Comm. 345
Principles of Communication
Chapter one of the book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation states that conveying a particular emotion or feeling is the most important element of communication in any form of art (Thomas and Johnston 15). This is true because emotions allow us to connect to the characters in the case of animation, which, in my opinion, is necessary to completely enjoy an animated work. It is difficult to connect to a character that never shows emotion and lacks personality because real people have emotions and personalities. The emotion and personality of a character also often show in their actions. For example, an ill-mannered character that becomes angry during a game of baseball could possibly be shown swinging the bat with exaggerated strength and hitting the ball so hard that it explodes. This same action would not go with a character that had no personality, in fact, if any action at all happened it would probably be slow, boring, or lifeless.Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior (Merriam-Webster). In its basic form, communication involves a source who sends a message to a receiver and the receiver interpreting it and providing feedback, which I learned from a previous communications class. However, communication is often more complex and can include speaking face to face to a single person or even creating a movie to be viewed by a large audience in order to convey a message. The complexity also continues when other elements such as "noise" or the listeners own opinions are added that have an affect on what is received by the target of the communication. However, communication is a tool that can provide useful knowledge or entertainment to viewers, and it also allows viewers to connect to animated works.
The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation also states that the animator of a work is actually the actor because they make use of understood symbols of communication to make animated characters express emotions (Thomas and Johnston 18). If the animator did not make use of understood symbols of communication, then my example above involving the angry baseball player would not work. The animator must have an idea of what being angry is like along with actions associated with anger to be able to successfully create my example. Since anger for many people often involves aggression, the exaggerated strength I mentioned giving to the baseball player would actually be a symbol of anger.
Before Disney began creating characters with emotions, animated works were much shorter than they normally are now and the audience usually did not connect to the characters as much as they just enjoyed the situation the character was in. According to The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, the goal of Disney animation was not just to create an entertaining situation but instead to create characters that the audience could emotionally relate to (Thomas and Johnston 22). The creation of such characters happened some before Disney, but it wasn't until Disney used their own techniques to eventually perfect emotional characters that it became successful.
Communication in the art world, as well as in reality, is an important process. The main principle of communication in the art world is the ability to accurately convey emotions or feelings to the viewers (Thomas and Johnston 15). This is also true for the art of animation. Without the ability to communicate emotions, it is difficult to fully connect to or enjoy animation. Because of this understanding of communication, great animated works and other works of art exist today, and they can continue to be created and exist with greater popularity than animation or art that do not allow an emotional connection.
Works Cited
"Communication." 2009. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication (accessed September 10, 2009).
Thomas, Frank and Ollie Johnston. 1995. The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.
