This blog is the second installment of the literature review. Again, because the literature is extensive, I will only share a sample of it.
A sneak peek at the second section of the literature:
Collation：
2.2 Anti-hero character backstory and character
The traditional hero fights with honour and will never hit an opponent while down. He almost always makes the right decisions, is a friend to everyone around him, and is a well-rounded character. The hero fights on the side of the obvious good and will often (though not always) be the leader of a group of misfits.
He will always win his battles, and if he doesn’t, you can count on a rematch later in the story where he will win. His intentions are pure, and he is almost incorruptible.
The anti-hero lives in a universe with a more cynical and ambiguous moral code. He will have obvious character flaws and he will doubt himself. They will exhibit heroic behaviour, just like the traditional hero. Still, unlike the traditional hero, who has both a hero’s physical and moral abilities, the anti-hero usually has neither. Anti-heroes are often the right-hand men or opponents of traditional heroes, protagonists in post-modern literature or film, or the protagonists in the deconstruction of the traditional hero. (Heroes vs Anti-Heroes: Which Is Right For Your Story?)
In postmodernist literature, the character of the ‘anti-hero’ is often characterised by a strong sense of self and rebelliousness, but their aspirations are often in dichotomous relation to their actions and their consequences, thus trapping them in an impossible situation.
This puts them in an impossible situation. In the film, when Sun Wukong is unable to defeat the powerful demon, he cowers and retreats, blames himself madly, and even jumps into the river, in a confusing dilemma of self-questioning. This is very different from the Monkey King in the original journey to the West (32), where he says, “If you don’t suffer, you can’t be a man, but with Sun, even if the sky falls, you can be safe”. In addition to this, the ‘anti-hero’ also presents multiple complexities.
The ‘anti-hero’ also presents multiple and complex personalities. For example, the Monkey King’s cowardice and fear in the face of the demon is different from the positive and optimistic image of the Monkey King in the 1986 version of Journey to the West. In addition, the Monkey King has a humorous and nonsensical character. When Jiang Liuer naggingly asks, “Are the Four Heavenly Kings brothers?” Sun Wukong replies with a counter-quote: “Sisters!” Again Jiang Liu’er wonders, “Is Nezha a man?”
Again, Sun Wukong replied with a counter-word: “Female!” This nonsensical characterisation completes the transformation of the “Great Sage” from didactic to entertaining and reflects his complex and contradictory personality, which brings the audience a different kind of entertainment and enjoyment. (The Anti-Hero in the Age of the Common Man)
From a staunch spokesman for divine power to a determined rebel against it, Jiang Ziya’s journey is a process of “falsification” of traditional values such as heaven and predestination, justice and evil, and is the most typical expression of the “anti-hero”. The process of “falsification” is the most typical expression of the “anti-hero”, revealing a complete formula of derivation from “truth” and “falsity”. [5] The spirit of rebellion is one of the key connotations of the broad concept of the anti-hero and is a key indicator of the difference between a hero and an anti-hero. Some classic anti-hero characters usually have a strong rebellious spirit, such as Wolverine and Deadpool in the American comic book movies, acting bizarrely, never obeying a certain value system and only following their own rules. Jiang Ziya also has a rebellious spirit, but it is a rebellious spirit that awakens from the collapse of faith rather than an innate rebellious character. (A new paradigm of the Chinese superhero)
2.3 Anti-hero styling
People have always thought of heroes as ‘great and righteous’, handsome, majestic and with moral sentiments that are difficult to attain. The typical superhero in the Marvel Universe is Captain America, but what is more popular is a character like Iron Man, who has many faults, such as being a show-off and a womaniser, but is
He’s not bad at all, but he’s a superbly capable anti-hero. The character in Venom: Deadly Guardians, which broke box office records in its first week in North America last year, is arguably the strongest anti-hero in the Marvel Universe. Anti-heroes are not to be understood as heroes but rather as “alternative heroes” who defy our previous understanding of heroes.
They may be different in appearance, perception, or personal temperament from the traditional tall, perfect hero, but they do the same things as the hero, such as saving the world, so they are also heroes. Although the anti-heroes have various faults, it is the existence of these problems and flaws that bring them closer to the audience.
The self-exiled Great Sage in The Return of the Great Sage basically falls into this paradigm. This essentially pulls the divine heroes to the people and gives them humanity, thus confronting the deep dark side of human nature and its destructive
It is full of the rebellious spirit of post-modernism, which promotes extreme egoism, freedom from all constraints and the breaking down of everything.
Nezha’s portrayal in “The Magician’s Boy” fits this trend, with his smoky make-up, loud voice, bowed back and pockets, and his willingness to use violence to solve things without any nonsense, breaking the stereotypical image of Nezha as a beautiful boy in previous films and television productions. But as the play progresses, the audience gradually sees the heart-wrenching reason behind this rebellion, just as we who have been misunderstood and attacked choose to hold back because of social statutes or limited power, but how much we wish we could fight back against injustice like Nezha. In this sense, although Nezha in “The Magician’s Child” has been described by audiences as “the ugliest Nezha ever”, his external appearance is in keeping with his internal character and the overall direction of the film’s plot, and “the best portrait of a character should only be the one that best reflects that character’s personality “. (Legacy and Subversion: The Anti-Mythological Narrative of Nezha’s Demon Boy Comes to Life)
The “anti-hero” moves towards the opposite of the hero, breaking down the traditional deconstruction of the perfect hero and thus giving birth to an imperfect but heroic hero in his own right.
