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elite-guard-hardygal · 7 years ago

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Markiplier Characters: The Ultimate Video Masterlist (UPDATED REGULARLY)

So, yeah, this is a list of all the videos I could find featuring the listed characters of @markiplier.

In the case of Darkiplier, when it comes to pre-Date w/ Markiplier videos, I only listed the videos that Mark has pretty much confirmed Darkiplier is featured in. Yes, there are plenty of videos of Mark being creepy, but unless Mark says otherwise, that does not necessarily make it a Darkiplier video. But in general, the videos on this list have to fall under the following criteria:

The character featured has to be made by Mark (as in the case of Wilford Warfstache or Jim)

If the character is not made by Mark, Mark needs to have featured the character at least once in his own skits (as in the case of Ed Edgar or the Host, both of whom were created by Cyndago)

If you're still wondering why certain videos or characters aren't featured on this list, check out my other list, which has videos and characters that don't quite fit this criteria.

Also, you can find my Jacksepticeye master list here ^-^

THANK YOU TO -

@fandomfangirlworld, @wortblume, and @fountain-of-muse for reminding me of certain videos

@just-chugging-along and their Comprehensive Alter Ego Library

Cooperation Is Key and their playlist Markiplier Egos: Santaplier

So, without further ado...

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Origins of Wilford Warfstache and Darkiplier

Who Killed Markiplier? - Chapter 1 (Oct 10, 2017)

Who Killed Markiplier? - Chapter 2 (Oct 11, 2017)

Who Killed Markiplier? - Chapter 3 (Oct 12, 2017)

Who Killed Markiplier? - The Final Chapter (Oct 13, 2017)

Wilford ‘MOTHERLOVING’ Warfstache (Aug 5, 2018)

DAMIEN (May 12, 2019)

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A Heist With Markiplier

Illinois - GUNS BLAZING > CAR > TRY TO FIX > ECT. You may try not to fall in love, but the Adventurer couldn’t really blame you if you failed (Oct 30, 2019)

Yancy - GUNS BLAZING > HELICOPTER > RALLY THE PRISONERS > ECT. Don’t let his rap sheet and dancing skillz intimidate ya, the Prisoner may just think youse’s all right (Oct 30, 2019)

Captain Magnum - ALL SNEAKY LIKE > LIGHT TUNNEL > WAIT FOR RESCUE > ECT. Hoist the mainsail and prepare for adventure with the Pirate! (Oct 30, 2019)

Trailers (TBA)

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Darkiplier

Don't blink - dont turn around (Jun 19, 2012)

Don't move - not a muscle (Jul 4, 2012)

relax - Mark just wants to chill for his 14 million sub celebration, but someone has other ideas (Aug 13, 2016)

A Date With Markiplier - PAY > HORROR > ECT. Darkiplier makes his official debut, and he's missed you very much (Feb 14, 2017)

Don't Play This Game - Watch as Mark submits to the madness of a nonsensical 'game' (Apr 16, 2017)

Markiplier TV - Darkiplier gives his thoughts on Wilford Warfstache's revolutionary idea (May 5, 2017)

DARKIPLIER vs ANTISEPTICEYE - Who will win the ultimate evil YouTuber showdown? (Jul 28, 2017)

Don't remember - theres nothing out there (Nov 18, 2017)

go back to sleep… - l i s t e n (Aug 20, 2018)

DAMIEN - Following the events of Who Killed Markiplier, Damien begins to realize that he is more lost than he thinks (May 12, 2019)

Outliers

The Voice of Darkiplier | Markiplier ReMIX - Listen to Darkiplier's dulcet voice in this Markiplier Recognized(TM) remix by DayByDave (Jun 29, 2017)

World’s First Pop-Up Haunted House - 0:26 The Barrel television set starts to give off Darkiplier vibes for a few seconds when Mark leaves us alone (Oct 27, 2017)

big MOOD? - 9:10 While Mark displays what he thinks a big mood is, “you have to wake up” flashes across the screen in a very Darkiplier fashion (Nov 20, 2017)

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Wilford Warfstache

The Fall of Slenderman - In his debut, Wilford Warfstache interviews the once feared Slenderman (Nov 9, 2012)

The Warfstache Affair - Caught in an affair with another man's wife, Warfstache responds to the problem the only way he knows how (Jun 12, 2013)

Warfstache Plays: Slender - Warfstache encounters the Slenderman once again, this time in Slendy’s own territory (Oct 16, 2013)

The Ned Affair [feat. MARKIPLIER] - In this sequel to the Warfstache Affair, Wilford Warfstache must face justice for what he's done (Aug 26, 2014)

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Interview - Wilford Warfstache interviews everyone's favourite disembodied voice, Phone Guy (Mar 7, 2015)

Warfstache Interviews Markiplier - In a move that is in no way meant to boost ratings, Markiplier is invited to guest star on Warfstache Tonight! (Sep 13, 2015)

A Date With Markiplier - DON’T PAY > DON’T ATTACK > PICK LOCK > STAY TOGETHER > MORE? Wilford Warfstache gets you to ask the real question (Feb 14, 2017)

Markiplier TV - Warfstache acts as a gameshow host and poses a revolutionary idea to his colleagues (May 5, 2017)

Wilford ‘MOTHERLOVING’ Warfstache - Following the events of Who Killed Markiplier, Detective Abe finally manages to track down the murderous and elusive Colonel William, now know by his latest persona: Wilford ‘Motherloving’ Warfstache (Aug 5, 2018)

Outliers

Amnesia: Rain | Part 6 (Final) | ENDGAME - Mark wears a pink mustache and plays around with his Warfstache voice (Apr 3, 2013)

Markiplier Animated | WARFSTACHE - An animation of the above video (Dec 3, 2014)

WARFSTACHE RIDES AGAIN | Critical Annihilation - Mark plays with a Wilford Warfstache avatar and talks a bit about the character (Feb 26, 2016)

—

Santaplier

Santa’s Rampage - [clever video summary TBA] (Dec 15, 2013)

Very Organized Santa - [clever video summary TBA] (Dec 18, 2013)

Santa Does Omegle - [clever video summary TBA] (Dec 25, 2013)

Markiplier’s Debut Christmas Album - [clever video summary TBA] (Apr 1, 2014)

Christmas Can’t Wait - [clever video summary TBA] (Nov 24, 2016)

SANTA SPILLS THE TEA - 0:00 Here to tell you who’s naughty and nice, here to tell you to buy merch for charity, here to tell you who the true original ego is, it’s Definitely Not Santa! (Dec 10, 2018)

Outliers

Happy Wheels Highlights - The series from which Santaplier was born, it’s a playlist of Happy Wheels, where you’re bound to catch our beloved drunken Santa appearing at least once in every video, sans the first one

Markiplier Animated | 1 Million Subscriber Special - Santaplier makes a brief appearance in this special animation featuring some of Mark’s best gaming moments up to this point (Nov 6, 2013)

Santiplier: The Game - Mark plays a Santaplier fangame, complete with epic sax music, rage, and moans of eviceral pleasure (Jun 18, 2014)

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King of the Squirrels

King of the Squirrels - In his debut, the King smears peanut butter on his face in celebration of 80,000 subs (Jan 23, 2013)

