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Animation comprises of still images that are displayed rapidly after one another in order to create an

illusion of movement in the way of lines and forms. It is a film made by hand, frame-by-frame,

providing an illusion of movement which has not been directly recorded in the conventional

photographic sense. Although, even though this can be applied to the traditional forms of animation

(for e.g. cell, hand-drawn etc) it may not necessarily relate to new forms of animation that have

emerged through new technological advancements such as, CGI and motion capture. Therefore,

animation can be best described from this quote from Norman McClaren, Animation is not the art

of drawings that move, but rather the art of movements that are drawn. What happens between

each frame is more important than what happens on each frame.

Mark Roget provided the Persistence of Vision theory which determined how we perceive

movement. This can be explained in terms of the human eye seeing one image and carrying an after-

image onto the image that follows it which creates a sense of continuity.

In the 19th century, the Phenakistoscope, Zoetrope and Kinematoscope became some of the first

animation devices that depicted the manipulation of still images and the illusion of movement in a

series of sequential drawings. Even though these were then overshadowed by the realism of early

cinema photography, it still helped with the development of the animated form in the 1890s. This

could be seen in the comic strip form which became apparent in America in the late 1890s.

George Melies was one of the first people to discover other animated forms such as stop motion

and the manipulation of live-action within painted backdrops and scenery. This became apparent

through an accidental discovery when the camera jammed.

By 1900, Stuart Blackton created the first film that contained animated sequences. He appeared as a

lighting cartoonist that drew a man smoking a cigar and drinking wine. Through the process of stop-

motion and one drawing shown at a time, numerous expressions appeared on the mans face.

Blackton in 1906 then achieved a full animation called, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces.

In 1908, Emile Cohl appeared and was known to create the first animated film that contained the

principles of traditional animation, such as Metamorphosis. The film is about a stick figure

encountering numerous morphing objects, such as a bottle turning into a flower. It also contained

live-action where the animators hands entered the scenes.

This was then explored further by McCay in Little Nemo and his other works prioritised narrative

clarity within comic strips. It is through his contribution of character animation and personality that

has helped the development of animation and this is particularly evident in Gertie the Dinosaur.

The playful dinosaur Gertie gleefully hurls a mammoth into a lake in the film and clearly displays an

attitude. This anthropomorphism (the endowment of creatures with human attributes, abilities and

qualities) later informs the work of Disney.

The first puppet-animated film was created by Ladislas Starevich and emerged in 1912. It was called

The Beautiful Lukanida.

Between 1913 and 1917, the most popular form of animation adopted from the comic strip. John

Bray, Earl Hurd and Wallace Carlson are some of the names that helped the cartoonal concepts to

define the next developmental step of animation. Cartoons then emerged into the market place in

the USA at the same time that experimental, abstract animation emerged in Europe. This type of

animation stemmed from graphic and fine arts, evident in the notion of Avant-Garde and

Modernism.

In 1928, Disney created the first cartoon that synchronised sound called Steamboat Willie that

contained Mickey Mouse who has become iconic of Animation as a whole. Disney then introduced

Technicolor to create the 3-colour system in Flowers and Trees (1932). At first, Disney mainly

focused on the squash-and-stretch form of animation which derives from metamorphosis and was

predominantly abstract. However, later he insisted on the verisimilitude in his characters and

concepts and wanted them to move more realistically.

Another form of animating that arrived was known as Roto-scoping and that moved more towards

a realistic direction that allowed animators to capture and trace real human motion. Also, through

the development of the Multi-Plane camera, allowed animations to mimic Classical Hollywood

cinema in terms of telling the narrative through a realistic perspective and dimensionality.

With the new digital age advancing the technological form of animation, CGI became apparent and

Toy Story (1995) was the first feature length film that used computer animation.

