Date of Award
8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Digital Production Arts
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Eric Patterson
Committee Member
Dr. Jerry Tessendorf
Committee Member
Rodney da Costa
Abstract
Visual effects are widely used in animated media to immerse the audience, direct attention, and guide the perceptions and emotional responses to the world and characters therein. In these uses, effects act as narrative elements in a film. Visual effects can include weather (e.g., fog), visually distinct materials(e.g., water), and other visually interesting physical phenomena (e.g., fire or the fracturing of an object). Contemporary animations and, by extension, their animated effects are increasingly being produced in carefully crafted styles, ranging from the comic-book posterization seen in the Spiderverse franchise of animated films, to the painterly stylization of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Common stylization techniques include adding physical media texture to images (canvas texture or brush strokes) and ”flattening” the lighting of render scenes to give a cartoon look. This stylization can add additional variables to the equation with regard to the purpose of effects. Stylized effects, beyond simply matching the style of the surrounding work, have additional controllable visual properties which expand their use as a narrative element compared to photorealistic effects. The particular stylistic choices taken can significantly change the audience’s perception of the onscreen world, therefore giving the artist more tools with which to shape the audience’s interaction with the narrative. This thesis seeks to explore both the creative design process and the technical implementation process for painterly stylized visual effects as narrative elements in animated films, using the production of the animated short Kate Shelley and the Bridge of Darkness as a sandbox in which to explore the topic.
Recommended Citation
Edmonds, Nathaniel R., "Flames and Fluids: Design Motivations for Painterly Stylization of Effects" (2026). All Theses. 4832.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4832