"Animation is not the art of drawings that move but the art of movements that are drawn; What happens between each frame is much more important than what exists on each frame; animation is therefore the art of manipulating the invisible interstices that lie between the frames"
Norman McLaren on animation (Furniss, 5)
If we consider animation to be the drawing of movement, it should be of no surprise that when it comes to highlighting or stylizing the motion of something, animation is the perfect medium. Moments can be extended or a physical reaction made extreme without the artifice becoming apparent (since animation wears its artifice on its sleeve as opposed to live-action, it does not sacrifice its overall effect using these methods) This is particularly effective when it comes to illustrating action since key moments of an inherently disorienting thing can be embellished in astonishing fashion.
Animation inherently distorts time and space. This can be used to achieve any end but perhaps most surprisingly it can be used to heighten reality on its own terms, by embellishing something based on real life physics, by stylization and simplification it can arrive at its own end while reflecting on its real life subject in no lesser way than live action.
I intend to focus on a very specific example of this - how animation can heighten reality without mimicking it, why this makes it viable for a filmic depiction of boxing and how this is achieved successfully within a particular episode of the japanese animated show Hajime No Ippo (based on the manga of the same name by Joji Morikawa)
Due to the functional and dangerous nature of the sport, boxing can often look somewhat unimpressive. Defense is emphasized to protect the fighters and energy preservation is so critical that only the most skilled or conditioned can afford to show off or waste any energy. Punches are designed to be hidden from the opponent so he has less of a chance of anticipating them and the economy of their construct (a construct which eliminates any excessive motion) is key for reserving energy. This is the very opposite of say WWE wrestling, where punches, much like animated ones, are anticipated for the audience's benefit to build excitement and the impact accentuated by leaving the fist on the target for an extended period after it lands. Boxing punches, by comparison, lack all of these attributes, fighters are trained to pull back their punches as fast as they can in order to both remain on the defense and be ready for the next punch. This makes the exact duplication of those punches less than ideal for film purposes where the intent is to stay true to the mechanics of the sport.
The extent of stylization in the most successful of boxing films cannot thus, be considered a surprise. To engage the audience as well as well as to enable them to keep track, boxing on film, cannot be what it is in real life and is thus either internalized to fit a fighter's perspective or stripped down to its essence in order to lend more weight to each punch. Sometimes both methods are employed. In Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) the size of the ring reflects the protagonist's state - when he is doing well it is vast and unobtrusive but when things have gone bad it is smaller and all-enveloping. Certain moments are emphasized with time distortion and as is traditional in film, the camera is used to pin-point a certain moment be it a punch or blood dripping from the ropes. These are all conventions of film, montage is used to dictate our feelings and focus and what we see is not boxing of course but an artist's impression of it. I would argue that Raging Bull goes as far as a live action piece can go with the stylization of boxing without sacrificing what the sport is about or perhaps more importantly what it looks like. Further stylization would risk taking the film out of the realm of drama and believability, particularly if we consider the realism in which the film is rooted in. In animation, this problem does not exist, animation is all stylization and time manipulation and is therefore in the privileged position of being able to go to much more extreme lengths.
A great example of this can bee seen in the Episode 24 of the second season Hajime no Ippo. In general the series depicts boxing in an exceptional way, but this particular segment will best illustrate my points of how distorted time, highlighted moments, accents and perspective can be brought to new heights in animation without alienating an audience by sacrificing believability. Three attributes are key in this and I will explain below how each of them is achieved. The attributes are:
1. The heightening of physical impact and attributes through timing and pacing (time distortion)
2. The immersion of the audience into a character's mind
3. Heightened intensity - madness.
Before I jump into these categories I will attempt to give the scene some context: One of the show's main protagonists Takamura, Japan´s middleweight champion is in the middle of a world title bout with the American Bryan Hawk. Hawk is a wild unorthodox fighter, prone to clownish behavior and whose is believed to be unmatched by anyone in the world. When this episode opens, their fight has already gone on for three episodes and Takamura is in trouble.
1. The heightening of physical impact and attributes through timing and spacing (time distortion)
The episode opens with a quick establishing shot before moving to a medium shot where the camera is placed behind Takamura as Hawk lands punches on him. The shot is an infinite loop that is broken down in the following way: The anticipation is one drawing of Hawk with his fist held for two frames, one frame of Hawk's fist in the air. Five different drawings held for one frame of the fist in contact with Takamura, one drawing held for two frames of the fist being drawn back, one frame for anticipation before cutting straight to impact again which is held for five. This continues for several punches with the camera shaking to increase the impact and place us as the audience firmly with Takamura and his plight. This is typical for the show, both the speed and impact of the punches is accented with preference being given to the impact to make sure the punches register.
This functions essentially as a mini-freezing of time, it would be unthinkable in live-action without entering highly surreal territory but is essential here for us to believe that the characters are of flesh, blood and most importantly weight. Within animation, impacts can be greatly exaggerated without sacrificing believability, in fact the exaggeration establishes it. This is a method common to most classical animations, in order fur us to believe in characters, their weight needs to be established and maintained, but in this particular instance I would argue that principle is taken even further to depict the particular violence of boxing punches.
The scene goes on, Takamura takes more punches, several shots of loops that follow the same pattern of impact and anticipation follow and then a particularly strong punch is highlighted. We see a long anticipation shot of Hawk swinging, it lasts for one second as he slowly swing his fist and body in an arc towards the camera (and Takamura) The next shot is the impact, a still image scatter framed for roughly one and a half second as this particularly important impact is highlighted. It could be called time manipulation without slow motion, it feels real because by now we are caught up in the animated world and because it is all so obviously artificial we lower our guard and accept these distortions as part of the world they take place in.