King of the Squirrels Returns - The King is sick, but he is still the King! (Mar 26, 2015)

Markiplier TV - The King crashes the conference while Wilford Warfstache is receiving feedback on his revolutionary idea (May 5, 2017)

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Dr. Iplier

Worst News Doctor - In his official debut, Dr. Iplier delivers a LOT of bad news to a young patient (Oct 27, 2013)

Markiplier TV - Dr. Iplier continues to deliver bad news and gives his thoughts on Wilford Warfstache's revolutionary idea (May 5, 2017)

SANTA SPILLS THE TEA - 8:20 Dr. Iplier may have to pay alimony, but YOU can still buy merch, all proceeds of which go to charity 15:44 A newborn child may not be able to buy merch, but YOU can, remembering all proceeds go to charity 27:26 Doctors need good hygiene, and that’s why Dr. Iplier buys merch, safe in the knowledge that all proceeds go to charity (Dec 10, 2018)

Outliers

Surgeon Simulator 2013 - A playlist of Mark's Surgeon Simulator playthroughs, from which come a lot of Dr. Iplier's catch phrases

Markiplier Animated | Surgeon Simulator - Dr. Iplier is NOT a fraud, and he’s gonna prove it in this animation of one of the above playthroughs! (Jun 13, 2013)

Markiplier Animated | SHUT UP NURSE!! - It’s just so hard for Dr. Iplier to get good help around here, as shown in this sequel to the above animation (Jun 27, 2013)

Markiplier Animated | MEET THE MEDIPLIER - When animated TF2 style, Dr. Iplier might just give the Medic a run for his money (Apr 19, 2014)

Markiplier Animated | GET THE SPOON - Doctors Mark and Wade try to utilize one of the most important tools in medical practice (Mar 26, 2016)

Surgeon Simulator IN REAL LIFE - Mark applies Surgeon Simulator in the real world (May 10, 2016)

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Dapperplier

A Gentlemen's Dispute feat. CaptainSparklez - Dapperplier and Jordapper look to settle their differences in the most civilized way possible (Jul 21, 2014)

GENTLEMEN'S DISPUTE w/ Markiplier - See Jordapper's version of the above video (Jul 21, 2014)

REMATCH OF THE CENTURY | Max Gentlemen w/ Captain Sparklez - Dapperplier and Jordapper have fallen low and look to regain their honor in the most civilized way possible (Feb 10, 2015)

MAXIMUM GENTLEMEN'S DISPUTE w/ Markiplier - See how Jordapper remembers the above events (Feb 10, 2015)

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Googleplier

Google IN REAL LIFE | ft. Markiplier - Google is thwarted in this Mathias edition of Googleplier's debut (Oct 31, 2014)

Google IRL - Google is defeated in this Markiplier edition of Googleplier's debut (Oct 31, 2014)

360 VIDEO | Let's Play Minecraft | Part 1 - Google restates his primary objective (Apr 1, 2017)

Markiplier TV - Google gives his thoughts on Wilford Warfstache's revolutionary idea (May 5, 2017)

Google Gets An Upgrade - Google receives a visit from Bing while in the middle of an upgrade (May 20, 2017)

Outliers

GOOGIPLIER RETURNS - Mathias plays a short fan-game in which Google IRL returns to show how useful he can be (Sep 11, 2015)

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Yandereplier

MAKING LOVE FOR SENPAI | Yandere Simulator #14 - Yandereplier-chan shows her true colours in this kawaii intro! (Nov 13, 2016)

Outliers

Yandere Simulator - A playlist of Mark’s Yandere Simulator playthroughs, chock full of Mark being a giggly, yandere freak

Markiplier Animated - YANDERE SIMULATOR - Committing murder, becoming a fugitive, mopping up blood, kidnapping Boobs McKenzie: all in a day’s work for Yandereplier-chan in this animation of one of the above playthroughs! (Aug 21, 2015)

Yandere Simulator ANIMATED: The Squeakquel - Yandereplier-chan returns in this sequel to the above animation, and she’s gonna show everyone what for for not accepting her spicy sausage! (Aug 5, 2016)

—

Jim News

Markiplier TV - In their debut, Jim and Jim cover various disaster reports and weather reports (May 5, 2017)

CORPSE ABDUCTION? - In the midst of the Who Killed Markiplier mystery, Jim and Jim enter the scene of the crime to get the main scoop (Oct 10 or Oct 14, 2017)

SUSPECT WITH A SHOOTY?! - Continuing their investigation, Jim and Jim tail the possible murderer (Oct 11 or 14, 2017)

DEMONS JIM, DEMONS!! - Continuing their investigation, Jim and Jim attempt to contact the demons contained within the murder house (Oct 12 or 14, 2017)

DUMMY JIM REENACTS GRISLY SCENE! - Jim and Jim conclude their investigation with the help of Dummy Jim (Oct 13 or 14, 2017)

Breaking News

Five Nights at Freddy's: Pizzeria Simulator - Part 5 - 5:25 Jim News interrupts this playthrough to bring you breaking news: Markiplier is set to invade Europe! (Dec 6, 2017)

I KICKED ETHAN IN THE FACE - 1:53 Jim News interrupts these clips from Markiplier's last tour to bring you breaking news: Markiplier is going on tour again! (Dec 9, 2017)

—

Bingiplier

Google Gets An Upgrade - With a 'saaaahhh!' and a visit to Googleplier's, Bingiplier makes his obnoxious debut (May 20, 2017)

—

Eric Derekson

SANTA SPILLS THE TEA - Debut of Eric Derekson of Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse, where everything is super cool and fun and warm and there’s no anxiety or death or anything... Right, Dad? (Dec 10, 2018)

Timestamps: SANTA SPILLS THE TEA

4:15 - We make no money at Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse because all proceeds go to charity but that’s good, right?

5:57 - Want a dog leash?

7:21 - All proceeds go to charity and... Can we do that take again…?

8:54 - Our sweaters are warm and comfortable and you can wear them, please buy them…!

11:41 - This is fine, you still got me, Dad… Right?

14:09 - Get our deals cause they’re great and all proceeds go to charity and how are we still in business–

16:42 - Pull yourself together, Eric!

19:00 - I don’t have feet… Please buy these socks, all proceeds go to charity

20:57 - Please don’t lose your dog, please buy a dog leash, all proceeds go to charity

22:40 - *gross sobbing*

24:30 - I just wanted a farm…

26:23 - My brother Sterrick had no hands… Buy our merch, all proceeds go to charity

28:03 - I once had a termite farm...

29:42 - I had a dog once…

31:26 - My brother Gerrick liked to play with fire– I once had someone special– I wanted to have kids...

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Randal Vorhees

SANTA SPILLS THE TEA - Move aside people, for the debut of everyone’s favourite New Yorker, Randal Vorhees! (Dec 10, 2018)

Timestamps: SANTA SPILLS THE TEA

5:09 - You ain’t gonna be not fashionable when you buy merch for charity!

6:49 - New York traffic is hell but that don’t stop you from buying merch for charity!

10:46 - Come to New York, see the Empire State Building, go to the park, and buy merch for charity!

14:50 - New York has the best pizza in the world and the best merch to buy for charity!

18:10 - Gotta hate when you can’t get a taxi, but at least you can always buy merch for charity!