Traditional Animation:

In the 20th century, traditional animation was mainly produced through the process of cel animation

or hand-drawn animation. The drawings that are created by the animator are traced, photographed

or photocopied onto transparent cells and are then painted in colours and tones. These completed

cells were then photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto

motion picture film. Today, the animators drawings can be directly transferred into the computer

where it is digitally coloured instead. Drawings can also be drawn on lightboxes or in a drawing

programme such as Photoshop, on a computer using a graphics tablet or screen. The process of

traditional animation can be seen as time-consuming as the requirement of animating is 24 frames

per second. Also, it can be seen as labor-intensive so thats why larger companies produce them.

Examples of early works of traditional animation include: Pinocchio, Bambi, Snow White etc

Examples of traditionally animated films with digital input include: Spirited Away, The Triplets of

Belleville etc

Full Animation this means that animations contain numerous detailed drawings that

create believable movement and smooth transitions. For e.g. Beauty and the Beast, The Lion

King.

Limited Animation this means that animations contain either less drawings or the

drawings are a lot more stylised and not as detailed. This was evident in animations such as

Gerald McBoing Boing and is present in Japanese Anime. It is more cost effective too.

Rotoscoping this technique means that the animator trace live-action movement of an

actor frame-by-frame. This was popular with Max Fleischer in 1917 and is evident in

animations such as Snow White and The Lord of the Rings (1978).

Live Action this means that live-action shots are combined with the hand-drawn

characters of the animators. This technique was used in earlier works such as Koko the

Clown and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion is the process where the animators photograph one motion and frame at a time, thus

manipulating real-world objects to create the illusion of movement. Objects that are animated can

be objects such as Clay, Puppet, Cutouts etc Once these objects have been photographed, the

photos are transferred to film and combined with sound. Traditional stop-motion is considered to be

less costly and time-consuming compared to computer animation.

Puppet animation this technique is where stop-motion puppets interact in a constructed

environment. Inside the puppets, they have an armature that helps to keep them steady and

still and when constraining their motions in specific joints. Examples of this technique can be

seen in films such as: Coraline, The Tale of the Fox, The Nightmare Before Christmas etc

Clay animation similarly to puppet animation, in clay animation they have an armature

too or wire inside that allows it to be manipulated for specific poses and change into

different shapes. Examples of films that use this technique include: Chicken Run, Wallace

and Gromit etc

Cutout animation this type of stop-motion is created when you move two-dimensional

pieces of material such as paper or cloth. This is evident in films such as Monty Pythons

Flying Circus. Another form of cutout animation could be seen in silhouette animation where

the characters are backlit and are only visible as silhouettes.

Model animation is a stop-motion technique where it interacts with live-action.

Intercutting, matte effects and split screens are used to blend the stop-motion

characters/objects with live actors and settings. Examples of this can be seen in: Jason and

the Argonauts and King Kong.

Computer Animation

Computer Animation means that various techniques are used in order to create 2D and 3D

animations digitally on a computer. In terms of 2D, this mainly consists of image manipulation

whereas 3D focuses on building virtual worlds where characters and objects interact. Overall, the 2D

approach of computer animation mainly comes across as stylistic, whereas 3D appears to the viewer

to be a lot more realistic.

2d this approach to computer animation stems from traditional animating techniques such as

drawings images that are slightly different to the last. Techniques that are used in 2D animating

include: onion skinning, metamorphosis, rotoscoping etc Although, when comparing 2D

animation to 3D animation, it can be a lot more time-consuming. To produce these graphics,

programmes such as Flash are used.

3d for 3D animation, characters and objects are created as models first in 3D programmes

such as Maya and Mudbox and are then animated in order to create the different expressions,

postures etc Nowadays, motion capture is used a lot in films, video games etc where live

actors act the part of the character to make the movement seem more realistic. This is recorded

via a mocap suit and is taken into a programme such as motionbuilder to be cleaned up.

Before animating a character, usually the character designers would create model sheets and

turntables that would display different poses, facial expressions and angles so that the animators

would be able to get an idea of how the character acted. On traditionally animated projects,

maquettes were sculpted in order to create a similar effect, e.g. angles. Also, storyboards are used

too in order to get an idea of how a character would interact in each scene. From the 1960s,

screenplays became a commonplace for animated films.