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The Effect of Digital Animation Within the Realm of Live-action Cinema

Abstract

Animation has long occupied the sidelines of cinema. As its essence resides not in the ability to capture the world as it really is but in an artistic representation of reality, conventional animation has often been discarded as an outdated by-product of cinema’s early technological development. However, with advances in digital animation, live-action film is becoming increasingly reliant on computer-generated images as a tool to manipulate the on-screen image, whether to subtly tweak aesthetics or to create entire scenes. The relationship between animation and live-action cinema is therefore changing. Some fear that, as a result, cinema will lose its credibility as an authoritative medium; that the hand of the digital animator will detract from cinema’s ability to effectively showcase the ‘real’. With reference to films containing varying degrees of digital manipulation, this paper will look at the effect that this hybridisation has on both animation and live-action cinema, and will show that, although it may detract from cinema’s authoritative nature, it also frees filmmakers from the constraints of conventional cinematic apparatus, allowing for the creation of new and exciting styles.