VISUALIZATION OF MUSIC IN SOVIET ANIMATIONS AND READING KOTYONOCHKIN'S WORKS
Ersin Ertan · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · 2021
This paper aims to critically analyze Soviet animator and the creator of the famous animatedseries "Well, Just You Wait!" (1969) in USSR, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin's (1927-2000) animations regarding music visualization. In this context, two animated films fromthe director's oeuvre deserve special attention: "Prophets and Lessons" (1967) and "YoungDrummer Boy" (1972) can be seen as the peak of applying artistic montage with sound toanimated films in Soviet propaganda animations. Unfortunately, Kotyonochkin and hispioneering works did go unnoticed by scholars, and they usually investigate the generalaspects of the field. In exploring these aspects of his works, I will try to fill a noticeable gap inthe film-music concerning Soviet animations and music visualization theories. After a briefintroduction to music usage in Soviet animations and his background as well as providingfurther understanding of the narratives of his films, I will analyze the audio-visual elements inhis works by referring to relevant scholars' theories such as Michel Chion, Wassily Kandinsky,Sergei Eisenstein and Lawrence Zbikowski in the framework of leitmotif, synaesthesia, artisticmontage and harmony, before giving a conclusion.