Creative Media Essay

For our term four assessment we have to analise one of three animations. All of the animations were weird and strange but the film factory stood out to me the most and made the most sense to me.

An animator called Miwa Matreyek in 2009 created the animation “Factory”.

This animation was very different and unusual to watch. At first the video was confusing but once you peel back the layers there were many clear morals being shown. The animation had many objects that are featured in the film. Some include literal objects, metaphors, sounds, color’s and shades. Some of the Literal objects are Factories, Buildings, Smoke, Tools, Hands, Scientists, Airships blender, Machines and Computers. Some others Literal objects are metaphors, which are a large hand that picks up things, can be a representation of the machinery, which picks up objects like a hand does. Also when the hands are walking around the factory it symbolizes that machines are taking over the factory world. When I first look at the animation I see a big gloomy factory with many people walking around it with a sad and glum look, as though it is a very depressing place to work. Another one of main things that appeared to me was, at the beginning of the animation, the building was producing a lot of pollution. This shows me that as more and more factories are using machines to do the work the world is going to get much more polluted and dirty. The overall impression of the mood in this film is that it is a miserable work environment and all the employees seem very depressed and low. The colors shown in the film are black and white. The shapes displayed in the animation are very sharp and edgy giving the film a dangerous feel. The types of lines and texture used in the work are very jagered and intense, this is due to the mood being very acute and grave. You don’t know what time of day it is as it is inside a factory and you don’t get given an idea, but I am guessing it is during the day as most factories operate during throughout day.

The artist has used colors and shades in the animation to show the mood. Miwa chose the colors black and white, as it gives the film a very plain, cold, harsh and repetitive effect. The shapes in the film also give the same impression as they are all rugged and edgy which shows that it isn’t a very nice work environment and the machines aren’t very pleasant to work with.

The sounds are just as repetitive as the colors, most of the sounds are machines working, tapping, and beeping, metal clashing together and there is nothing to unusual for a factory environment. The sounds make the animation more realistic and compliment the motion of the images. The lines in the work have been used to show how savage the work environment is and what types of surroundings people these days have to work in. The textures in this piece of animation are similar to the lines as the textures used are very rough giving the same idea to the viewers that the work is very hard and treacherous. The artist, Miwa has used light and dark tones in this film to show the better and worse areas of the factory that people work in. It could mean that the darker areas are more dangerous and the lighter areas are more sheltered and guarded. The artist hasn’t used the tones in an abstract way.  The overall visual effect and mood of the film has been achieved by the use of elements such as color, shape and tone and without these elements the animation could have turned out very different.

The artist made a very clear statement throughout this animation. They wanted the audience to know how repetitive peoples everyday work lives are. Adults are sometimes “trapped” in their own jobs, as they have to support their family, reflecting on this animation highlights to me the importance of gaining a good education and securing a job that your passionate about instead of being confined to a job that is monotonous or with limited job satisfaction. Children should make the most of their education and do subjects that interest them. Children should make the right choices when they’re younger so that they don’t end up in a work environment that has no life to it and have colorless and boring days. They should do something that they enjoy, and know that they do have a choice and that those choices can deeply effect their future. I feel sad and sorry for the work employees as I would not like to be in their situation and it is obvious that if they had the chance they would certainly change their job. Miwa used the style of animation to describe message very clearly.

I believe that the animation has value as it shows what it is like for people who have not done well enough in school and might not have gone to university, maybe due to money problems. They are one of many people who have found it hard to find work with semi decent pay so that they can support their family with the bare basics. I believe that this piece of work does communicate a very strong idea and it would be very much valued by the viewers of the film. This animation does lack some worth and maybe the artist could have made the machines more sharp and rugged to prove a more powerful point of how It is a very unpleasant place to work.

To conclude Miwa Matreyek makes very bottomless and emotional animations that when first seen don’t seem like very much but as you look deeper into them some very meaningful morals and themes are displayed. They teach the person watching it a valuable lesson.  In this animation the work is hard and backbreaking. There are elements of art in the film, but many of the scenes are repetitive and use the same shapes and tones. The animations main focus is mainly about people working in a harsh environment and it has a very strong story line.

Miwa Matreyeks film “Factory” sends a very powerfull message to viewers in regards to lifestyle choices, this animation used significant elements of line, color, tone, and sound which had a profound impact on me, as a veiwer of this animation.