21:54 - We just got a load’a merchandise! All proceeds go to charity!

25:26 - Heyyy there, pretty person, you look like you would like to buy merch for charity!

28:56 - Eyyy, sexy person! Why not buy some merch for charity?

30:21 - What’s more central than Central Park? This merch with all proceeds going to charity!

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Derek Derekson

SANTA SPILLS THE TEA - Here debuts Derek Derekson, all-American representative of Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse, home of the best charity deals this side of the Mississippi (Dec 10, 2018)

Timestamps: SANTA SPILLS THE TEA

12:30 - Welcome to Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse, where you can’t get good help, but you CAN buy merch for charity

20:05 - Mosey on down to Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse for great quality merch that you can buy for charity

23:40 - [Derek Derekson’s Charity Warehouse is experiencing familial difficulties]

—

CYNDAGO CHARACTERS

This list was getting a tad congested with the release of A Heist With Markiplier, so just click here for the Cyndago characters

#markiplier #who killed markiplier #wilford warfstache #darkiplier #googleplier #dr iplier #jim news #king of the squirrels #dapperplier #yandereplier #bingiplier #randal vorhees #eric derekson #derek derekson #santaplier #a heist with markiplier #ahwm yancy #ahwm illinois #ahwm magnum

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youtube-hero-animated-blog · 8 years ago

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YouTube Hero Animated: creation and understanding of digital art

Mykyta Kudin

Professor Paweł Frelik

Audiovisual Culture in the USA (4219-AW110-OG)

09.03.2017

University of Warsaw

1. INTRODUCTION

Although the current project’s creation was primarily encouraged by the necessity of passing a course of Audiovisual Cutlure in the USA, its inspiration is drawn from its author’s frequent visits to YouTube, the greatest vault of video-materials, most often than not non-academic in their nature. Admittedly, writing about YouTube might seem a sign of a particularly bad taste considering how noticeable YouTube’s presence is in lives of the modern digital society. „What is there still to know about YouTube?” one may ask: everything one wishes to find about YouTube, from history of its creation, to guidelines of usage and advertising, to statistics can be located on the official page of YouTube (“About YouTube”). This basic knowledge, in its turn, can be expanded by exploring the first few results from the simplest browser search.

To answer the posed question: this work’s intention is to focus on video materials published on YouTube with the purpose of identifying what variables came into play during creation of the said videos, and how these variables shape the meaning of the images.

2. DEFINING MATERIALS

From what has been mentioned, one might have guessed that the given project is to deal with videos created by certain individuals, whom YouTube chooses to call creators (“YouTube Creator Hub”). One can be a creator in so many ways however – YouTube alone offers a broad choice of what creative content one may wish to produce: Let’s Play and How To videos, reviews and commentaries, reaction videos, vlogs, comedy sketches (“The 13 most Popular Types of YouTube Videos”), streams and many others. What is it that the chosen creators produce that arouses interest of the given project? What makes its author believe that there is a greater truth to be discovered behind the culture that YouTube videos are the foundation of?

The people whose works are going to be examined are specialized, among other things, in animations, some of which can be classified as fanfiction. It is these instances of animated fanfiction dedicated to the channel of Markiplier and focused mainly on his gaming content that are of a particular interest to the project due to a unique look they offer into modern creativity.

According to Rick Parent, animate means ‘give life to’ and includes live-action puppetry . . . and the use of electromechanical devices to move puppets, such as animatronics. . . .” This work, however, chooses to interpret animation as „devices that use a sequence of individual still images to create the effect of a single moving image . . . ”[i] (4).

Andrew Chong, on the other hand, adds that this effect Parent is referring to is merely an „illusion of movement,” while animation is „the process that creates [it] . . .” (8).

Rick Parent then proceeds to expanding on the original definition of animation, naming its various forms:

„The rich heritage of hand-drawn animation in the United States makes it natural to consider it the precursor to computer animation, which also has strong roots in the United States. However, computer animation has a close relationship to other animation techniques as well.

A good comparison can be made between computer animation and some of the stop-motion techniques, such as clay and puppet animation. Typically, in the three-dimensional computer animation, one of the first steps is the object modelling process.” (8)

This work happens to have located examples that illustrate most of the mentioned categories in the list provided by Parent: the two dimensional animation completed in the style of hand-drawn animation, clay and puppet animation, and three-dimensional computer animation. The two dimensional animations, in truth, are not produced by hand in a conventional manner, but rather - on a tablet using complementary tools as will be demonstrated later. Nevertheless, they still belong to the aforementioned category.

Thomas Bronwen holds that fanfiction,

„(sometimes abbreviated as fanfic) refers to stories produced by fans based on plot lines and characters from either a single source text or else a ‘canon’ of works; these fan-created narratives often take the pre-existing story world in a new, sometimes bizarre, direction.” (1)

Raph Koster, in a podcast „Futures of Entertainment 2: ‘Fan Labor’” lists this practice and many others, such as building virtual worlds, 3D modelling and other sort of content creation and identifies them as „fan labor.” („Podcast: Futures of Entertainment 2: ‘Fan Labor’”)

Fanfiction animation, however, is merely a label one can give to a video. There seems no better way to capture what a video is other than refer to Chandler’s discussion on semiotics, where he mentioned certain ways of delivering information (modalities) as more reliable information vessels than others (Chandler 63). Seeking to illustrate his point, he compared a moving, coloured, audible image with a detailed description that provides the viewer with more information than an abstract description, compared to a still, monochromatic, and silent image.

It can, therefore, be expected of the given project to analyze the chosen video sequences, at the same time minding their unconventional nature and how rich the singular frames that constitute them are in signs, „dominant codes or myths or referent systems” (Rose 138).

3. VIDEOS PER SE

Having elucidated the primary objectives of the project and the type of content to be analyzed, the natural order of things suggests that the reader be introduced to the video sequences themselves. They are going to be presented in the chronological order of their being posted on the official channel of Markiplier („Markiplier”), referencing all the information related to the original creators of the videos, their art style and tools used. Further analysis, comparison and contemplations will be presented in the following sections of the given paper.

The first video, thus is „Markiplier Animated | MEET THE MEDIPLIER” („Markiplier Animated | MEET THE MEDIPLIER”):

Figure 3.1

Date of publication: 19 Apr 2014 Original creator of the video: Coyotemation („Coyotemation”) Art style: three-dimensional animation Tools and techniques used: „Autodesk Maya 2015, Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Sony Vegas Pro 12, Source Filmmaker. If I use anything else in a video I'll describe it in the description!” („Coyotemation/about”). The original video did not mention any additional tools (“Mediplier – ‘Surgery’”).

