Dramatic Capabilities of Synesthesia Disorder with a Look at Ratatouille Animation

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Animation, Art Faculty, Soore University, Tehran, Iran

2 Performing Arts, Art Faculty, Soore University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The language of cinema is designed in such a way that its audio-visual techniques negate the need for other sensory information, such as touch, taste or smell. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the synesthesia disorder, its types that have various dramatic capabilities and finally its application in animation. This article addresses the concept of synesthesia, a simultaneous mix of sensations, usually experienced in separate ways. Such phenomenon can be defined as the cross wiring of the senses where the stimulation of one sense triggers the stimulation of another sense. What you will find in this research will be the result of a study in terms of combination of senses in animation as a multifaceted media. Designers, as a combiner of elements, direct the multiple messages of products to our perceptual pathways. They can put more effort to invent arts that distribute information in more than two sensory directions. Accordingly, these types of designs have connections that include touch, eyesight, taste, smell, and hearing information. Today's animation has come a long way since its inception. This process is still evolving and filling the gaps in the animation industry. The animation of Ratatouille (2007) uses various techniques to create what American film and media theorist and cultural critic Vivian Carroll Sobchak refers to as synesthesia. This technique is derived from neuron-cognitive disorder Since several senses can be linked together, there are many different types of synesthesia. This type of entanglement of the senses leads to experiences such as seeing sound, hearing colors, tasting words, etc. But this cinematic derivative of synesthesia helps to translate visual and auditory stimuli into taste, smell and touch information and then be understood as absent senses in this industry. Since engaging all the five senses in animation is still a new phenomenon, perhaps by combining art and this disorder, a new way to express different concepts can be presented to artists. Therefore, in this essay, synesthesia neurocognitive disorder, its types, and its dramatic capabilities will be discussed, especially in the world of animation, to overcome limitations and give the audience an opportunity to receive various concepts in a completely innovative and creative way. Examining the dramatic capabilities of synesthesia disorders in animation helps artists to step beyond the traditional guidelines and to stimulate the absent senses in animation. Moreover, we discuss how the Ratatouille was inspired by this disorder and how it has been able to invocate feelings, tastes and symphonies to the audience members through audio and visual components. The elaborate nature of this perceptual mechanism eliminates our need for more sensory immersion in cinema, and animation as a medium can transform sound and image into new concepts using the implements that are already available.

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Main Subjects

References

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