John Sabbath

Abstract

Every weekend when I was growing up, I could be found glued to the television set in my Spider-Man pajamas, inhaling my favorite frosted covered cereal, basking in the glow of the Saturday morning cartoons. My favorites were the reruns of the classic Looney Tunes shorts, featuring the famous chases between that long eared hare Bugs Bunny and the egg-headed hunter, Elmer Fudd. Even as a child I was in awe of their timeless sense of humor and their limitless ability to parody any subject matter. Twenty years later, I strove to capture the same style and spirit that the Warner Bros. Studio made famous during the golden age of animation with my thesis film, The Crooked Frame. During my graduate studies of 2D animation, I developed a knack for using the chase as a theme; both of my first two animation projects dealt with similar stories. However, my initial efforts were rather simple, without much development beyond the initial chase structure. With my thesis, I wanted to develop a more complex chase sequence that played with different humorous situations. The animation would challenge both my narrative and comedic skills, which made it an overly ambitious undertaking, as I tend to bite off more than I can chew. I decided to use the history of art as the vehicle to drive the film because of its potential for great visual humor and compelling imagery. Having studied fine art in my undergraduate career, I understood how its rich history and context could be used to create humor. Individual pieces of artwork provided inspiration based on its design and composition, while the contrast of two different paintings hanging side by side offered another comedic outlet. Through careful planning I was able to use my fine arts background to parody the world of fine art.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Computer animation--Technique; Computer animation--Themes, motives; Animation (Cinematography); Animated films--Themes, motives

Publication Date

11-13-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

School of Film and Animation (CIAS)

Advisor

Gasek, Tom

Advisor/Committee Member

Battaglia, Skip

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: TR897.7 .S23 2011

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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