And so I find myself blogging for yet another educational institute. Though this time far more lenient, with a post required once a week instead of once a day!
The first lecture touched on some very familiar subjects to me. As an ex-communication student I'm more than a little familiar with Shannon & Weaver's model of communication and I must admit I was feeling more than a little bit smug about it. It was even rather nostalgic. However, rethinking it all turned out to be an excellent experience. All the knowledge I thought was more or less useless, will certainly come in handy in my future animation-related floundering.
Seeing Entropy and Redundancy in an animation context puts the terms in a different light. I have learned I tend to lean towards the redundant side of it all more than the entropic. Seeing as most of my favourite films are Disney and Pixar ones. That's not to say neither of them are entropic. In fact, I believe the latest Pixar films have found a sort of glorious equilibrium between the two. They reach a massive audience and are still hugely entertaining.
We've also discussed the use of the right side of the brain in creativity, and how our society is focused on the use of the left side. The left side focuses on linear reasoning, routines, language functions such as grammar and vocabulary and literal meanings, whereas the right side handles the unexpected, intonation/accentuation of speech and contextual meanings. The unexpected vs. routine? Doesn't that sound familiar? As we move from 1900 to now through history, the left side of the brain is used more and more in most Western countries. And if we compare an early Disney film like Bambi to a modern Pixar one like Ratatouille, it does seem like the latter is trying to reason with us much more than the former...
All in all, food for thought!
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