Animation Theory Pro-Forma

Scott Wilson

How animation works

• Describe how animation works with specific examples.

• Animation is worked by the elements of different images to create a moving image there was many different elements of this for example; there was joseph plateau's phenakistoscope this was invented in 1832, it was the first of a long history of ideas which were done to help change animation, this is worked by simply spinning the disk and look through the small gap and the image will move very quickly, this will trick the brain in thinking that the image is moving. This process is called persistence of vision principle. With the use of Persistence of vision this means we are able to see a new image and the old image for a short period of time this gives the impression of Fluid Animation.

• This is when the zoetrope was invented, this was a sequel to the phenakistoscope, it was invented in 1834 by William Horner. Whole idea was to get a sequence of images all slightly different and are moved into a circular device, When spun and viewed through the slits on the outside of the zoetrope tricks the brain into thinking the image is moving.

• There was other ideas too, In 1872 the Zoopraxiscope, a curious horse owner asked Eadweard Muybridge, if he could make an animation where his horses feet could jump off the ground, so this started the Zoopraxiscope it was all finalised in 1877.

• Another key invention to Animation was cinematography this was put invented in 1895 by the lumiere brothers, the principal of this idea was to get 24 different images on one film so that they were able to create a motion picture or animation.

• A Popular example of how animation works is cell animation, this is worked by stacking acetate sheets on top of each other to create a scene by purring the sheets in different positions it will create movement, this was improved by adding sound which Walt Disney innovated into his cartoons.

Beta Movement

• Beta movement is a process where our eyes see two Images one quickly after another and the brain then fills in the gaps,

the brain then assumes that the image is moving. The process of Beta movement was described by Max Wertheimer in 1912, this occurs when the frame rate is greater than 10 to 12 different images per second. The Beta movement is often confused with the phi phenomenon the difference between the two is the phi phenomenon is the motion caused by changing the static image which is in a motion picture. Also within the phi phenomenon there is misconception with the beta movement is apparent movement between various light sources that are switched on. In the phi phenomenon there are different lights or images in a different place, in both cases they are turned on and off for animated effect. An example of Beta movement would be those seen in a animated film such as Toy Story, Over the Hedge and Turbo. All these animations listed were all on 24 frames per second this allowed them to use the amount of images with various light sources this was worked by putting the camera work in different places. An example of Phi Phenomenon would be seen in a animation movie picture such as marquees for the films listed above, this is because when you are watching a film you are actually looking at a rapid sequence of discrete images. All the films listed above were also on 24 frames per second this allowed them to use the different lights and images in different places. In order to do this the cameras and CGI with the use of lighting and imagery were all set out in a specific place for this to work.

How has animation evolved• Describe how animation has changed from early experiments to current practice with specific examples

• Animation has changed in so many ways from the phenakistoscope to the cell animations, the key part in the Animation evolution was the invention of the phenakistoscope. It was then followed on by the zoetrope, this lead to even more extraordinary inventions from the zooparxiscope to cinematography and so on. The most influential one to date is CGI (computer graphic images) however since its first real impact which was toy story when it was produced in 1995, there were a lot of question marks about CGI due to the fact it was very expensive to produce, but when toy story was released it really kick started the whole CGI idea. CGI is what you mostly see today as there is more a lot more investment in CGI, Companies like DreamWorks and universal studios play a key part in making CGI.

Gaming • How has animation been used in this media sector?

• FIFA 14 –Animation is used in FIFA 14 with the player movements such as, dribbling,shooting,passing and skills. They’re are cameras every 5cm’s on the pitch so that they’re able to create realistic movements and are able to duplicate these movements. This process takes time and is mostly done on computers to process it onto the game. For annotations, EA had to use a software to create all the annotations for example on FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) when you open packs, it will show you the spinning ball with players shown.

• The last of us: In order to make the animation, gaming companies such as Naughty Dog had to hire actors to duplicate what the characters were doing in the cut scenes and the gameplay, there was cameras on the surface of the set and on the props, this is used to make sure that what’s shown on the cut scenes is realistic and gives the game effect. They also used annotations for the weapon choice and for items you are able to pick up.

Films- Terminator • How has animation been used in this media sector?

• Terminator- In this film they relied on animation, they used various techniques mainly old and new, this gave the film a believable effect and the audience was bewildered. The director of Terminator (James Cameron) gave the go ahead to use the technique of CGI/cinematography. For any scenes where it contained metamorphosis (morphing), a technician used different frames and angles and the final result; the machine figures out how to fill in the transitional frames so that the first form mutates fluidly into the last.