The second video sequence bears the name „Markiplier Animated | STRANDED DEEP” („Markiplier Animated | STRANDED DEEP”):

Figure 3.2

Date of publication: 24 Apr 2015 Original creator of the video: Cranbersher („Cranbersher”) Art style: clay and puppet animation Tools and techniques used: Stop-motion animation („Cranbersher/about”)

Unfortunately, no additional information on tools is provided, which is why this project assumes that the same rules apply to it as described by Angela Thomas and Nicole Tufano:

„(1) it uses the technique of producing a series of still images – each capturing incremental changes in the scene – before converting this series of images into a film sequence; (2) it plays on the viewer’s ‘persistence of vision’ (Webster, 2005, p. 4). That is, it creates an optical illusion whereby the viewer experiences a slight delay in vision, and the eyes naturally fill in the gaps between the still images and actually interpret them as moving images . . . .” (162)

The third video is called „Markiplier Animated | MARK'S ODD MEDICAL CONDITION” („Markiplier Animated | MARK'S ODD MEDICAL CONDITION”):

Figure 3.3

Date of publication: 4 Feb 2016 Original creator of the video: LixianTV („LixianTV”) Art style: Hand drawn animation Tools and techniques used: Adobe Flash CS3 Professional

Lixian does not provide any specifics as to the software or tools he is using, however, from his videos describing the creation process, one can gather that he is using an Adobe software specified above, while the drawin itself is made using an unidentified tablet with an electronic pencil („Making Of - *Markiplier Animated - Mark's Odd Medical Condition*”):

Figure 3.4

The fourth animation is „Markiplier Animated | WORLD'S 2nd QUIETEST LET'S PLAY” („Markiplier Animated | WORLD'S 2nd QUIETEST LET'S PLAY”):

Figure 3.5

Date of publication: 3 Feb 2017 Original creator of the video: RushLightInvader („RushLightInvader”) AKA Jordan Miller („Cartoons / Animations”). Art style: Hand drawn animation Tools and techniques used: Not specified

4. ANALYSIS PROPER

4.1. Summarizing content of the videos

It is in the best interests of the author of the given project that the potential reader has a general understanding of what is happening in the videos even without having watched them. The reader, however, is encouraged to get acquainted with the examples being studied by proceeding to the links provided in the text or at the end of the paper in order to have a more thorough experience of the material being examined.

Rose states that mise-en-scene „is a result of decisions about what to shoot and how to shoot it” (48). This subsection will analyze the videos to locate their general trends and find the particular details of their construction.

4.1.1 First video

The stage of the first animation is set in an operation room with three distinguishable depth planes: the plane closest to the viewer containing patient-victim Bob, the second plane – where the viewer finds Markiplier and the third and subsequent plane where all the hospital equipment is located and no action takes place. A high intensity lighting from above is provided by the surgical lights. The patient is represented by a model of a Team Fortress 2 Heavy Weapons Guy („Heavy”) character, while Markiplier is represented by a model of a Medic („Medic”), dressed up in a business costume with sleeves rolled up and a set of headphones on top of his head.

The video can be broken down into five parts, lasting from 00:00 – 00:22, 0:23 – 00:41, 00:42 - 01:17, 01:18 – 02:09, 02:10 – 02:29. Throughout the majority of animated sequence, the camera adopts the „third person shot” (Monaco How to read a film: the world of movies . . . 211), sometimes taking the perspective of the patient. The first through fourth scenes are separated by a greyscale still frame of Markiplier character with a pink moustache attached to his face as a reference to Markiplier’s scenical alter ego Wilford Warfstache („Warfstache Interviews Markiplier”), the third scene is superseded by a test screen. The fourth part, despite being a part of a video, is not a scene – it can be considered an example of closing credits screen, yet a more commonly accepted definition would be „outro” or „end screen” („Tutorial: How to create a custom YouTube end slate . . .”).

The first scene depicts Markiplier’s only interaction directly with the other character and not with his mangled body. It starts of at a medium shot distance, capturing Markiplier from waist up. The patient is trying to stand up from an operation table where Markiplier forces him back only to be stab him in the face with an oversized syringe. The scene ends with blood and gore unravelling a low-angle shot „looking up at the scene” (Rose 49). According to James Monaco, the low camera angle may present the character look more powerful (Celebrity . . . 68-69). Seeing how Markiplier has freedom to hack, saw, drill, and otherwise disfigure his patient, this shot is telling.

During the second scene, the Markiplier character is more prone to establishes eye-contact with the audience, something that could be understood as breaking the fourth wall, something Tom Brown identifies as „direct address” and ascribes to „characters in movie fictions who appear to acknowledge our presence as spectators . . .” (x):

Figure 4.1.1.1

Otherwise, it may serve as a reminder of what role Markiplier as a real person usually plays as a YouTuber, addressing his audience directly. The headphones on his head can probably be a similar sign, anchoring the Markiplier character in reality and connecting him to his real counterpart. Some of the more drastic movements in this scene get more attention from the camera, having it perform minor tracking shots in various vectors.

The third scene, apart from consisting mostly of low-angle shots, also introduces zoom shots at certain emotionally charged moments, introducing additional tension to the sequence:

Figure 4.1.1.2

Coyotemation also switches the video to greyscale when the patient dies on the operation table:

Figure 4.1.1.3

The choice is justified, since not only is gray associated with sadness in the internet culture, the research by Kaya Naz under the supervision of Professor Dawson Hall confirms the negative undertone the colour bears:

“Finally, the color gray was mainly associated with negative emotions (89.8%); including the feelings of sadness, depression, boredom, and confusion, as well as tiredness, loneliness, anger, and fear. Reasons given for negative emotional responses to gray consistently showed that the color gray tends to make reference to bad weather, rainy, cloudy or foggy days and brings out the feelings of sadness, depression, and boredom.” (400)

A few seconds of greyscale grief is followed by a rapid comic relief where Markiplier rolls the corpse of a victim off onto the floor.

The final scene has numerous changes of camera angles, varying from low-angle to high-angle shots, from head and shoulder shots to long shots, comleting ever so slight tilts and rolls until the closing shot.

�� When comparing the video itself with an original one produced by Markiplier („Surgeon Simulator 2013 | Part 1 | I'M A DOCTOR!!”), one will immediately notice two trends in the audio accompanying the animation. Firstly, the audio often misrepresents the actions of Markiplier in the original video, taking some of his more dramatic voice cues out of context to to overlay them upon the video sequences of actions that are much more drastic and exaggerated. Consider the audio cue from the original video from 01:24 and the same cue in the animation at 00:18. Certainly a virtual flip off does not equal a stab in the face with a syringe:

Figure 4.1.1.4

Secondly, the creator has modified the audio in what Hilary Wyatt and Tim Amyes identify as „audio post production.” According to them, post production of sound „refers to that part of the production process which deals with the tracklaying, mixing and mastering of a soundtrack . . . ” while the process can be used to „complete an illusion of reality and perspective through the use of sound effects and recreation of natural acoustics in the mix . . .” as well as „to fix any problems with the location sound by editing, or replacing dialogue in post production . . .” (3).

These techniques are used masterfully by the animator: he manipulates the order of the lines, improves its quality by reducing noises, and adds additional effects, all of which serve only to enhance the experience of reality.

4.1.2 Second video

The next video can be logically divided into scenes 00:00 - 00:08, 00:09 – 00:21, 00:22 – 00:30, 00:31 – 00:32, 00:33 – 01:01, 01:02 – 01:05, 01:06 – 01:18, 01:19 – 01:45, 01:46 – 02:00. Each scene is separated from the other by a white noise screen, apart from the last but one and the last scenes, the former one, as previously, being an outro. The whole animated sequence has the Markiplier puppet interacting directly with the viewers apart from the scene 01:06 – 01:18, where he is talking to a Shark.

