Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Formal Analysis
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an animated movie that combines the animation styles of both 2D and 3D. Sony took a character that is known by many and transforms it into an animated living comic book with unique animation techniques.
One of the few main differences in this animated film apart from other animated films is the animation itself. As mentioned before, the animated film gives off a comic book looking design with the splashes of bright color, expressions in all capital letters, and the lines to show the Spider sense like in the comic books. Other than being the only Spider-Man movie that is animated and the only starring Spider-Man being black, the directors seemed to be stemming away from traditions of the past movies. At first glance of the movie, one can deduce this is a movie that uses 3D animation, which is used in a lot of movies, especially in this day and age, but Spider-Verse seems to 3D animations at one time but also used 2D animations for the characters movements. Like for one instance, there was a scene in one of the trailers of the movie when Miles was on the roof and landed down right in front of screen. The way his left arm moves up and down after making the superhero landing shows off the 2D animation the animators did for that specific scene even though the rest of it was captured with 3D animation. I feel like the reason the production company decided to do to be more like a comic book. A comic book is more so 2D rather than 3D so to emphasize the comic book theme of the movie, adding 2D animation would bring out the qualities, making it more vibrant and like a pop-up comic book.
Like mentioned before, most movies made in today’s world are made with 3D animation rather than 2D. Upon further research, the reason behind more animation production companies moving towards 3D rather than 2D is because 3D animation is cheaper and faster, which could explain why Into the Spider-Verse took about 4 years to make. The CGI is also used to make the animation to be smoother and automatic with stimulation in things such as the rain falling from the sky. In an interview, one of the directors said he was against doing this tradition for this certain film, which was very different than what the special effects and animation studio was specialized in. The majority of the art direction of this film was meant to break tradition of most of the computer-generated films. The movements in 3D animated films are created by advancing the frame 24 times a second, which is called “animating on ones” It was discussed earlier how Miles’s arm was animated differently when he landed on the roof apart from the rest of 3D animation of the film. The movements of the characters of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were animated on twos, which is when there is a new drawing every 2 seconds instead of one. This gives the animators free reign over the movements, allowing for better speed instead of it being a more automatic process. This is a process that is mainly used in 2D animated movies. I feel like the animation doesn’t just stick to being animated on twos but more so to emphasize certain scenes such as the ending scene when Miles is swinging through the city showing off his newly discovered powers and with the train, he used it to pull himself like a slingshot. The more Miles got comfortable with his powers, his movements became more exuberant and confident, rather than his reflected scared timid attitude in the beginning of the film. An argument could be made that other films known for their 3D animation such as Toy Story or Shrek, or even The Lego Movie, which was also produced by Sony utilize 3D animation for most of the film but Spider-Verse makes it a mixture to emphasize the certain effects of the movements of the characters. I remember one scene from Toy Story where Buzz and Woody were running towards Andy’s car and making comparisons to the movement of the characters from both those movies. Of course, Toy Story was made in 1995, but even looking at their recent release with Toy Story 4, you can see it the animation movements still look different. When you pause Toy Story 4, the character movements look blurry. The animation movements made by the characters look so much like 2D animation on 3D drawings. This is also a better example of animating on twos rather than ones. This argument isn’t necessarily saying one movie is better than the other or one animation style is superior than the other, but rather making comparisons on the production teams’ approaches to their animation projects are different and how the execution is different between the animated films.
For short films and big budget production films, other films are often studied to be used as a muse to create something creative of their own. Based on reviewing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this animated film should be one of the films studied for other studios’ animated films and comic book movies as well. It is important to study this film because it goes against the grain when it comes to 3D animation and not follow the usual protocol for handling films. This type of 3D animation isn’t necessarily better than other 3D animated movies but rather an evolved version of 3D animation. A good pro for this movie is the idea that you can pause it during a moment of the film, and nothing looks blurry or bad. This is one of the types of attention to details the filmmakers made to make sure the film looked visually pleasing at any moment of the film. It reminds me of this post I once saw on a social media platform with the caption “Never pause during a Disney animated film” in all capital letters, showing these funny, out of the ordinary, out of character moments, that looked like the animators never thought to animate it correctly or paid attention to the details. This was more so for 2D animated films, with 3D animated films, if you pause it, it just becomes blurry and looks weird.
I think one positive note to come from this Spider-Man is the idea of not adhering to the norm of 3D animation and going into using 2D animation techniques on 3D animated platforms. I talked about the idea of pausing the film during any part of the movie it wouldn’t blurry and how on some scenes the animated on twos rather than ones to give it the 2D animated, comic book look. If there is any con in why the animation process should not be used is it is definitely time consuming. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse took approximately 4 years to create and apparently the animators weren’t satisfied with the first 10 seconds until after a year. With filmmakers deciding to go this route and use this type of animation, everything else would have to be delayed as far as the production for the other movies. It could possibly mess up Sony or any other high-end production companies film schedule as well. Another con would have to be with there being a money issue. The reason behind 3D animation being used more in today’s world is because it’s cheaper and less time consuming than 2D animation. The time it took to create the 2018 animated Spider-Man movie was mentioned before, but also the costs are greater than most 3D movies because of them utilizing 2D technique. The last scene of the movie was completely 2D animated and reference a cartoon from the 1960s so the cost it took to make a 10 to 15 second clip was greater than what 3D animated movies would cost. With this being said, it says a lot about how much the creators wanted to use these specific techniques. It shows they go to great lengths to have their vision come true.
3D animation is popular in this age and even though Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse is classified as 3D animated film, I think it says a lot about the future of 3D animation. Besides the fact that it utilizes 2D animation, the animators go out of their way to make the film its own film, meaning it doesn’t fit into any other genre of film. What this says about digital strategies is that going against the grain and not following the norm of other production companies, or even your own production company (being Sony) in this case, makes it unique and possibly start a trend. I truly believe this film would be an inspiration or a muse for not just animated films, but all forms of art and digital media. It’s likely to inspire more creative works to think outside the box and take risks even with the cons weighing it down. It’s important in our digital age that we notice the small things such as pausing the film and seeing nothing out of place or having something 2D animation on 3D platforms. It’s up to personal opinion on whether or not in general a movie is better than another movie close to the same genre, but in my opinion, Spider-Verse isn’t just a 3D film but rather an evolved 3D animated film.
In conclusion, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a film that utilizes both the animation of 2D and 3D styles. Sony has the film rights to the Spider-Man franchise and in total produced 8 Spider-Man films, including Into the Spider-Verse, and the producers, directors, and animators went out of their way to produce something different and something that hasn’t been seen before. In fact, one of the directors, Bob Persichetti even said “If this looks like something seen in an animated film, it’s not our movie.” It is clear the makers behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse wanted something different and never seen before. A person could even go into the different color pallets of the different Spider people, like Spider-Man Noir and Peni Parker being out of place, and their animation styles being like from a separate movie in general. This especially emphasized them not belonging to that universe and having an urge to go back home. Sony wanted to use a beloved character whose story has been told before but make it like it hasn’t been seen before. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is unique in itself for its creativity with its animation style and unique artwork.