All of the things described above are wrong from a technical boxing standpoint but they ring true to my experiences as a boxer and how I recall particular moments of a fight afterwards. The mind will linger on certain moments, extend them and distort. I therefore feel that what the creators of Hajime no Ippo have accomplished here is not a recreation of a boxing match so much as an illustration of the mind of a fighter. This brings me to my second point.
2. The immersion of the audience into a character's mind
Takamura takes a hit, the color changes to blue and we enter his memory as he blacks out and it is here within the realms of the mind, memory and dream that animation can particularly shine: We are treated to a highly stylized shot of Takamura running, the camera is close to the ground and tracks him, the perspective is distorted and for each step he takes, his heel is flung to the camera.
Other shots of him running are intercut with his pre-fight memories until the climax of the segment takes place - in a vast black space, the laughing red head of Bryan Hawk flies towards the screen right before Takamura snaps out of his dream and continues the fight
Other shots of him running are intercut with his pre-fight memories until the climax of the segment takes place - in a vast black space, the laughing red head of Bryan Hawk flies towards the screen right before Takamura snaps out of his dream and continues the fight
Since each shot is drawn (as opposed to filmed in live-action) there is no distinction between special effects and "normal shots" and since all motion is artificial the leap between the stylized and the less stylized is smoother - it allows for a free flow between the dream-state and because it feels so natural is draws us into the fight rather than push us out. It is a short segment but the expressionistic execution of it places us firmly within the haze and delirium of Takamura's mind in a way only such modern art can. Animation, of course is, more than anything, modern art given movement. This embellishment makes what takes place later on in the fight possible.
3. Heightened intensity - madness
"Animation is instructional madness made coherent - controlled anarchy, It maps the unfindable as direct address."
Norman M. Klein - Animation as Baroque: Fleischer Morphs Harlem; Tangos to Crocodiles (Gehman, Ranke, Klein 176)
As the fight goes on, the visual style of memory and point of view starts blurring with the more conventional embellishment described in part one. As Hawk unexpectedly dodges a punch from Takamura, the fight takes a surreal turn. As Hawk resurfaces from his dodge the speed of the scene slows drastically down to signify Takamura's distress. Hawk's face resembles what was seen in the previous hallucination, his eyes are glowing red and green and his face is contorted in a demonic grin.
The anticipation of his punch takes several seconds and it is thrown in slow motion. When Takamura blocks it however, time stops completely and Hawk's appearance reverts back to normal. We are still inside of Takamura's head but the tables have turned. As Takamura counters the impact of the punch is extended considerably as he slams Hawk into the ground and the crowd erupts in joy.
It would be foolish to deny the benefits of depicting boxing through live-action but animation offers something else - namely added stylization, timing and the illustration of a fighter's mind. Consider Ali's following description and the boundless possibilities of depicting his thoughts through the expression of drawn motion:
"But in the ninth round the pain is almost unbearable. In the tenth it's worse and I have this feeling I've never had before in the ring - I´m close to a death...my death, and every punch I throw is taking me closer to the grave. I´ve been exhausted before, in the Olympics, the Golden Gloves, in tournaments, but the feeling now is beyond that. Somehow I keep pushing, throwing punches, keep killing myself. And he's still coming back . He won´t go down. Why do we do it?"
Animation's potential to achieve this in the depiction of boxing has largely remained unexplored outside of Japan where it has enjoyed other successful depictions before Hajime no Ippo. It would be interesting to see further explorations from around the world, particularly those that would strive to further map the mind and the mentality of the boxer for it is within that realm where animation can truly shine.
Contrary to what one might expect this extreme stylization does not stick out but plays like a logical merger of the characters' perspective and timing taken to a new level to illustrate the climax of the fight. The fact this plays out so well is testament not only to the power of animation but it's ability to make sense out of something that other mediums or the real thing they seek to interpret often fail to illustrate.
It would be foolish to deny the benefits of depicting boxing through live-action but animation offers something else - namely added stylization, timing and the illustration of a fighter's mind. Consider Ali's following description and the boundless possibilities of depicting his thoughts through the expression of drawn motion:
"But in the ninth round the pain is almost unbearable. In the tenth it's worse and I have this feeling I've never had before in the ring - I´m close to a death...my death, and every punch I throw is taking me closer to the grave. I´ve been exhausted before, in the Olympics, the Golden Gloves, in tournaments, but the feeling now is beyond that. Somehow I keep pushing, throwing punches, keep killing myself. And he's still coming back . He won´t go down. Why do we do it?"
Muhammad Ali, on the last time he fought Joe Frazier (Ali, Durham, 509)
Animation's potential to achieve this in the depiction of boxing has largely remained unexplored outside of Japan where it has enjoyed other successful depictions before Hajime no Ippo. It would be interesting to see further explorations from around the world, particularly those that would strive to further map the mind and the mentality of the boxer for it is within that realm where animation can truly shine.
Works Cited
Ali, Muhammad, and Richard Durham. The Greatest: My Own Story. 2nd ed. London: Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, 1976. Print.
Furniss, Maureen. Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. 2nd ed. Sydney: John Libbey, 1999. Print.
Gehman, Chris, Steve Reinke, and Norman M. Klein. The Sharpest Point: Animation at the End of Cinema. Toronto, ON: YYZ /Ottawa International Animation Festival/Images Festival, 2005. Print.
"The King"" Hajime No Ippo. Nippon Television. 16 June 2009. Television.
Raging Bull. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Prod. Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler. By Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin. Perf. Niro Robert De, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, and Nicholas Colasanto. United Artists, 1980. DVD.
