world again, and all that uncomforatble negativity I was feeling towards Rimmel suddenly dissipated.

Can you feel it too?

Which ad appeals most to you?  Which do you feel a connection with?  In which one do the eyes and the mascara POP straight off the page?

Just something to keep in mind for photography/advertising/illustration/character design.

Rimmel London ad torn from Marie Claire October 2011.  Karakon Paradise ad torn from Vivi May 2011.  Photoshopping by me.  Only the size of the pupils were changed – nothing else.  Eye color, size and shape of eyes, darkness of mascara – all I left un-retouched.  Eye photo source.  Coppertone ad source.

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]]> http://www.carlyjcais.com/in-advertising-size-matters-pupil-size-that-is/feed/ 0 http://www.carlyjcais.com/northwest-animation-festival-recap/ http://www.carlyjcais.com/northwest-animation-festival-recap/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:55:51 +0000 Carly http://www.carlyjcais.com/?p=176 I had the pleasure of attending the Northwest Animation Festival “Best of” event last Saturday (as well as being the official photographer for the event).  There were a number of talented filmmakers in attendance, and it was great to hear each speak about his/her animated piece, roadbloacks to realizing it, things they’d learned, and behind-the-scenes info.  With a total of 28 films screened that were voted best from the 3-day June event, it was a short few hours that was jam-packed with amazing stories and moving visual treats.

So many left an impression on me: “The Lighthouse” (Po Chou Chi), “Gerald’s Last Day” (Justin & Shel Rasch), “Cheez…z” (Arut Tantasirin), “Missionary” (Mike A. Smith), and “Zero” (Christopher & Christine Kezelos) were utterly breathtaking.  Even though this the first year for the fest it generated a great turnout, and I personally can’t wait for next year to see the fabulous celebration of the art of animation here in the Northwest!

So much kudos goes to director Sven Bonnichsen, who conceived of this event and worked tirelessly to make it a successful reality.  If you love animation, and love shorts, definitely make it a point to check this festival out next May 18-19, 2012!!

Animatedly,

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*see below this post for a step-by-step breakdown of how this animation was created.

Do you know what an Animator actually does?

I thought I did.  Considering I graduated animation school, I thought I had a pretty good idea.

Until I returned to the U.S., ready to get a job, armed with only my schooling and my final portfolio.  It took me a long time to fully understand the differences between the schooling I’d received [in Japan] and the industry I was attempting to enter [in the U.S.].

How the Japanese Education System Works for Animation

I went to a liberal arts school for my undergraduate degree in the States, majoring in Film to give myself a good foundation of editing and filmic techniques, screenwriting and directing.  When I went on and attended animation school I did it in Japan – which was my first real “art” schooling (besides the couple Art Classes I took in the two different high schools I attended).

I majored in Animation Direction and Animation – which meant that I was educated to be an Animator.  But not just any animator, specifically, an animator primed to join an animation company in Japan in an entry-level in-betweening position.

This is all that’s available when it comes to job openings.  In the Japanese studio system, you can’t start as a keyframer, character designer, assistant director, production manager, editor, or director if you’re just coming out of school.

You start at the bottom, as either an in-betweener or a production assistant.  Regardless of your interests or strength of your portfolio.

Have a portfolio full of your own character designs?  Some animation you created, colorizing and editing it?  They’re not even interested – what they want to see is whether you are able to clean up and animate the characters that are already existing, and how much the characters appear as they should.  Thus your portfolio upon graduation from Japanese animation school is flat work; mostly pencil work, showcasing clean-ups, tracing, and sheets of paper bound together displaying the in-betweens of other people’s keyframes you’ve animated.  Even now, when 90% of Japan’s studios have switched to digital paint and editing for their animated TV series…they still want to see the bare minimum, on paper, to make sure you have grasped the fundamentals of movement.

Thus, in school you are taught one thing: in-betweening.  Mimicry is rewarded, or rather, taught from the beginning.

The U.S. Attitude: What is an Animator?

In the U.S., things are quite different.  You’re encouraged to have your own artistic voice, your own unique style – something that differentiates you from the masses.  The road from school to working isn’t as delineated; if you want to work as an animator, you may not necessarily start as an in-betweener.  Unless you work at a goliath such as Disney, in the U.S. it seems that most studios and clients hiring freelances want a Jack-of-all-trades.  Companies are looking for people who not only can animate the in-betweens, but also do the character design, keyframing, colorization, editing, and delivery.  You’re taught all of this in school and then some; your final demo reel showcases work where you have created everything, from the characters to the colorizing, to the keyframing, animation, and editing.  You’re a one-man (one-woman) studio in and of yourself.

For a long time, since I was educated in mimicry, I would let clients and studios know “I can produce any style you want.”  After all, I had been taught a good animator is one who can reproduce anything; that is, reproduce the keryframer’s and character designer’s work exactingly, adding life and movement to a character without compromising on shape, line quality, and colorization.  And not even try to attempt the jobs of anyone else in the studio system (like say, the character designer or keyframer), since I’d been taught to know my place.

Big mistake.

Conversely, I found many clients and studios in the U.S. actually don’t know what they want.  They instead want to see what you can bring to them, who you are.  Rather than saying “I can be anything,” they want to know exactly what style you’ll be supplying them with.  And you’re expected to be able to execute everything in the realm of “animation.”

An Animator in the U.S. does everything. 

An Animator in Japan does one specific job, specifically animating the in-betweens of someone else’s keyframes.

A critical distinction.

What are your thoughts or experiences about this?

Animatedly,

*The above animation I created by in-betweening the two keyframes I received when I was in school as an assignment.  I cleaned up the keyframes, created the in-betweens, cleaned up the in-betweens, scanned all frames into the computer, cleaned up and added color in Illustrator, imported into Flash, and strung the frames together.  The background is just 4-5 photos I took of my street and stitched together in Photoshop, then imported into Flash and motion-tweened to make it look like the background was moving.  Neither the character nor the two keyframe roughs are my work; thus, though the amount of work I did on this animation exceeds what a typical Japanese “animator” in a studio would normally do, the actual drawing work I did on it is right in line with the job description in Japan.

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Well, this officially if the start of my art-related blog.  I’m certainly not new to the blogging world, but I’ve been behind the times in creating a blog focused on my other interests: illustration, animation, anime, cartoons, art, papercrafts, branding, character goods, plushies, and multimedia (just to name a few;-).

I make all of the above and love talking about them too – there’s never an end to the learning!  Come follow along if you’re interested…I’d love to have you here.

Animatedly,

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