Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Gestalt Psychology

     Gestalt Psychology is a theory of the mind and brain that states that the eyes see things as a whole before they perceive their individual parts. 
An example is pictured here: our mind fills in the blanks and makes us think that we see one triangle on top of another, when really it is just three wedged circles and some lines; the triangles aren't actually there
     I was really impressed with Caroline Leaf's Two Sisters film because of the principle she said she used in the making, and I think she pulled it off very nicely. A lot of the film was negative space, and there really wasn't much there except for a few shapes to resemble parts of an entire form, and she let our minds fill in the blanks.
These simple shapes aren't even complete, and yet we can still all universally recognize them as typing fingers.
     I can relate really well to this principle because of my deformed features; my left pinky is joined with my left ring finger at a knuckle, I don't have an ear canal in my right ear, and my eyes are two different colors. I think it's cool how the minds of others overlook these details until they start to hang out with me regularly! 
It's hard to draw deformed popcorn hands with a mouse so just pretend the one on the left is weirder than normal xD
     In addition to the method that was used to make the film and the principle it was based off of, I really appreciated the plot. I remember that in the interview that took place afterwards, Leaf mentioned that she had to be in love with her characters in order to properly animate them, and in my opinion not only did she fall in love with them, but I did as well! Their personalities were really captured and it was interesting to see how the story played out! 
     Her films were more psychological and emotional, in my opinion, and I really enjoyed that aspect because it made it easier to suspend belief and to become wrapped up in the story. I can't wait to see this element in the other films on Thursday!

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