Think, Say, Make 2015: Animated Response Concept and Storyboard

I want to make an animation that explains the process of how standardisation is imposed on the masses. I use symbols which can best represent sequence. For instance, the claw crane machine signifies commodification by pre-existing cultures popular among the masses, while the monkey symbolises instant gratification which creates noises that distracts the masses from thinking independently. The animation could be presented in GIF format, if I got a consent to do so. The reason of this preference is the repetitive nature of the product of culture industry.

Concept

The first sequence of my animation shows how the corporate authority (represented by Walt Disney) randomly choosing the idea that will be manufactured as a product of the culture industry. This idea is chosen among the pre-existing cultures that have been well received by people in the past, which is explained with the arrangement of popular cartoon characters around the instant gratification monkey.

Storyboard 01

The monkey will then fell into the hole in the crane machine, and Walt Disney's hand will take the monkey. The darkness signifies anti-enlightenment, such that the idea has fallen into a society which Adorno describes as 'shamelessly conformists' to the status quo established by the capitalist system. The sequence continues as the hand drops the monkey, and an animator's hands start to draw it on paper. The flow of animation clarifies the role of animators working under for the corporate giants to manufacture commercial entertainment which deliberately shapes people's perception of the so-called faceless corporate committees.

Storyboard 02

The screen multiplies by 9, meaning that the production line expands. The idea is now a commodity, which undergoes continuous reworking, but the essence of stays the same. In the next scene, a person is staring blankly at the television and the monkey pops into the person's head. This scene accounts the issue of passive consumption of popular culture, describing how the product of culture industry mmediately gets into the person's consciousness without getting internalised beforehand.

The monkey will make banging noise which reduces sound of a documentary narration to a bare white noise. Instant gratification has take over the consciousness of the people that they forgot their reason for being. The animation will end as Walt Disney raises both of his hands, and fortune falls over him.

Storyboard 03