TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

“hidden details of familiar” and not-so-familiar “objects”

Walter Benjamin, 1935

Textual analysis will cover issues of aesthetics as pertains to images generated and distributed by
the computer and the possible benefit of adding a human interaction element. To assist in my effort
to situate my work within an aesthetic framework it will be helpful begin with the 1935 essay of
Walter Benjamin The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and then move to more
contemporary authors dealing with the digital age. I look at using the concept of the uncanny valley
to help measure psychological appeal, particularly how to avoid it. I look at exploring narrative
accessibility, emotional connection and usefulness for contemplative immersion.

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction was written at a time that film and
photography were firmly established media but the language of critique was still nascent. This is
similar to computer generated imagery or CGI. CGI is ubiquitous. It is found in almost all
commercial media consumed today. Yet the theoretical discourse surrounding the media as art is
just beginning. Much of the published academic material on CGI is on pioneering mechanisms in
computer generated imagery. It has been concentrated on the science of computer programming
not on the analysis of the imagery and its artistic value. Since this project is concentrating not on
the technology but on the art, Benjamin’s essay gives a workable framework for the discussion.

CGI is an unintuitive hybridization of photography, cinematography, 3D (or stop motion)

animation, and physics. Unlike hand drawn animation the mind reads 3D rendered images
differently. This is why there is the common issue of the uncanny valley in CGI. The uncanny
valley is point where an image comes close to reality but not close enough for complete mimicry.

Image: The uncanny valley

http://www.therobotsvoice.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/03/uncanny_graph_blog.jpg

The initial stages of this project began with an exploration of design. We explored imagery that
ran from hand painted water colors to photo realistic rendering. We landed on a look closer to the
photoreal spectrum. Our decision was based on our desire to communicate the real world details
of the whales that were unknown to most people. To avoid delving into the uncanny valley my
research partner and I collected a large range of still images, videos and illustrations. We analyzed
the imagery to ensure the correct coloring, size and shape of our film’s protagonists, a Bryde’s
whale mother and her calf.

Another important decision that needed to be made was the simulation of water and other dynamic
objects. This decision seems obvious but looking at the budget breakdown (see appendix) you will
see dynamic simulation was the most expensive process monetarily, costing the project 400,000
Thai Baht. Computer simulation is also computationally expensive. It may take a powerful
computer many hours to calculate all the related fields to create a splash of water. In addition, a
simulation may not turn out the way we hope. A rope simulation may look too rubbery or look too
stiff. So this results in the need for an iterative simulation approach. Making changes to the
dynamic physics fields until the simulation is correct. In some cases this can take days or even
weeks.

Narrative Accessibility
Relevant to our contemporary condition Benjamin spoke of the then modern condition of man. He
stated that “Our taverns and our metropolitan streets, our offices and furnished rooms, our railroad
stations and our factories appeared to have us locked up hopelessly.” It is the film that “bursts this
prison-world asunder”. Film allows us to travel to foreign lands and take adventures. The animated
film takes us one step further. It takes us to places we cannot go.

It is telling that my research partner Chanakit, an award winning cinematographer, with hundreds
of hours of diving experience logged, chose to tell a story not with a camera but with computer
generated imagery. It was only through computer generated imagery that the story we wanted to
tell could be visualized. It is still a physical impossibility for a cameraperson to capture the
narrative visuals we were looking for. To use CGI animals instead of real footage makes the
actions of the animals more easily controlled. A human animator decides all the movements.
However, it creates a new challenge of verisimilitude.

In this case I argue that CGI animation not only enabled us to tell the story we needed to tell but
sidestep ethical issues related to animal rights. This issue is much too complex to delve into at any
length in this report but there is ample material for discussion about the intrusion of humans into
the animal world. Many nature documentaries make use of tamed animals intercut with wild
animals to communicate a narrative. Many live-action films are choosing to use computer
generated imagery for animals portrayed on screen. Animal rights organizations like PETA
embrace this new digital frontier “offering powerful anti-captivity, pro–animal rights messages
along the way.”(Sullivan, 2017)

Emotional Connection
We know that “the narrative itself acts to evoke and transform emotions, both directly through the
events and characters depicted and through the cueing of emotionally valenced memories. Once
evoked by the story, these emotions can in turn influence a person’s experience of the narrative.”
(Mar, Oatley, et al, 2011]

The intention of the animated film was not to present facts and figures in an infographic. It was to
create an emotional connection with the audience. A connection that we hope will stay with them
after the viewing.