The first scene has Markiplier introduce himself to an audience, the camera capturing him at a frontal angle from a waist up on a black background. He is represented with a puppet dressed in a black shirt with a capital stylized letter „M” and a pink moustache, both objects having become a logo of his channel over the years (enough for one to google „Markiplier logo” to make sure it is so). At one point it assumes a high-angle position over the shoulder of the puppet to capture the paper reassuring the viewers that the game is going to be set underwater.

The second scene opens onto a setting of a plane about to crash, the Markiplier puppet captured at a three-quarters shot at a three-quarter frontal angle, sat into a chair. The laptop resting on a table in front of him is also turned around towards the viewer at an angle impractical for its potential user in order to show off a sticker referring to a GameGrumps (“GameGrumps”), a well known YouTube channel dedicated to gaming. In a moment the setting is altered by an explosion, which the author cleverly orchestrated as a rapid succession of three frames of a lamp shining through the torn hull of the plane:

Figure 4.1.2.1

followed by swift change from the brightness of explosion back to how the setting was before, the air rushing into the plane represented by cotton or some similar material:

Figure 4.1.2.2

The arising turbulence and instability of the vehicle in the air is denoted by a series of sharply separated bounces of the camera angle by several degrees upwards and downwards. As in the original video by Markiplier (“SHARKS CAN FLY!! | Stranded Deep - Part 1”), the scene ends with an abrupt fade to black.

The new scene opens up on a small island, with three palm trees out of focus due to the camera’s „shallow focus” (Rose 49). Markiplier walks into a shot, his face expressing unease with the new setting is zoomed in. The camera then swiches to a long shot of the character, the focus turns into a deep one and the full breadth of the new scenery is presented to us. The change of the focus and length of shot is probably made to help the viewer identify with the character, surprised at discovering the new environment around him.

The next scene is a short sequence of one second capturing the Markiplier puppet from a low-angle, his upper part of the body zoomed in and in sharper focus than the background, the camera being slightly rolled to the right. The briefness of it most probably serves the purpose of introducing comedy into the situation, while the camera work seems to counterbalance the comedy by trying to represent anxiety that the character should be experiencing.

The part 00:33 – 01:01 continues the theme of mock-panic, capturing Markiplier literally „getting all [his] panicking out of [his] system.” In the process the camera switches from a middle shot to a long shot when the character switches from speaking to the viewers to „panicking.”

The creator of the animation eddited the audio to create the effect of distance whenever the camera switched to a long shot. Cranbersher also showed his inventiveness by placing a beach ball with a painted red face on it: a clear reference to the movie Cast Away (Zemeckis) casting Tom Hanks as a FedEx representative surviving on a deseted island:

Figure 4.1.2.3

Another scene is opening underwater, the camera shooting Markiplier from over the „shoulder” of a shark. A perspective that would otherwise be considered to convey threat is swiftly dismissed by showing the harmless „face” of a shark.

The last scene captures the Markiplier puppet at full hight standing triumphantly over the carcass of a murdered shark. Then the creator of the animation attempts to relate the broken game mechanics in his animation in the span of 01:26 – 01:45. He seems to have found no creative way of animating the time lapse from 01:26 to 01:29, since the camera is staring mostly at the ground and the only suggestion as to what is going on is the voice of Markiplier. The camera then switches to a long-shot to depict Markiplier puppet falling victim of a bug in the game; the audio follows a previously established fashion of appearing to be more dispersed, as if heard from the distance. After a sudden collapse back to the ground, Markiplier, sprawled on the ground, is shot from a high angle, echoing his vulnerable position and state:

Figure 4.1.2.4

4.1.3 Third video

This next animation lacks distinctions between its scenes as clear as the animations preceding it. Logically, it can be broken down into the following parts: 00:00 – 00:14, 00:15 – 00:30, 00:31 – 00:47, 00:48 – 00:58, 00:59 – 01:24, 01:25 – 01:30, 01:31 – 01:54.

It is completed in a minimalistic hand-drawn cartoon-like style with multiple visual digressions focused around Markiplier character’s emotions and commentary. The animation does not have any rigorous rules as to its structure and order and appears to be more of a highlight of the moments in the original video (“World's Quietest Let's Play”) worthy of attention of the audience and the author. Throughout various scenes, the animator resorts to using text in 00:07 – 00:10; producing a mock introductory screen of the Happy Wheels („Welcome to the Happy Wheels Wiki”) game being played in the original video by Markiplier in the frame at 00:14; mimicking the style of the game in 00:17 – 00:28, 00:30 – 00:31, 00:35, 00:54 – 00:58:

Figure 4.1.3.1

animating certain emotions and expressions of Markiplier in a comically literal, as in „ . . . I received another ball. An odd medical condition . . . ”:

Figure 4.1.3.2

or exaggerated way:

Figure 4.1.3.3

in the sections 01:02 – 01:07; 00:29, 00:35, 00:40, 00:47, 00:59, 01:20, 01:29.

The video mostly depicts the Markiplier character referring directly to an audience, unless placed in the circumstances when he is interacting with a gaming environment, in which rare moments, exceptionally, he no longer faces the audience and breaks the eye contact. Most of the time the camera approaches Markiplier from a frontal or three-quarter angle. The scene 01:02 – 01:06 is the only one capturing Markiplier’s profile. The segment 00:50 – 00:54 is the only one truly capturing motion. It consists of two elements: Markiplier approaching the static camera at a frontal angle while gaining momentum for a rope swing; and Markiplier moving through the air, whereas motion is represented by the lines rapidly passing the character in the direction opposite to his movement and the slight change in the angle of the swing as the camera tracks the character’s movement only along the horizontal plane. Frames 01:00 – 01:02 see the camera zoom in on the character’s face.

The only scenes that truly establish the logical sequence of the events are the first and the last but one, being, respectively, the introduction and the ending followed by an outro sequence. The rest of them are unconnected scenes perormed in an appealing, yet simplistic style with no strict rules as to the camera distance and angle. The animator did not modify the sound in any particular manner apart from cutting it or switching its order.

4.1.4 Fourth video

The last animated sequence is also an instance of a two-dimensional animation. Accoring to Encyclopaedia Britannica, an „artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions,” incorporating such elements as “distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy” (“Expressionism”) is called expressionism. This animated sequence is therefore created in a quality expressionistic style, rich in both colour, details, and action. The scenes depicting actions in this particular animation count up to 12 images per second.

The video can, with a certain degree of effort, be broken down into scenes or sequences as follows: 00:00 – 00:16, 00:17 – 00:33, 00:49 – 01:06, 01:07 – 01:14, 01:15 – 01:23, 01:24 – 01:33, 01:34 – 02:05, 02:06 – 02:24, 02:25 – 02:35.

