Long Time Coming

So yes this blog has been up and running for a few months now but I haven't started work until recently, due to my 3 minute project. Anyhoo I thought I should probably get started with only a few weeks to go and all!

I already have my 3 ideas for this project as I came up with them as I was working on my other project.  So it's just a case of doing some research into the categorised age groups, researching shows that are out now and the storylines within them, getting some examples of shows that have inspired my ideas and designs, looking at some styles I want to emulate, finalising all of my synopsises and getting down to some character development and final designs...not much when it's written down...

I began my research by looking into the categorised age groups that animated series fit into these days. These are 2-4yrs, 4-8yrs, 8-12yrs, 12-16yrs and 16yrs+

2-4

This category is solely aimed at preschoolers, with shows that tend to be very short and don’t always make sense.  This is down to the children’s attention span and inability to understand more complex story lines. They very often contain songs and some actions that the child can mimic to aid learning and communication. Helping to teach young kids very basic things in the early stages of their life; like colours, shapes and numbers, in saying this some don’t have much to teach at all, but are just fun for the child to watch. When I was younger a lot of this was done in the process of stop frame and hand drawn animation, for example Postman Pat, but now there is a much wider spectrum of styles as technology has advanced and become more accessible. The likes of Fireman Sam have been updated and is now made in CG, whereas Postman Pat has been so successful as it is there has been no need to change anything.

A lot of current TV shows for preschoolers are mainly comprised of animal characters, some examples of current TV shows for this age group are, Louie, Pingu and Small Potatoes. A show like Pingu has been so successful due to it not having any dialogue or particularly strong storylines, it’s just something the child can enjoy.

4-8

This age group has a longer attention span and as a result the shows can be up to and around 20-30 minutes in duration. They often help in teaching young children morals within the story lines of the animations, with a lot of rights and wrongs thrown in there as well. This is evident in animated shows such as Arthur, Horrid Henry and Scooby Doo.

They also start to become more genre-targeted; male-targeted shows tend to contain a lot of action, for example Ben 10, League of Super Evil or Spiderman. With female-targeted shows, such as Totally Spies, Dora the Explorer or Strawberry Shortcake, having stronger story lines.

The characters in this are much more developed than in the previous age group, they have stronger backgrounds and purpose within the animations. The predominant style in this age group is definitely 2D, unlike shows for preschoolers where they use a variety of styles.

8-12

There is some cross over with this age group and the last one with regards to styles and characters. This is evident with shows like Ben 10 and Totally Spies.  They have a much broader audience range, allowing them to appeal to more kids. With similar styles yet stronger characters I found this age group is more gender-based or targeted with the likes of

The predominant style for this age group is definitely 2D, unlike the shows for preschoolers, which use a wide variety of styles and methods. I feel this is due to the sheer volume in which these shows are produced and the number of shows in each series. It is a lot faster to create a show in 2D than it is to create something in CG or to use Stop Frame animation. This is probably one of the contributing factors to their success. The fact that they have the ability to produce new shows quickly and are able to carry a continuous storyline throughout the whole series, keeping their audience entertained.

12-16

It is becoming more acceptable for the top end of this age group to merge with the likes of shows aimed at adults, for example South Park, Family Guy and Adult Swim. There can be little to distinguish between the two, as nowadays it seems to be more based on opinion and what parents will allow their children to watch. 

16+

This is where the shows start to become a little ridiculous, and 90% are based around humour. At this age and above there is very little you can learn from a cartoon, so I think it’s just about the shows being edgy and hoping you enjoy yourself. With shows like South Park getting more a more controversial, appearing to be trying to get themselves banned. Or Family Guy, which, having watched almost all of them myself, seems to have lost it’s way over the last few seasons and doesn’t really have a specific focus.  The shows are getting more and more ridiculous and have no real purpose or story to them. However they do maintain a great relationship with all of the characters. Or Adult Swim, which is just an almost incomprehensive show in its entirety.