One shot in the film is of a whale calf gracefully gliding over and under the mother to suckle. It
was one of the first shots that I felt, “Yes, we are on the right track.” I felt confident because when
I watch that shot, even after multiple viewings, I feel something. When I ran the workshops there
is another shot that gets a strong emotional reaction. A close up of the whale calf as it closes its
eye while tied up. There is a metaphorical moment as we fade to black. We feel the loss of hope.

These shots along with many others convey the desired theme. They are experienced in the moment
but are open ended enough to allow for questions and further inquiry.

Usefulness for contemplative immersion

The Thai Whale animated film is not meant to be commercial. Its value is not in its sales value but
in what Benjamin refers to as “its usefulness for contemplative immersion”. (Benjamin, 1935) In
his Essay Benjamin is referring to the Dadaist movement, an early avant-garde movement in the
20th century. The Dadaist movement seems a useful comparison tool for CGI aesthetics because
the works of the Dadaists went against all previous art values. The works were anti-art and anti-
aesthetics. While CGI is not anti-art the fact that it is situated in a digital world means many
traditional means of valuing a work will not fit. Arguably the most famous Dadaist works, Du
Champ’s ready-mades and his Fountain urinal in particular, drew upon the mechanical processes
of machines and factories. Du Champ didn’t even create a work of art. He just bought a urinal and
put it in a gallery. Du Champ removed himself from even the craft of art making.

This revolutionary revaluing of a mechanically produced artwork is significant. It removed the

previous necessity for artists to make spiritual art objects. Spiritual here meaning the revered totem
of painting or sculpture. Dadaists continued to show their physical works in the artist’s cathedral,
the gallery. And Dadaist films continued to be shown in the film-maker’s temple of the cinema.

Stepping forward to our contemporary world we have a new aesthetic challenge, digital art. A
battle is raging to find the right balanced argument for and against digital content. One unique
valuation of digital art is what Crowther calls nonlocal, valuing the ontological placement of digital
distribution. He says, “The digital image can be realized at as many different times and places as
there are devices to activate it.” [Crowther 2008] Nonlocal experiences have become as ubiquitous
as the smart phone.

Delving even further into a digital ontology we can look at Clough and Doane. Clough describes
the connections of the digital experience as “technology to the psyche, space and time, Being and
technicity.” (Clough, 2000) The ubiquitous nature of being connected means we have expanded
our organ of memory. We can google the date of a historical event, read scholarly articles or drive
around the maze of Bangkok’s motorways. Doane tempers the enthusiasm of Clough by reminding
us of the myriad negative effects of being connected: spyware, virus’s digital disruptions to
existing economies and the loss of ownership of our personal data. (Doane, 2006)

Nonlocal distribution ubiquitously accessed has value for a film intended to reach a large audience
and educate them. But it was important to go further. It was never enough for me to create the
project to release it into the wilds of the internet. From the outset of this project it was always my
intention to use this film as part of an educational workshop. Ensuring the utility and understanding
of the message was necessary. For, as Stecker writes, “If an artwork has cognitive or ethical value
that is part of its artistic value, one needs to understand the work to appreciate the value.” (Stecker
2012)

Let me provide context for my concept of useful contemplative immersion. As an educator and
artist I have felt the challenge of competing in the modern day attention economy. I am challenged
to keep the attention of my students when their phone vibrates with a Facebook update. I am
challenged to maintain interest on topics that I believe are of real value to the benefit of young
minds.

From this need came the idea to combine the Thai Whale film and the workshop. The workshop
gives the students a space free from distraction. They are not opening the film on their smart phone
in a taxi. They are in an educational atmosphere.