Walt Disney • Discuss their history in animation and their style• Analyse a piece/pieces of their work

• Walt Disney was born on the 5th of December 1901, since then he always loved to draw characters and sketch people, when he got older he opened his own studio in Kansas, which in 1923 where he did most of his work. Unfortunately due to the fact that he was in debt he had to close his studio.

• One of his other famous creations was the Newman Laugh o-gram studio which he started in Kansas. This style of animation was known to be called Laugh-o-gram for which he hired a number of animators to help him the majority of the people he employed were close friends or were siblings to his friends.

• He was looking for a new idea this is where Oswald the lucky rabbit came in, his business partner Charles mintz wanted a new cartoon for Universal pictures. As the cartoon began to get really popular and become an instant success, he received fantastic feedback from his audiences. Unfortunately, Charles mintz wanted decrease his salary which Walt Rejected, Subsequently this lead to him losing all his staff then he was left on his own again. ( Disney bought back the rights to Oswald the lucky rabbit in 2006.)

• Walt Disney Looked for a new path he wanted to create a new franchise, one which he co-owned with his brother Roy o’ Disney. As a filmmaker and entrepreneur, Walt Disney was also the brains behind the design of his theme parks.

• The most innovating aspect of his work was the fact that he added synchronised sound to his cartoons, this blew people away. Therefore it was his idea which triggered a shock wave of various ideas. His most famous cartoon character he created (Mickey mouse), which he involved in his first cartoon show steamboat Willie. The audience was shocked as they could see micky’s mouth moving with sound coming out.

• Synchronised sound is when sound is coupled with an image (characters talking, sound effects etc.) • Following the footsteps of his mickey mouse series, he then released a new idea called silly symphonies this was released in

1929, the first skeleton dance was made and designed by Iwerks. After a huge success with silly symphonies, he had a rivalry with another animated character called betty boob, this was short lived. Due to the success overall he signed a 2 year deal with Technicolor, this lead to most of his cartoons being in colour.

John Lasseter • Discuss their history in animation and their style• Analyse a piece/pieces of their work

• John Lasseter was born on January 12th 1957, John started his career as a animator for The Walt Disney company, due to the fact he was promoting animation done on a computer he was fired. However shortly after he went on to work for Lucasfilm, where he did was most of his CGI work (computer graphic imagery). The graphics group who created the majority of the CGI at Lucasfilm was then soon to be purchased by Steve Jobs the Founder of Apple. He changed the name to Pixar in 1986, john was in charge of all the films that Pixar created including Toy story which was the first film released to have CGI, this was a huge step as his critics said that it would be impossible to produce as it was too expensive.

• Shortly after john started to release other films such as The bugs life, Toy story’s sequel toy story 2 and cars 1 and 2. All these films were a huge hit, however since 2007 he has overseen all of the productions Disney Animation studios has created.

• One of his pieces Toy story was the highlight and the key to all the CGI done today as it was his first film made on CGI, it put his doubters to bed hypothetically. It goes to show you that from doing short films on a fairly small budget to making one of the most famous CGI films would suggest that John really innovated and stuck by CGI Animation. The film Budget was $30 million and it went on to make over $300 million, this would suggest it was the start of something new.

Evaluation of animator’s styles• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the two different animation styles

• The strengths and weaknesses of these two different Animation styles by Walt Disney and john lasseter, in summary one was a lot easier and was cheaper to innovate, for example Walt disneys was easy because it acquired less work. Another strength of Walt disneys Animation style (Cel Animation) is that it really kick-started an era for cartoons, his was the first to implement sound and colour to his cartoons which really gave his audience a good realistic view towards the cartoon he produced, The weaknesses were it took really long time to make and required a lot of skilled staff to pull it off.

• However in comparison to John Lasseter his work with the CGI was a lot quicker and reliable when it comes to producing it, it also took half the time to make, with the Experience of john lasseter and his expertise with CGI it was easy on the eye to initiate and complete. To add to this CGI has a very simple interface and they are very language independent, The negatives however were apparent. The budget was very expensive to produce and it makes sense because the first CGI film wasn’t made until 1995. Furthermore even though the film took half the time to produce, it took some time for the CGI system itself to work, they needed to fork out a lot money to get a new process for every HTTP and the database connection must be reopened as well. Over all in order for the team to operate the CGI they had to fork out more to get the latest CGI software to make it a faster process.