animation techniques

Stop Motion Animation

Stop-motion animation, is the term used to describe animation created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time to create the illusion of movement.

There are many different types of stop-motion animation, usually named after the type of media used to create the animation, these include:

•Cutout animation

•Claymation animation

•Model animation (like the classic King-Kong)

•Object animation

•Puppet animation

Computer animation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5YmIS57J9E 

•Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying idea being that the animation is created digitally on a computer.

•The term covers 2D animation using Flash to the CGI techniques used in Pixar’s many successful films.

development of technology

Growing Technology

•From 1914-1928 artists developed the animation technology and began to teach others about animation.

•1928 Walt Disney debuts the first cartoon to feature animation and sound.

•It is called Steamboat Willie.

Looking to the Future

•After Steamboat Willie, the animation world grew in leaps and bounds.

•Even as technology advances, the basics of animation are still based stop-motion

•During the next 40 years animation transitions from a fanciful toy into a major business (1930s-1970s)

–Walt Disney Company

–Fox Animation

–Hanna-Barbera

–Warner Brothers Animation

–MGM Animation

Computer Generated Imagery

•In the late 1970s to early 1980s Computer Generated Imagery or CGI is used in film for the first time.

•CGI allows animators to create fantasy situation and illusions within real live action.

•The first mainstream movie that used CGI was The Last Starfighter  in 1984.

CGI Grows

•In 1995 Toy Story premiered. It was the first full-length motion picture to be entirely CGI.

Pinnacle of Animation

•The movie Avatar uses CGI animation alongside other image-based technologies to create stunning visual effects.  

the process of animation

The process of animation

Step 1: Concept - the process of animation begins with an idea that is ultimately used to create a story 

Step 2: Storyboard & inspirational art - the animation department draws a storyboard and inspirational sketches depending on the story they're telling. a storyboard which looks like a large comic strip is a series of drawings that visually show action, story development or camera movement. inspirational sketches provide a visual ideas in emotions that will be used as the story evolves.

Step 3: Voice recording - before the animators begin drawing the voice artists records the dialogue so the artist will know how to animate the characters.

Step 4: Drawing - the animators would make draft sketches of the characters and the entire film on paper and sent to the 'ink department'

Step 5: ink and paint - they trace each drawing into a celluloid and after they finish they send it to the photography department.

Step 6: backgrounds - the background is painted for every scene 

step 7: photography - the production's celluloid are laid on top of the background and photographed by a special camera with the lens that facing downward. the camera photographs each celluloid one frame at a time. shooting 24 frames for each second of film.

this process is what creates the illusion of movement.

STOP-MOTION

STOP-MOTION

The invention of photography and moving pictures aided in the development of animation

1906 J. Stuart Blackton made the first animated film.

•He drew faces on board

•Photographed them onto film

•Ran the film sequentially to show the faces

•Titled the film: “Humorous Phases of Funny Phases”

•It is considered stop-motion

 Stop-motion is  the basis of animation. Stop-motion is a form of animation that relies on photographs of still objects to create movement. Objects are manipulated and photographed sequentially. When the photographs move together in a quick sequence (like in a film) it creates the illusion of movement.  This is similar to the way a flip-book works.

Clay figures are often used in stop-motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop-motion animation using clay is called clay-mation.

From Stop-Motion to Cartoons

Artists began to realise that by drawing and using the stop-motion animation technique they could create seamless animation.

In 1914 Winsor McCay, using drawing and the stop-motion technique, created the first character-based cartoon called “Gertie the Dinosaur”

“Gertie the Dinosaur,” which is only approximately 5 minutes long, contains 10,000 drawings.

FLIP-BOOK

FLIP-BOOK

As time went on and paper was more available, people wanted to make their own animation toys. This introduced the flip-book.

•Flip books are made by layering sheets of paper with slightly altered images in a sequential order.

•As the viewer quickly “flips” through the book, they see a quick animation.

ZOETROPE

ZOETROPE

•        Invented in the 1860s
•        Designed to actually animate
•        Was an expensive toy for children and adults
•        Made of a cylinder with slits in it
•        Images were put on the inside of the cylinder.
•       The viewer would spin the cylinder to see the images move.

THAUMATROPE

Thaumatrope 

• Invented in the 1820s

• Name means “magic turn”

• Designed to amuse children

• Made of 2 pieces of paper and string

• One image on the front, another on the back. As it spins it gives the illusion of combining the images.

How Does a Thaumatrope Work?

•When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to combine into a single image due to persistence of vision 

•Persistence of vision - the eye's ability to retain an image for roughly 1/20 of a second after the object is gone.

•The eye continues to see the two images on either side of the thaumatrope shortly after each has disappeared.  As the thaumatrope spins, the series of quick flashes is interpreted as one continuous image.