Tuesday, June 28, 2011

BLACK AND WHITE OR COLOR?

In my humble opinion, black and white is a better medium for funny cartoons. Drawings read better in this medium, and the limited palette doesn't tempt us into fruitless attempts at realism.


The decision whether or not to use color will effect  everything you do in a cartoon. Believe it or not, it'll even effect the staging. 

It's no accident that old time black and white animators preferred to stage action on long downshots (above).  That comes natural in a funny cartoon, because it allows for more gag possibilities and sets off the foreground action with musical and visual counterpoints in the background.


Stage the same scene in color (pretend the shot above is in color), and it would have to be shot closer and from a low angle. That's because color promotes realism, and realism (at least cartoon realism) gives us the desire to get a closer look. Color staging sometimes strikes me as claustrophobic, and less gag friendly. It tempts us to rely on dialogue to carry the scene.


And let's face it: black and white (above) is innately more funny. It's easier to convey a dumb, class clown feel when color doesn't complicate things. 


Look at the color picture above. See how the color distracts? It's conveying a message of its own that fights the gags. I absolutely love good color in a cartoon but if you draw funny and don't work with a first-rate colorist, then you're in real trouble. 


Are there exceptions? Of course! This Avery gag (above) works fine in color.....


.....as does this John K. set-up. You wouldn't want to change a thing.  But these are exceptions to the rule! 

Thanks to these sites for the great frame grabs:







20 comments:

JohnDoe123 said...

Nice theory there, Ed! Love it when you talk cartoons! The color in those Bill Wray paintings in Ren & Stimpy were easily one of the best things about that show.

A Koszis said...

Good points. So far my level as a colorist has only been to pick a color at random and then tweak it for 2 hours until it works.

I've been learning a lot about color just from looking at John K's stuff, though.

Aaronphilby said...

You make me want to do gray scale caricatures. I haven't really seen that focused on at least in the retail world. It might be tricky though cuz we're not suppose to add tone to our black and whites.

thomas said...

The problem is with "local" color; which is when you try to assign an object the color that it "really" is.

Would be nice to try and color that first one with the farmer, the way Tex Avery, or John K would.

Don't have photoshop, so I can't do it.

Very strange color. Was it called 2- strip?
Betty Boop

Steven M. said...

I'll keep this rule of color in my head.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this could explain why colorized cartoons never look as good as the originals. It's infuriating how they can't just play the cartoons on television as they were originally intended, like with the old black and white Looney Tunes and Popeyes. Whenever you get the money, I'd love to see a black and white cartoon from you. It would be an interesting thing to see, in my opinion.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Thomas: That IS strange color!

Roberto: I may try a different strategy...think in black and white, but use color. Of course, it would have to be the right color.

Ian Merch! said...

I also find that line quality can shine through easier in Black and White. The old black and white Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons that Fleischer did had some of the most beautiful line-work in any animated cartoon I've seen, but the color ones done around the same time, likely by the same artists, just with color behind them, make the lines seem weaker in comparison.

When working at a modern commercial studio I often marveled at our own pencil tests before color, and then watched in confusion when all that information was lost after the frames were colored, despite the fact that it was digital and there was no actual bleed into the ink itself. I think color detracts from a moving line in a way that's hard to describe without seeing the same scene both ways.

romans said...

I always learn a lot from you. Now I feel more confident when talking about b & w movies too--and comics. Some of my favorite comics are b & w, for the same reasons you cite. (Robert Crumb, Warren Magazines, etc.)

Nicholas John Pozega said...

No wonder why i prefer watching B&W cartoons! I always wondered why my eyes couldn't read a color cartoon as well, but now i know!

By the way Eddie, do you want me to post some more Van Beuren Felix framegrabs on my blogspot? I think Felix is the perfect character for beginning animators to cut their teeth animating, since he's so easy to draw and move, and much more alive than Mickey Mouse. The Van Beuren Felix cartoons may have missed the point of the series, but they're very nicely animated-- great to teach basic animation principles to beginning animators. And they're not full of that distracting, arbitrary motion you would see in a Disney cartoon, so it's easier to grasp the principles in these as well, even when you're not freeze framing the cartoons. I might even post some Molly Moo Cow frame grabs.

Just one question though--do you think Van Beuren occasionally had some formless characters (i.e. King Cole, who's lead looks kinda lumpy, and probably confused the lip for the chin)?

I mean, 40's cartoons in theory would be better to study from, but it's much harder to grasp the principles of those cartoons than say a very simple design like Felix. Have you ever tried to draw Bugs Bunny, let alone animated him? Very tough to do! Especially for someone who is used to drawing straight ahead his whole life, i need to take some time to give myself a foundation to build on!

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Sparky: Thanks for the frame grabs! More Felix? That would be great! You're right about that character being a good one to study. The best color Sunday strips on him were useful, too.

Charles Kenny said...

Great post Eddie,

I'd never considered the subtle changes in style that came along with colour until now. It's something that warrants more investigation on my part I'm sure.

PS. A non-scientific study has concluded that my English bulldog will watch black and white cartoons intently but could care less about colour ones....

Joel Brinkerhoff said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt0eJh0YXZ0

The link above is a cool exercise that fits this topic. Film Noir uses light and composition to lead the eye to what the film maker wants you to look at. I think the same is true of B&W cartoons. Good color can do the same thing but is tougher to do. I've notices most good color backgrounds are almost monochromatic and contrasting colors are used for the characters.

Brubaker said...

Color is a strange beast, I've always found.

Sometimes I wonder if I should make my cartoon in B&W. On one hand, choosing contrasts is much easier; you just have to ask yourself "Hmmm, should I use a lighter or darker shade of gray in this area?". And of course the filmstock is cheaper (yes, I'm using film).

On the other hand, color is more marketable and it can add alot to the cartoon in a good way.

Hmmm...

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Joel: Wow! Interesting film! For me Indiana Jones works better in color, but maybe I'm just used to it that way. My hunch is that black and white requires its own type of staging and camera placement.

I'll keep in mind what you said the next time I watch a black and white. It's an interesting subject.

Brubaker: An awful lot of people won't watch a black and white film. Unfortunately you have to work in color if you want to make money on what you do.

Anonymous said...

The ancient use of sustained long shots is getting a rebirth. Modern 16 X 9 aspect ratio screens dictate that long shots be used more often than in the past. It is even possible to play an entire cartoon in one unbroken long shot, without retake hell, thanks to digital frame grabbing. Is this good or bad? Depends on what is made of it.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Anon: Fascinating! Sustained long shots in animation work great when they're done right, but you don't see them very often. Some TV animators don't like to get them because they require more planning, but I think they're worth the trouble.

A live action movie that's interesting to watch for scene length is "His Girl Friday," the Hawks film. The film combines long and short scenes perfectly, with each shot getting exactly the length it needs.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Anon: I didn't print that for obvious reasons.

Kyle said...

I can't say I agree with this. I do think black and white forced artists to stage things properly, but just because color can tempt some into cluttering up the frame doesn't inherently mean its better. It just means you have to pull back a bit, change the pallet until it works. Working in black and white while planning things is definitely effective, but I just don't see how the same staging doesn't work in color, provided the pallet has been well thought out.

But that's just me.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Kyle: You may be right, and I admit that I'm judging this by how it makes me feel, but talking about it this way brings up an interesting subject: how does the choice of medium affect the content?