此研究聚焦在1924-6年間由Max Fleischer的Inkwell Studios所製作的慢動作分析短片系列 “Marvels of Motion”，該片對攝影影像的動作再現與再製。此系列短片用不同方式展現同一個動作，首先通常用慢動作，接著結合停格、快轉或倒轉。此研究將回答兩個問題：第一，當1920年代再現動作已經稀鬆平常，動作主題是如何重新成為有吸引力的新奇事物。第二，這種把動作當吸睛（attraction）販賣的短片系列，在當時的發行與放映產業是為何且如何重要。 此論文將試著證明這個系列如何是動畫片，該片把攝影片段當作素材，供進一步的影像成像，並重新賦予活力給事前拍攝好的動作。換句話說，該系列把一般實景動作轉換成打鬧劇式的(slapstick-like)動作。這種俏皮活潑的動作處理方式，剛好為動作再現帶來吸引力與新意。研究方法屬質性研究與文獻探討，除了文本分析的證據，其他歷史資料來源自Media History Digital Library所數位化的美國電影產業雜誌與報紙，以及相關的文獻，像是探討動作研究、打鬧喜劇、與動畫。 本論文也希望提醒讀者：短片在當時1920年代中期電影院放映的重要性，發行商是如何針對短片為電影院節目貢獻的多樣性與娛樂加以行銷。 ;This research focuses on the representation and re-creation of movement from photographic images in a slow motion analysis series produced by Max Fleischer’s Inkwell Studios in 1924-6, “Marvels of Motion.” This series showed one motion in different ways—first at slow motion, and then in freeze frame, fast-forward or backward. This research will answer two questions: 1) how movement was again attraction and novelty when representing motion was nothing big deal anymore in 1920s, and 2) why and how such a series of short films that sold movement as attraction was important in terms of the distribution and exhibition industry at that time. This paper will argue how this series are animated films that created and reanimated movement from photographic images, treated as raw material and as graphic images. In other words, this series are animated films that make caricature of camera-recorded movement—transforming live action into slapstick-like movement—and such a playful treatment of photographic movement is what turns representation of motion into attraction and novelty, resulting in an entertaining effect desired by the audience. Evidence will be drawn from textual analysis of the moving images, advertisement and reviews found in trade magazines and newspapers digitized on Media History Digital Library, the Fleischer Studios’ production aiming at novelty and cartoons, and the importance of short films as variety and entertainment input in theatre programs in 1920s. In addition to a close reading of the animation technique applied in the film, my approach thus is mainly historical research but related scholarship on motion study, slapstick comedy, and animation will also be adopted. This research hopes to remind that short series contribute additional values to a theatrical program by bringing variety and entertainment in the mid-1920s and aims to explain how distributors sells shorts accordingly at that time.