The first scene takes place in a cosy guest room dimly lit by a fireplace. Markiplier is placed in the first plane, sat in an antique velvet armchair, facing the camera at a three quarter angle. He is dressed in a crimson evening dress with a jabot at his collar and cufflinks on his cuffs, holding a pipe in his left hand. Soft light from the fireplace is capturing the right side of his face. The setting invites a comparison of Markiplier to a benevolent host of the lavish house or an evenin-show, greeting his guests to a private conversation or to a part in an attraction of one sort of another. A painting is hung right above the fireplace, depicting a creature from another animation of Markiplier’s („Markiplier Animated | CLOWN RAGE!”) video by the same author:

Figure 4.1.4.1

Which in its turn is a reference to yet another video by Markiplier („MMMMMMMMMMM | Spore - Part 4”):

Figure 4.1.4.2

The second scene presents Markiplier towering over Little Johnny (as Markiplier chose to name him). The camera assumes a sort of over-the-shoulder perspective behind Little Johnny, nevertheless both characters’ faces are made visible by the animator, most likely to show the unwillingness of Little Johnny to participate. In a moment, the scenery changes from a purple circular gradient to present purple mountains or building blocks and the orange sky, which are going to be the background of the action for the rest of the animated sequence. The choice of outfit for Markiplier (a simple red shirt and grey trousers) establishes a sharp contrast between the home setting and the action sequence about to take place. The scene ends with the Little Johnny character punching Markiplier in the face, during which the camera zooms out from Little Johnny, horizon distorted with a mild effect of a fisheye lens:

Figure 4.1.4.3

During the third scene Markiplier is chacing the Little Johnny character over the corner of the building. First camera captures Markiplier heading in the direction of the corner, after which the second camera sees Markiplier appear from behind the corner , tracking the curved of his motion to the point where he hits something with a fist. The third camera assumes an over-the-shoulder position behind a greyed out silhouette of what the fourth camera reveals to be a clown whom Markiplier had hit. Then the camera tracks the motions of the clown, picking a heavy wooden hammer out of his nose. After that the camera switches to track the hammer:

Figure 4.1.4.4

up until the point where it drives Markiplier’s face into the wall.

01:07 – 01:14 switch from an animated indignation of the Markiplier character to the two slowly zoomed in images depicting his words, as in litterally tearing off the clown’s posterior:

Figure 4.1.4.5

The images differ from the rest of the video in saturation, lighting and shades applied to them.

The scene 01:34 – 02:05 starts off with Markiplier turned in the direction of the camera at a three quarter angle, Little Johnny further off in the second plane. Markiplier makes a motion to throw the sword. When his hand passes the camera, the camera follows the sword, zooming in fast towards the upper body portion of the Little Johnny character. He dodges the sword and is left in the right side of the frame for a few moments, facing left, shot in three quarters. Then the camera switches to Markiplier, shot in a similar fashion, but turned to the right. This helps intensify the opposition between the two characters. Another camera then shoots frustrated Markiplier from a low angle, highlighting the determination of his character, followed by a long shot of his right profile. From this position Markiplier launches into motion, disappearing beyond the frame, where another camera picks up, tracking his movement. The camera then stops, showing Markiplier approaching to a point where the tracking shot turns into a closeup of his face, then arm, then a sword, indicating his motion towards the antagonist. The camera again turns to tracking the blade to the eye level of Little Johnny, where the camera placed at the profile of the two characters sees the blade break in slow motion. Yet another camera sees Markiplier in the first plane, landed behind Little Johnny, the broken blade of the sword, being closest to the camera is further enlarged by the fisheye lens, which once again distorts the horizon into a curved. The last sequence shows Little Johnny reveal his true identity as a clown and eating Markiplier in a closeup following directly into his mouth.

The last scene finds Markiplier in the dark, looking at three groups of clowns representing his friends from real life. The camera, most likely assumes the perspective of his eyes. Two different still shots are slowly zoomed in to intensify the feeling of threat, their faces captured by dim lighting originating somewhere beyond the frame, accentuating their features. The last group is of clowns is properly animated: by approaching the camera, they create an illusion of referring directly to Markiplier. There is a blue and white clown standing out from the rest in the last group, serving as a reference to the animator of the video, whose YouTube avatar is similar in fashion (“Markiplier Animated | WORLD'S 2nd QUIETEST LET'S PLAY”):

Figure 4.1.4.6

The animator manipulates the sound of the original video by Markiplier just as in the instance of the first animated sequence described: he cuts it and repositions it for the convenience of his animation and adds additional sound effects where they are needed. The video is also rich in phrases depicted literally, just as in the third video analyzed by this project. Consider the following phrase from 00:39: „Five balls! It seems my medical condition has worsened . . .”

Figure 4.1.4.7

Seeing how the tendency to focus on testicles is invited by Markiplier’s exaggerated and facetious manner of speaking, it is no surprise that the animator decided to use this as inspiration for his video. By doing so, however, he concented to an interaction with at least one other content creator mentioned in this project and multiple others by having chosen Markiplier to make animations based upon. RushLight Invader puts numerous references in this particular animated sequence and, as a result of his imagination, many inanimate objects Markiplier directed his anger towards assumed character. The clown, for instance, often appearing in other animator’s videos, acts in this one, likewise, as an uncontrollable force that opposes the protagonist. („Markiplier Animated | CLOWN RAGE!”).

4.2. Production

4.2.1 Technology

In order to be able to speak of how the animations to be decoded, it is worth mentioning the forces that influenced their creation. Right from the start, it is easy to fall into a trap of trying to define which one of the sites and its modalities is more significant in the creation of a still or moving image. Despite Gillian Rose often mentioning other authors referring to certain aspects of visual work creation as being more important (5 - 32), the author believes, that it would be unjust to consider any site or any modality more worthy than the other if it helps understand the reasons behind the shaping of a piece of art. The only argument against thoroughly examining all planes would be the time and space at the disposal of this project.

Technology in a major way defines how the sequences discussed in the previous subsection look. The work has presented the samples from the videos under investigation, wherein one can see the possible limitations and benefits offered by each of the methods. The video presented in Figure 3.1, for instance, created with help of Source Film Maker , serves as a perfect example of how one without knowledge of three-dimensional modelling or particular drawing skills may still create a good-quality animation. The instance of the second video (Figure 3.2) on the other hand illustrates how potentially limiting the usage of clay and puppet animation can be without additional digital effects applied to it, even if there happened to have been more camera work in the presented video. The third video compared to the fourth one (Figure 3.3, 3.4), on the other hand, work together to show how time invested into the work and the skill of the author can drastically affect the end result. As a result, the fourth video is more simplistic and less detailed in looks, incorporates less camera work and has less intermediary frames between certain actions.

The final look of the animation likewise depends on the maximal resolution the final video allows. This, in its turn, means that one should also consider the network bandwidth of the potential viewers when publishing content. All the four videos, however, offer a maximum resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, presently, quite comfortable for the average viewer’s eye. Due to YouTube modifying quality of videos to suit the needs of bigger audiences with varied access to internet on various devices, however, there are at least six versions of each video on YouTube (republications, reversed versions, versions played backward and attempts of circumventing copyright not included): 256*144 pixels, 426*240 pixels, 640*360 pixels, 854*480 pixels, 1280*720 pixels, and finally 1920*1080 pixels (“Recommended resolutions & aspect ratios”). This would mean that the end user’s satisfaction with the animation would also depend on how well adjusted the video is to his expectations, his screen and his wallet.

