Waking Life (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Mannheim (Amerikanistik), course: Introduction to Film Studies, language: English, abstract: The computer animated filmWaking Life(October 19th- 2001, Richard Linklater) was originally shot on digital video with dozens of live actors as in any other movie, however it presents a revolutionary approach to animation by transforming the cast into exceptional characters, each interpreted and animated by a different artist. After the editing was complete, the animation process used software which allows artists to paint over the digital footage using a technique called "interpolated rotoscoping" (i.e. individual brushstrokes can be stretched smoothly across a range of frames, giving the animation a unique that goes beyond the typical cartoon character. The creator of this software, Bob Sabiston explains: "Traditional animation is locked into a particular 'character design' forcing the artist to conform to a predetermined style.Waking Lifeis not animated in the truest sense of the word. It is a composite of wildly different, re-imagined video scenes drawn in cartoon style." Director Richard Linklater describes the experience as "an interesting marriage between cinemas and computers. I would have never attempted this as a traditional live-action movie."