Unit 33 Assignment 1

Task 1: Persistence of view

Persistence of view refers to the optical illusion whereby multiple discrete
images blend into a single image. Persistence of view is a technique used
in creating stop motion animations as stop motion animation is a series of
images played to look like movement.
Stop motion:
A series of images with small differences that
look like they move when shown one after the
other at a certain speed. Stop motion can even
be made with the corner of a note pad and a
pencil, this is by drawing the sequence of
images on each page then flicking through the
pages to create the motion between the still
images. (the image to the right is an example of a stop motion flip book).
Frame rates:
Frame rate is the rate of images shown in an animation or film per second, an
example of this is 30fps (frames per second), this means that 30 images are
shown every second. The higher the frame rate the smoother the animation,
another example would be a bad/ choppy animation would be 12 fps where the
animation jolts occasionally where as a smooth animation would be from 30 60
fps as the motions would be spread out through more images meaning the
change wont
be as drastic
between
images than
the 12 fps
animation.

(This image
to the left is a
diagram explaining frame rates.)

Task 2: Development (Pioneers of animation)

Joseph Plateau 14th October 1801 to 15th September 1883. Joseph
plateau was one of the first people to demonstrate the illusion of moving

images. In 1829 he created disks with small images around

dubbed anorthoscopic disks that played an animation when span
at the right speed. In 1832 he created a stroboscopic device that
played the disks at the right speed and displayed the animation.
(Image to the right).

William Horner (zoetrope). William was born in 1786 and

died in 1837. In 1837 William created a different way to
project animations without the use of a mirror. Horner used a
piece of paper inside with a sequence of hand drawn images
that could be viewed through slots outside the drum. The
zoetrope used a sequence of images inside of a drum that
had small slots all over the outside that projected the
animation out when the drum was span at the right speed.
(Below is an image of a zoetrope)

Emily Reynaud (praxinoscope). Emily was born on

the 8th of December 1844 and died on the 9th of
January 1918 aged 73.
The praxinoscope is a machine that projected
animations and it was powered by a miniature hot air
engine. The praxinoscope was the successor to the
zoetrope, the praxinoscope was invented in 1877,
and it used a strip of images placed around the inner
surface of a spinning cylinder.

Edward James Muggeridge was born on the 9th of April 1830 and died on
the 8th of May 1904.
At the age of 20, Edward immigrated to America, first to New York as a
bookseller, and then to San Francisco. He returned to England in 1861 and
took up professional photography, learning the wet-plate collodion
process. In 1877 1878 Edward used multiple cameras to capture motion
in stop motion photographs and his zoepraxiscope, a device that projected
motion picture that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strips used in
cinematography in 1880 Edward entered the University of Pennsylvania,
producing over 100,000 images of animals and humans in motion,
capturing what the human eye could not distinguish as separate
movements. He gave his later years giving public lectures and
demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences.

This image to the left shows a strip of

images from Edward James
Muggeridge, these are played in stop
motion to give of an animation of a
horse running, and while Edward had
these 100,000 images it was at the
same time period as Emily Reynauds
praxinoscope as this was how Edward
projected his animations.

Thomas Edison was born on the 11th of February

1847 and died on the 18th of October 1931. Thomas
Edison created the kinetoscope is an early motion
picture exhibition device. The kinetoscope was
designed for films to be viewed by one individual at
a time through a peep hole viewer window at the top
of the device, the kinetoscope was a movie projector
but introduced the basic approach that would
become the standard for all cinematic projections
before the advent of video. (The image to the right is
an image of the kinetoscope). Inside the machine is
a strip of perforated film bearing a sequence of
images over a light source with a high speed shutter,
this process would pull the film through the machine
and cause the images to turn into an animation and
is displayed in the peep hole at the top of the
machine.

Lumire brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas was born on the

19th of October 1862 and Louis Jean was born on the 5th of
October 1864, they were the first film makers in history.
The brothers invented one of the first colour photographic
processes and didnt sell the camera to other film makers as
they stated that the cinema is an invention without any
future. The brother worked on a number of colour process,
examples of which were exhibited at the exposition universelle
in Paris in 1900. In 1903 the brothers patented a colour
photographic process.