A question of hight importance is posed by Gillian Rose:

„How different is a reproduction in a book of an altarpiece from seeing the original in a church? Clearly at one level these are technological questions concerning the size, colour and texture, for example, of the image. At another level . . . [–] how an image is looked at differently in different contexts. You don't do the same things while you're flicking through a book of renaissance altarpieces as you do when you're in a church looking at one.” (25)

This question quite naturally concerns the choice of technology: some images unavoidably are made a physical part of the vessels they are painted on, be it canvas for an oil painting or stone wall for graffity; or by the nature of propriety arrested in certain locations they are presented at. The animated sequences posted on YouTube do possess several truly unique qualities. Primarily, the videos YouTube displays to its viewers are not fixed in any particular location, unless one considers Google servers a place of display. Additionally, the videos can be embedded on other domains: not only conveniently introduced into a message field on Facebook, but really embedded into an html code of the standalone web page („Embed YouTube Videos”). This ties closely into the idea of Marshall McLuhan, who in his „The Medium is the Message” states that „the personal and the social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves” (qtd. in Media and cultural studies 107). The meaning is, therefore, that the existence of Internet and, in this particular case of YouTube, allows for visual imagery to be perceived differently from the social and personal perspective. From the one hand it qualifies any type of video as something potentially worth while of attention of the audience thus making any material from any location in any style by any person applicable as the stuff of art. From the other it potentially makes any place fathomable appropriate for contemplation of this potential art. The choice of the platform and place for viewing the animated sequences chosen in this project is really dependent on the viewer’s comfort, monetary state and location.

4.2.2 Composition

„Some writers argue that it is the conditions of an image’s production that govern its compositionality. This argument is perhaps most effectively made in relation to the genre of images into which a particular image fits” (Rose 19). This project has already made an attempt at classifying the videos examined in it. In terms of placement, first and foremost, they belong to the digital domain of the World Wide Web. Unless put behind a firewall, contained in an internal network, or stored on some device or vessel unconnected to the network (private PC, hard disc drive, solid-state drive, flash drive or, Heavens forbid, DVD, CD or a floppy disk), these videos are available for the Whole Wide World[ii] to see. The identification can be further narrowed down to Google as the company owning YouTube and then further to YouTube as the site hosting the videos. The videos belong in the category of animation, varying from straightforward digital animation to clay and puppet animation. Further narrowing down the placement of the videos in a particular genre, one could apply the term proposed by Raph Koster to them, namely „fan labor” (“Podcast: Futures of Entertainment 2: ‘Fan Labor’”). Wylie Sypher, in his definition of comedy, stated that

„We have, in short, been forced to admit that the absurd is more than ever inherent in human existence: that is, the irrational, the inexplicable, the surprising, the nonsensical-in other words, the comic.” (20)

What videos have been presented to the readers in this work seem to be abundant in this irrational, inexplicable, surprising, non-sensical and in many other ways comic content, which seems to place the animations under investigation in a category of comedy.

4.2.3 Social modality

Should one focus on the social modality of the production process, the videos’ being published on YouTube calls for mentioning an important social phenomenon of „virtual identity,” something techopedia.com („Virtual Identity”) defines as a „part of an interface that represents the user in a virtual world such as a chat room, video game, or virtual common space.” The virtual identity does not necessarily have to be representative of the real identity of a person or a group of persons. It is often times built on information provided by the user on his or her profile page and an avatar, complementing the description with further details. David Sobel describes anonimity of the internet as allowing „to seek information – and disseminate it – while maintaining [one’s] privacy and reputations in both cyberspace and the material world” (1). The creators of the animations fully exploit their right for anonymity, most often never presenting their faces to the audiences, or restricting the contact to voice only. In such instances, the works they create speak most accurately of what they wish to represent, albeit depicting them in a rather limited manner as merely creators of animated content rather than real multifaceted human beings. Just as in Rose’s interpretation of Westerbeck and Meyerowitz’s argument that „to do street photography . . . the photographer has to be there, in the street, tough enough to survive”(qtd. in Rose 22), we have to assume that the animators possess the qualities that define them as such, all the same knowing them exclusively through the content they produce.

Another aspect of social modality indispensable for the proper interpretation of the presented art is how it positions itself on the plane of the world’s economy. „To analyse images through this lens you will need to understand contemprary economic processes in a synthetic manner,” says Rose (21). And while this project does not aspire to become a handbook on economy, it is a common understanding that the exchange of services and goods keeps the economy going, while producing the said commodities usually costs resources, either in the form of raw materials or in the form of time. How do content creators participate in the world’s economy by publishing their content? Not only do they consume particular products facilitating their content creation, they also create a demand for their serivces and the Internet allowing these services to be distributed to the public. The animators and the form in which they present their content, in return, is also defined by the Internet, for they are reimburced for displaying their content on the Internet. If the reader has participated in at least the last few years of the internet development, he or she should be well aware that advertisement on the internet is the most wide spread source of income and is based on the rate of impressions, clicks, or sales or leads („How to Make Money From Your Website . . .”). Not surprisingly, YouTube offers a similar service to its users in order to help the time and work dedicated to creating content turn into profit („How to earn money from your videos”), a modern form of the renaissance patronage. If the content creator wishes to receive income from the videos published on YouTube (some of the animators, namely Coyotemation and RushLight Invader, monetize their original videos), monetization is one way in which his or her video will interact with the rest of the world on a social and economical level.

This ties into a yet another point concerning reaching potential audiences. The videos presented in Figures 3.1 – 3.4 are located on Markiplier’s channel. The video from Figure 3.1 is also available on the channel of the original creator (“Mediplier – ‘Surgery’”), but, as You may see below, it is reduced to a teaser lasting 43 seconds instead of a full video, while the link directing the users to Markiplier’s channel states that the full video can only be found on Markiplier’s channel:

Figure 4.2.1

Cranbesher posted a full version of the video (“Markiplier Animated | STRANDED DEEP”) on his channel, but chose not to introduce any advertisement on it, while Lixian did not post the any counterpart of his video on his own channel, choosing to share only the footage (“Making Of - *Markiplier Animated - Mark's Odd Medical Condition*”) of him making the video. RushLight Invader chose to post the full video („Markiplier Animated | WORLD'S 2nd QUIETEST LET'S PLAY”) on his page and monetize it, the only point being different is the outro. Why is this predominant tendency for the animators to exclude themselves from the equasion, which in theory can reduce their profit? There are several possibilities to consider. Firstly, one might consider that Markiplier and the animators established a deal where Markiplier shares a part of the profits the respective videos of each animator makes on his channel, although there is no evidence for that. Perhaps most of them chose to treat their works as a gift and by doing so refused to earn anything in the result. The most likely explanation for this, from the perspective of the author of this project, is not a sudden manifestation of altruism on tha part of the animators. It is that the potential profit the animations could have made is of no significance when there is audience to gain. By allowing a bigger channel to post their works, they effectively used their animations as personal portfolios, reaching out to a much vaster audience then they could potentially have hoped to by placing the videos on their own channels.

