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Animation in Relation to Audience

Animation in Relation to Audience

There are many different audiences in relation to animation, which can generally be categorised into three main groups, age, gender and profession, which then can be sub categorised. From cartoons to adverts, every animation has a target audience.

Audience Group 1 – Children

Most animation people view is designed for young children as animation is seen primarily as cartoons, and the most readily available are those on TV and the Internet. Animation for children tends to be very simplified using basic, bold colours. The language is simple so easily understood and the plots basic.

Examples

Bob the Builder is a children’s television character created by Keith Chapman. Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of anthropomorphised work-vehicles and equipment (all made of clay). The show is broadcast in many countries, but originates from the United Kingdom where Bob is voiced by British actor Neil Morrissey.

Recently the show has created more interactive episodes which include sing along versions, where the audience is expected to join in with the characters by dancing and singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8twap7eI8g&feature=related

Pingu is a Swiss clay animated television series created by Otmar Gutman, about a family of penguins who live at the South Pole. The main character is their son and title character, Pingu.

All the speech in the programme is imitated by the honking sound of a penguin. The gestures of the characters and the image on the screen is enough for the viewer to understand what is going on without a distinguishable dialogue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTWv63RyLP8&feature=PlayList&p=905D4B0648D5800C&playnext=1&index=3

Audience Group 2 – Teenagers and Young Adults

This is a very wide category as it covers both, animated films by Disney, Pixar, Fox, DreamWorks, Warner Brother etc. As well as short cartoons, animated comics found mainly on the Internet.

The quality of animation by the well known, successful productions is clearly seen. Recent creations such as Happy Feet show the extent of skill and work gone into them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XiZiRZ_yfU&feature=related

The lip syncing from the singing to the movement of the mouth is very accurate and the movement of the characters is very fluid and realistic.

Weeble and Bob a short comedy flash animation series broadcast on the Internet uses simple characters and lip syncing and muffled text to match speech bubbles.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/moon/

Audience Group 3 – Adults

This could be in the form of adverts, advertising things designed and created for adults, whether it’s a car, insurance, cleaning products or simply food shopping.

There is also a lot of adult animation available on the Internet, comedy series such as Family Guy have adult content in them, of which could also be classed as a teenagers’ programme.

Honda – The Power of Dreams - http://www.micheledauria.com/honda_inglese.html

The Honda animation has been made very well, managing to create a 3D image in Flash creating an element of depth in the short film.

The narrative tells a new story of the becoming of Honda. The voice chosen is very suitable, together with orchestral music in the background, the animation creates an almost dream like experience for the viewer, which is very effective.

Audience Group 4 – Gender

Both Male and Female watch animations, but many are specifically created for a particular audience.

Male audiences are more likely to watch animations of violence or football, of which female viewers may not be so enthusiastic to watch, and maybe more likely to watch something like, My Little Pony. There’s nothing to say one can’t watch an animation if you’re not the suggested gender.

Happy Tree Friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ne_KwVeIco&feature=PlayList&p=89A5ED6478904261&index=0&playnext=1

My Little Pony – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCG3ZSCbqr8&feature=related