George Pal was born on the 1st of February 1908 and died on the 2nd of
May 1980.

George Pal, at the age of 23 moved to Berlin, Married Elizabeth and

founded Trickfilm-studio Gmbh Pal und Wittke, with UFA
studios as its main customer from 1931 to 1933, during this
time he patented the pal-doll technique (known as
Puppetoons in the USA).
In 1933 George worked in Prague and in 1934 he made an
advertisement film in a hotel room in Paris, he made two
short adverts in the hotel room. He used the Eindhoven
technique in: a former butchery, a villa-studio and a Suny
Home.
George is remembered most for his science fiction and
fantasy films including: When worlds collide (made in 1960),
the war of the world (made in 1953), Tom Thumb (made in
1958), the time machine (made in 1960) and the wonderful
world of brothers Grimm (made in 1962). (The image to the
right is of the cover of his film the time machine).

Developers of animation:
Willis OBrien: Willis was born on the 2nd of March 1886 and
died on the 8th of November 1962, he died aged 76.
Willis was an American motion picture pioneer who created
some of the best-known images in cinema history; some of
these films include the lost world made in 1925, King Kong
made in 1933 and mighty joe young made in 1949 he won
the 1950 Academy award for best visual effects for the film
mighty king joe.
Other films Willis made include the dinosaur and the missing
link: A prehistoric tragedy which was made in 1915, R.F.D
10,000 B.C. was made in 1916 and Prehistoric Poultry which was made in
1916. (The image to the right is the cover for the film Mighty king Joe).

Ray Harryhausen: Ray was born on the 29th of June 1920 and died on the
7th of May 2013 aged 92, he was active from 1939 to 2002, in this time he
was an American visual effects creator, writer and producer who created a
form of stop-motion model animation known as Dynamation.

Rays most memorable work includes animation on mighty young

Joe in 1949 with Willis OBrien who received the 1950s Academy
award for best visual effects. He also made the 7th voyage of
Sinbad in 1958 which was his first colour film, he also made Jason
and the Argonauts in 1963, this film featured a famous sword fight
with seven skeleton warriors. The last film Ray made was the
Clash of the titans in 1981, after this film Ray retired.
In 1960 he moved to London where he lived until he died in 2013.
During his life he was an inspiration to numerous filmmakers
including: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, John Lasseter, Peter Jackson,
John Landis, Joe Dante, Henry Selick and Tim Burton. (The image to the
right is the cover for Rays last film the clash of the titans).

Jan Svankmajer: Jan was born on the 4th of September 1934 and is 82
years old. Jan is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several
media. Jan is a self-labelled surrealist known for his animations
and features, he has greatly influenced other artists such as
Terry Gilliam and Brother Quay and many others.
Some of the popular films/work by Jan include: Greedy guts
which was made in 2000, Alice which was made in 1988,
Lesson Faust which was made in 1994 and Lunacy which was
made in 2005 Jan directed all of the films specified here.
Jan began making short films in 1964 and continued to work on
the medium for over 20 years. His first feature length film was
made with Lewis Carrolls which was Alice in wonderland in
1988. (Image to the right is the film cover of Alice in wonderland from
1988).

Task 3: contemporary work

The Quay brothers: The brothers were born in 1947 and are 69 years old.
There short films include: Street of Crocodiles (1986), In
Absentia (2000), institute Benjamenta (1995), The piano tuner
of Earthquakes (2005), rehearsals for extinct anatomies
(1987), This unnameable little broom (1985), a cabinet of Jan
Svankmajer (1984), the comb (1990), the phantom museum
(2003), noctuma artificialia (1979), unmistaken hands: EX voto
F.H. (2013), Maska (2010), the falls (1980), Stille Nacht: are we
still married? (1993) and around 15 more between late 1980
and early 2000s.
The Quay brothers are influential stop-motion animators. In
1988 they received the Drama desk award for outstanding set

design for their work on the play the chairs. (The image to the right is of
one of the Quay brothers film covers).