Quite coincidentally, the last points to be discussed in this subsection are the audience itself and the various animators. On the one hand, this project’s author has located at least a dozen other animators, some of whom are ErixOn (“ErixOn”), Charlie Grubel (“Charlie Grubel”), Jason King (“Jason King”) AKA KeeperOfPork, FoolishCapitainKia (“FoolishCapitainKia”) and others appearing in the playlist Markiplier Animated! („Markiplier Animated!”). Such an abundance of creative effort focused on one topic is bound to result either in competition or fraternization, either of which conditions stimulates the exchange of ideas, unfortunately, untraceable for the given work. On the other hand, the audience by itself, supposedly, imposes particular demands on the creators, thus shaping the final product. This is reminiscent of what linguistics tends to call audience design and which Allan Bell explains in the following manner:

“Style is essentially speakers' response to their audience. In audience design, speakers accommodate primarily to their addressee. Third persons – auditors and overhearers – affect style to a lesser but regular degree.” (145)

Similar, if not the same, rules should apply to the creation process of the animations. If the animators truly expect the videos to be positively received by the audience, they have to appropriately adjust their style and performance.

4.3. Image

Roland Barth in his essay argues that when contemplating a work of art, we are no longer capable of distinguishing the origin of the message itself:

„We shall never know, for the good reason that writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin. Writing is that neutral, composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost . . . .” (166)

Truly, when perceiving the chosen pieces of animations, one can attempt to guess what „signifier[s]” each „signified[s]” represents (Saussure xvi) considering the original intention of the author, only to be confronted with an „unintentional and ungeneralizable” interpretation of the image, the „punctum” (Rose 83). In other words, to interpret the image as an independent site, one may just as well assume that the author has no more power over the message of his creation and it is up to the image to bear the power of its own meaning, regardless of what meaning was intended and whether it was intended at all. Consider the Figures 4.1.3.2 and 4.1.4.6: despite the best attempts at deciphering whether or not the authors of the respective animations meant for them to be referring to each other directly or only to the jokes produced by Markiplier or only to Markiplier’s original videos, it is the connection we end up with, provided that we know of the existence of the two independent videos.

This is something, which Umberto Eco, in part, relates to in his book The Name of the Rose:

„Books often speak of other books. In a harmless book one finds but a seed, which may bloom in a dangerous one, or vice versa: sweet fruit is born by bitter roots. Could you not, by reading Albert, find out what Thomas says? Or by reading Thomas learn what Averroes spoke of?” (407)[iii]

Just as books, the animations examined always turn out to refer of other videos, which refer to videos made by someone else. Instead of looking like strands, these connections look like webs, interconnecting animations with other videos they intentionally or unintentionally refer to, between themselves and other mediums of information. Thus, the videos examined in the given project all bear a similar semblance due to their belonging to the same genre. Some of them draw inspiration from other multiple works of art produces in particular styles. According to Rose, this tendency of works of art to draw upon each other’s messages is known as intertextuality, which according to her

„refers to the way that the meanings of any one discursive image or text depend not only on that one text or image, but also on the meanings carried by other images and texts.” (137)

It is, therefore, impossible, to watch the video presented in the Figure 3.1 and claim with absolute assuredness that it is a comical animated sequence based around the character of a sadistic doctor and a patient who became a victim. Looking at the characters, one will recognize that they originate from the Team Fortress 2 video game; considering how the video was created, a knowledgeable person would conclude that the animator had to use Source Filmmaker; an analysis of the sound will reveal that some of it was modified, either in the Source Filmmaker or through the usage of additional software. By its existence the animation acknowledges the existence of all of the specified tools and all those who use them in order to produce similar content. At the same time, the video sequences discussed pay tribute not only to the tools of their creation, other works created using the same tools, other videos by the same authors. Through their final form they pay tribute to the works that had inspired them. In the particular example of the current project, Markiplier’s visual content is, among others, a most prominent influence on the final look of all of the examined videos. It would be wrong to state that Markiplier’s videos are the standalone variables in the equation.

While the drawn or clay or three-dimensional Markiplier in each of the videos can be what Pierce describes as an index sign (qtd. in Rose 78) of himself in the original videos, the interrelation of signs does not stop here. The Markiplier in each of the original videos is not the real Markiplier and is only a sign of Markiplier who had at some point recorded the videos. Markiplier’s videos, in their turn, also appeared as a result of Markiplier choosing to play a particular game, which also had undergone numerous steps of a creation process. Finally, the animators of the clips that were chosen for the given project happened to be among the audience that was submitted to Markiplier’s work before they could make their animations. From spectators of the YouTuber playing a game, they turned into creators of the content, which was later on noticed by the said YouTuber, viewed by him, only then to be placed on his channel for his audience to once again contemplate. It turns out that the animators went full circle, starting off and ending as spectators, first of somebody else’s and then of their own work. Their works, on the other hand, incorporated all the abovementioned layers of signification and many others as part of their content, existing along with the visual images that by their mere being bears witness to the elaborate network of meanings that brought about their creation.

Marshall McLuhan says that

„The electric light is pure information. It is a medium without a message, as it were, unless it is used to spell out some verbal ad or name. This fact . . . means that the ‘content’ of any medium is always another medium. The content of writing is speech, just as the written word is the content of print, and the print is the content of the telegraph.” (107)

It is therefore highly unlikely that by pointing at some object or event that is, seemingly, the origin of a particular sign that one will arrive at defining the progenitor thought or idea that had set the events in motion in such a manner that the work of art currently contemplated by the one performing the unearthing of the reasons.

The thought by Bal and Bryson, as quoted in Rose, complements and concludes the idea belonging to McLuhan:

"what one sign means depends on its relations with others. As Bal and Bryson (1991: 177) note, this makes the analysis of signs difficult because it is hard to know where to break into that relationality: `Meaning [arises] exactly from the movement from one sign or signifier to the next, in a perpetuum mobile where there could be found neither a starting point for semiosis, nor a concluding moment in which semiosis terminated and the meaning of signs fully ‘arrived''.' " (qtd. in Rose 91)

Ultimately, the intertextuality, the dependance between the content and medium and the elusive, circular motion of the signs may create an impression that there is, in fact, no way to uncover the meaning behind the animated sequences presented in this project or, for that matter, any animated sequence, video or image ever created. And while it may well be true, this only concerns the objective truth of an image, for the viewer always has the privilege of having a subjective perspective, thus building the meaning of every work of art for him- or herself. While every time the viewer approaches the work of art in an attempt to interpret it, he or she is bound to come up with a different result due to how the viewer’s perspective alters with new knowledge and new contexts to consider.

5. FINAL WORDS

The work has done its best to present its audience with examples of a vast field of fan fiction digital animation videos, describing how the tools and techniques that were used in them. The project tried to illustrate how different the manifestations of the same trend can be and how inventiveness and skill translate into a unique vision of what otherwise may have been called a mere recreation.

The project did not attempt to establish the importance of various sites related to the videos’ interpretation, choosing to examine the sites of production and image in order not to intervene with the potential subjective interpretation the reader may have of the animations. Certain technical aspects of published videos have been discussed, followed by the discussion of the nature of intertextuality and circularity of the meaning of sign.

Ultimately, this work does not intend to give decisive answers due to the lack of experience of its author in the selected field. The information it gathered, however, serves to provide food for thought for a potential addressee whatever purpose he or she may be pursuing.

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End Notes

[i] Original accentuation preserved in all quotes unless stated otherwise.

[ii] My personal interpretation of www.

[iii] Translated from Polish by the author of the current project.

0 notes