ANIMATIONA Brief Summary

From the Zoetrope to CGI

HISTORY

The earliest examples of “animation” come from Palaeolithic cave paintings and pottery/wall decorations from as far back as 5,200 years ago.

Ancient Animation? AD

0 BC

Around the Victorian Era, games such as the Zoetrope, Thaumatrope and Flip Book became popular. These were simple devices that, when moved in their individual way, would produce a basic animation.

1837-1901

1889

Emile Reynaud patents the praxinoscope. This is a device that used mirrors to project a sequence of images onto a screen. The infinite tape length changed the medium of animation from a curiosity into entertainment.

1906

J. Stuart Blackton makes the first animated film which he called "Humorous phases of funny faces." His method was to draw comical faces on a blackboard and film them. This allowed the facial expressions to change before the viewer’s eyes.

1914 1923

Earl Hurd applies for a patent for the process of cel animation. This is the technique of drawing the animated portion of an animation on a clear celluloid sheet and later photographing it with its matching background.

Walt and Roy Disney create Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

19301928

Walt Disney releases "Steamboat Willie”. This was one of the earliest cartoons to have sound. Disney revolutionised cartoons and turned them into a mainstream form of entertainment. The company’s innovations over the following decades include the storyboard, pencil tests, and the multi-plane camera stand.

The motion picture The King Of Jazz features an animated prologue by Walter Lantz. It is the first animation to be done in two strip Technicolor. Technicolor is a process of colouring that revolutionised both film and animation.

19341930’s

Several notable cartoon characters are created including: Betty Boop, Popeye, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny.

Urb Irwek and Disney create the multi-plane camera. This camera captures animation in 3D by photographing several layers of overlapping cels.

19761964

Ken Knowlton, working at Bell Laboratories, started developing computer techniques for producing animated movies.

The feature film Futureworld, sequel to the 1973 Westworld, is the first film to feature CGI by making use of a computer-generated hand and face created by then University of Utah graduate students Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke. Catmull would eventually end up as one of the three founders of Pixar and is the current president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar.

1995

1986

The computer graphics division of George Lucas’s company Lucasfilm, Ltd. is purchased by Steve Jobs for $10million and established along with Catmull and ex-Disney animator John Lasseter as Pixar Animation Films, a company that is famous for their CGI feature films and shorts to this day.

Disney/Pixar’s first film Toy Story becomes the first feature length film to be made entirely of CGI.

Different types of animation

SUB-CATEGORIES

Cel Animation

DEFINITION: The process of first drawing each frame of animation onto paper, then transferring these to transparent acetate sheets (cels,

short for celluloid). Colour is then added on the reverse of the cel. Layers are built up to create dimension.

The cels are individually photographed onto film by a rostrum camera.

The traditional method of cel animation (hand drawn and coloured) is now obsolete due to new technologies.

“Tradigital” can be used to describe traditional animation that uses technology, for instance, in the colouring process.

Cel Animation cont…

Notable examples include the motion pictures: Pinocchio, The Lion King,

Beauty and the Beast, Iron Giant, Cats Don’t Dance, and TV programs:

SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents...

Cel Animation Variations

Live Action/Animation: combining live action footage with cel animations e.g. Space Jam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit...

Rotoscoping: the process of tracing live action footage and turning it into cel animation. This is a technique to achieve realistic animation and used greatly by Disney

Computer Generated Animation

Definition: any animation (2D, 3D) that has been created with the aid of computer software.

2D:• Created using

bitmap or vector graphics

• Used for flash animation and PowerPoint animation as well as some 2D cartoons

3D:• Objects are made by

first creating a “rigging mesh”

• As well as this the animator uses gravity, particle and texture simulations to create realistic animations

• Actors can also wear suits with sensors on which copies their movements to computer

Computer Animation cont...

Notable examples of computer animation include: Avatar, The Polar Express and, of course, any film by Pixar...

Stop Motion Animation

Definition: the process of animating physical objects as

opposed to images.

The object is photographed, moved slightly, then photographed again and so on...

Stop Motion Animation cont...

Stop motion animation can take the form of:• Puppets• Clay/Plasticine models • Inanimate objects• Cut-outs (2D objects),

photographs etc...• Silhouettes• Humans (Pixilation)

Stop Motion Animation cont...

Notable examples include: Wallace and Gromit, Pingu and Bagpuss as well as many recent advertisements and music videos...