Research Task: Comparing Andreas Hykade and Bill Plympton

For this research task, we have to compare and contrast Andreas Hykade's 'Love and Theft' with Bill Plympton's 'Your Face', and see if we can think of any other animations in which 'change of state' could be a theme.

Screenshot from Bill Plympton's Your Face, displaying the character's face 'wrapping' around itself

To start, I will take a look at Bill Plympton's 'Your Face'. Much like Hykade's 'Love and Theft', the content of 'Your Face' is heavily psychedelic. Where 'Your Face' differs from 'Love and Theft' is how its psychedelic nature is presented. 'Your Face' features a singing man's face warping and twisting into different shapes, his entire head dissipating and reconstructing, his features stretching to grotesque sizes. This method of playing with the human face, possibly the most recognisable thing in the world, creates a sense of unease on a level that is arguably more personal than 'Love and Theft', which uses a combination of strange shapes, colours and music to play with the viewer's senses.

Screenshot from Andreas Hykade's Love and Theft

Adding to the more personal nature of Plympton's 'Your Face' is the fact that the whole animation has been hand drawn with pencil and pencil crayons, similar to the famous animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs' 'The Snowman'. The overall effect is one that is gentle and pleasingly messy, which only adds to the strangeness of the piece. In direct contrast, Hykade's 'Love and Theft' appears to have been produced digitally, and uses harsh colours, clean lines and smooth inbetweens. This is possibly a reference to the entertainment industry.

Title card for the Ninjas animation series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLTKpxG-Sr9RbE7ZtLT_RngA&feature=player_detailpage&v=VRudsOaEpmg

One animation I remember seeing a while ago that had 'Change of State' as part of its themes is 'Ninjas', produced for the Youtube gaming network The Yogscast by Youtube animator 'balbod'. The link above goes to the sixth episode of the series, in which the character of the Burrito Bushido (voiced by Chris Lovasz, also known as 'Sips') is pushed into a machine that transforms him from an overweight blob into a muscle-bound martial artist. The contrast between the 'before' and 'after' states of the character makes the transformation both amusing and memorable, and acts as a strong turning point in the story of the series.