Solving problems with The Mascot (1933)

The first animated short  in a row I looked more into and will use as a reference for problem solving, and solutions for approach towards my own animation, is The Mascot, by Vladislav Starevich (1993)




Mice-en-scene
Acting.

The animation is highly stylized with limited range of expressions. Nonetheless it appears, the puppets are acted in a very expressive manner, in order to balance out the lack of it because of the way puppets operate.
I noticed also the economy of animation: all seems to move in their turns (apart from crowd scenes where everyone/everything moves) . That also helps to direct the eye to constantly shifting center of attention. 

Editing.

Majority of shots appear to be long takes using a steady camera which  faces the action directly from front: this creates the theatrical feeling, as if the audience is watching a play, a puppet show happening in front of them .  Though for contemporary audience it may bring boredom if overused. 

Also almost every action is followed by a reaction shot of main characters, I‘d interpret, this helps to achieve audiences connection with main character. As if we are thoroughly engaging with the puppy and at the end audience is well familiar with the main character, so feels happy for his successes.  

Sound Track
The Animation uses both a diagetic and non-diagetic sounds, where the music plays as a “voice over” – defines each action, change of mood, new elements  (characters or objects which entered the shot in a notable manner ) with  likewise a defined sound effect.  
I found that even if the action wasn’t followed as thoroughly, the music plays as a prompter, making the intended idea also obvious to the audience.

To recap and make links for my transcription project:

1.      The animation could be stylized and in a way overly expressive in order to convey ideas using a model (the constructed bird) which seemingly has a limit to its expressiveness

2.      Animating “in turns” ( avoiding to “move everything)  both is economical and helps direct viewers eyes as desired

3.      It is best to use long takes modestly as it generates the feeling of actually seeing everything happen live in a play ( what helps to reach better engagement) though can be found unentertainingly too long  if overused .

4.      The risks of using solely diagetic sound is that it might be unclear what the story is about as it takes greater engagement to understand the turns in the story solely from what is shown, whereas  with the use of additional sound effect the action and mood can also be suggested.