The animated films of Satoshi Kon are often praised for the depth of psychological portrayals. But how is a sense of psychological depth produced in animation? To answer this question, noted anime expert Dr. Thomas Lamarre proposes a closer look at the production of doubles in Kon’s 2006 film Paprika in order to situate the distinctiveness of his animation style. Dr. Lamarre focuses particularly on Kon's use of techniques of compositing to generate doubles of characters, in conjunction with techniques of framing inspired by the art of manga. A closer look at these animation techniques will provide insight into Kon’s use of doubles to “animate the self” in a manner that makes him a pioneer of the mind-game film.
Dr. Thomas Lamarre (he/him/his) teaches in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. Publications on media, thought, and material history include work on communication networks in 9th century Japan (Uncovering Heian Japan, 2000); silent cinema and the global imaginary (Shadows on the Screen, 2005); animation technologies (The Anime Machine, 2009) and infrastructure ecologies (The Anime Ecology, 2018).
The animated films of Satoshi Kon are often praised for the depth of psychological portrayals. But how is a sense of psychological depth produced in animation? To answer this question, noted anime expert Dr. Thomas Lamarre proposes a closer look at the production of doubles in Kon’s 2006 film Paprika in order to situate the distinctiveness of his animation style. Dr. Lamarre focuses particularly on Kon's use of techniques of compositing to generate doubles of characters, in conjunction with techniques of framing inspired by the art of manga. A closer look at these animation techniques will provide insight into Kon’s use of doubles to “animate the self” in a manner that makes him a pioneer of the mind-game film.
Dr. Thomas Lamarre (he/him/his) teaches in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. Publications on media, thought, and material history include work on communication networks in 9th century Japan (Uncovering Heian Japan, 2000); silent cinema and the global imaginary (Shadows on the Screen, 2005); animation technologies (The Anime Machine, 2009) and infrastructure ecologies (The Anime Ecology, 2018).