The characterisation of the Monkey King as an ‘anti-hero’ in the film covers three main aspects: appearance, ability and personality.
The first is the character’s appearance. In Chinese culture, the appearance of the recognised hero reflects the sense of pursuit and the highest idealised aesthetic concept of the people in response to the demands of the times and society. The Monkey King in this film is different from the brilliantly stylised Monkey King in the 1998 version of China’s first fully digitised animated film Journey to the West and from the cute, elfin Monkey King in the 2005 version of The Red Boy’s Tale of the Flaming Mountain.
Instead, he is portrayed as a long-nosed, horse-faced, shabby monkey, a far cry from the traditional hero’s bright, robust and handsome appearance. At the same time, the yellow Chinese costume, red cape and dragon armour of the “Great Sage” reflect the iconic Chinese elements of “Chinese red” and “dragon totem”. The Chinese Red and Dragon Totem are iconic Chinese elements and are highly recognisable. The design of this civilian and ethnic appearance evokes a sense of affinity and immersion in the audience and has gained a high level of recognition. (The ‘anti-hero’ image of the civilian era)
2.4 Anti-hero expressions and language
When watching an animated film, the audience will understand the character’s personality by observing the character’s language, expressions and movements. Nowadays, many animated films do not set up the antagonist as an unforgivable character as they used to but often set up the antagonist as a neutral character, with good and bad characters only at the drop of a hat, thus giving the character a more human touch.
This gives the characters a more human dimension.
Language is the most effective way for a character to communicate with the audience, as it gives insight into the character’s behaviour and inner workings. Language also gives the character more character, shapes the character, reveals the character’s characteristics and reflects the character’s position. The speed, volume and pace of speech can reflect the character’s personality.
2. Expression setting
Expression is an important representation of the character’s mental activity and an important means of communication between the character and the audience. Facial expressions can convey the subjective consciousness of a character, and the inner activities of a person, such as happiness, anger, sadness, joy and sorrow, are all expressed on the face. The design of facial expressions should mainly convey the character’s emotions and psychological activities. Generally speaking, animation
characters’ facial expressions need to be exaggerated, which can increase the entertainment effect of the whole animation film. In addition, as the plot develops, the antagonist is often presented in a highly exaggerated manner at a particular moment. For example, as the antagonist in the film, Victor has a wide range of expressions, sometimes like a bad guy, sometimes like a child, sometimes loving, sometimes dumb. It can be said that the original fierceness and cunning of the antagonist is completely discarded. (Figure 5) (Exploring the innovative design of anti-hero characters in animated films – Take Despicable Me as an example)
2.5 Anti-heroic actions and behaviours
Nezha, in the film, is clearly, in certain aspects of his spirit, qualities and abilities, deeply disliked and feared by the common people of Chen Tang Pass and is far from meeting traditional heroic standards. He is mischievous, unruly and always getting into trouble. His weaknesses are so distinct that he cannot even be described as a good boy, let alone a ‘hero’ in all these ways.
On the other hand, however, Nezha has always had some strengths that cannot be ignored. He was born with great strength, he is mischievous on the surface but soft on the inside (as a baby, he was quiet because his mother soothed him). He bullies the children of Chen Tang Pass more for the sake of having company. He is not always recognised by his surroundings but is full of a sense of justice, defeating the Sea Nightmare for the people of Chen Tang Pass, and so on. From all of this, it is easy to see that Nezha has a heroic quality about him. So what if he is born a demon? When he finally breaks through his destiny and shouts, “My life is mine, not anyone else’s”, the anti-hero theme of the entire production is officially expressed by the protagonist’s mouth, telling all audiences that you are not a hero just because others insult you, curse you or hate you. He is also a hero, a different kind of hero who grows up from nothing, regardless of whether others approve of him or not. This process of growth is also the process of the hero’s quest for self-worth and personal dignity, and it is also the process of the hero’s inner character ascension. His ultimate choice to sacrifice himself to protect his parents and the people and protect Chen Tang Pass is a powerful manifestation of his noble character. At this point, an uncontroversial ‘anti-hero’ is born.
This plotting and characterisation reflects the values of the film’s implied creator and resonates with many viewers, bringing the implied creator, the main character Nezha, and the audience closer together and creating a deep empathy that is one of the fundamental reasons why this work is so popular. (An analysis of the anti-hero portrayal in “Nezha the Demon Boy”)
Character movement gives each animated character a strong artistic vitality and infectious power. The character’s movements are designed to position the character and their movements in the film. Character movement design is an important part of the character’s characterisation and is an outward expression of the character’s mental activity. Action design can
exaggerate the character’s movements according to the characteristics of the antagonist and the needs of the plot development. Some dramatic expressions can be used to add interest to the animation and emphasise the antagonist’s emotions. For example, Viktor fights against Gru’s invasion with the help of his castle, which he holds in his hand
control keypad in his hand, but uses his buttocks to control it in a witty and cute action. (Figure 6) (Exploring the innovative design of antagonists in animated films – Despicable Me as an example)
The following Blog will contain the same documentation. In compiling the literature, my thoughts on writing a thesis are becoming clearer.