What distinguishes anime is then not a particular style or nationality, but a specific approach, or set of approaches, towards compositing. This second aspect is also known as “compositing” : “Compositing is a matter of assuring that the gaps between different elements within the image are not noticeable”. The multiplane camera, or the animation stand (two related, but different objects, the most fundamental being the second one), the decisive objects at the core of Lamarre’s reading, can be understood and presented in two ways : 1) in their nature, that is as purely mechanical and technological objects, or 2) in their function, that is to stack cels in order to create a sense both of depth and unity in the final image, the one shot by the static camera. It is from these purely technical concerns that he the approaches practices of production : compositing, character design, plot, while always interrogating how these all relate to the theme of technology. In anime, thinking about technology is inseparable from thinking through technology (not only using technology but also aligning thought with its operations).” Whereas most anime histories start with individuals or studios, he begins with a technical apparatus, the multiplane camera : its historical genesis in Disney Studios, and its harnessing by Japanese artists. Using as a starting point the provocative statement that “Much of anime is unabashedly low tech”, he focuses at the same time on the technology (or technologies) that make anime possible and how anime thinks about and presents technology : “I wish to indicate that animation at once works with technology and thinks about technology – and the two processes are inseparable. Lamarre’s perspective centers around the idea of technology. Most importantly, it is one of a few very precious works that try to focus on “the materiality of the moving image itself” and uses it as a starting point, rather than examining anime as a part of a larger media system, or just like another form of cinema. It manages to be at the same time a historical overview of anime and its techniques, a thorough analysis of some of its most prominent artists, and a compelling theory of animation and media in general.
Thomas Lamarre’s The Anime Machine is undoubtedly one of the most important books dedicated to animation, and especially to anime.
0 kommentar(er)