Tim burton:
Tim Burton was born on the 25th of August 1958. Tim burton is
known for his dark, gothic and quirky fantasy films, an example
of these are Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissor hands (1990), a
nightmare before Christmas (1993), sleepy hollow (1999),
Sweeny Todd: the demon barber of fleet street (2007), Alice in
wonderland (2010) and many other films which has made over
$1 billion.
Tim Burton also directed Batman in 1989 played by Michael
Keaton and Jack Nicholson. (The image to the right is the cover
of batman from 1989 directed by Tim Burton). Tim Burton also
directed the sequel to Batman which was called batman
returns and the villain was Danny DeVito.
Tim Burton also co-wrote Edward Scissor hands, (with Caroline
Thompson), he also directed Edward Scissor hands.
The nightmare before Christmas is a dark/gothic stop motion
animation created by Tim Burton where every day is
Halloween. The film made $50 million in profits. (Image to the
right is the cover for the film a nightmare before Christmas)

Aardman animations: Aardman animations started creating stop motion

animation in 1972. In 1986 Aardman collaborated with director Stephen
Johnson and the brother Quay to create a new rock video, they went on to
collect almost every award that year.
In 1993 Aardman passed another milestone with the completion of Nick
Parks Oscar winning the wrong trousers, the film won over 30 awards and
has become one of the most successful animated films ever made.
Aardman animations have a total of 31 films made
starting back from 1978, the newest films from
Aardman include: Shaun the sheep movie (2015),
the pirates in an adventure with scientists (2012),
Wallace and Gromit: the curse of the ware-rabbit
(2005) and chicken run (2000). (The image to the
right is the Aardman animation logo).

Task 4: Genres and Forms

(How animation is used in the following)
TV: TV uses stop motion to project movement, every display will use 60
images a second played in an order to make it look like movement 60
images a second can also be called 60 frames per second, this number
can also be 12, 24, 30, 32 and 60 frames per second.
Channel indents: https://theident.gallery/ this is a gallery of channel
indents, it is a way to find the indents and presentation graphics from a
multitude of British television channels both past and present from the
mainstream national broadcasters to small niche channels. This is a sort of
data bank for all of the images ever broadcasted on television from every
channel.
Cinema: Cinema has the same animation technique as TV shows, most
cinema films will use 60 frames per second, and they will use video
cameras to record which records in pictures along with audio track. The
video is recorded by thousands of images that are all taken after each
other, around 60 images are taken every second. The images are then
shown on the cinema screen 60 images at a time.
Adverting: Stop motion advertising can only be displayed on a screen, this
is because stop motion is animation, therefore the only stop motion
adverts on the paper can only be adverts for stop motion films. The stop
motion adverts are in TV, online etc. Every advert in the TV will use stop
motion to display the animation in the advert.
Music videos: Music videos use the same style of animation stop motion
this is showing a number of pictures (30 60 fps) to make it look like
movement. The music videos are recorded by video cameras which take
30 60 images per second. Then the footage is edited, then displayed
image by image at the right speed to look like animation.
Computer games: Computer games are more complex than film or TV, this
is because the players have control over the characters, the games have
all the animations made up and all of the environments made up e.g.
when a certain button is pressed the sequence of images is played that
creates an animation, just like when the character moves forward of back,
certain parts of the display are changed to look like movement a simple
version of this is the game Super Smash Bros where the stage normally
stays the same, the only thing that moves are the characters the counters
at the bottom of the screen and the background to give the illusion of the
stage moving around.
Mobile phones: Mobile phones also have a set of pre-made animations just
like on video games, this is so when a button is pressed on the phone the

animation will play witch shows a sequence of images played at speed to

look like an animation, this also uses stop motion.
Websites: Websites also use stop motion, they have coded animations
where the website has a set of reactions where the website reacts to
different buttons being pressed, this is similar to the computer games
section where there is already all of the animations set up being played
with different keys, mouse actions, an example of this is scrolling down or
up a web page which looks like movement.