Introduction to Animation

Animation Industry• Over 3000 people within the

animation workforce of the UK.• UK has an excellent reputation

for design and use of technology• Approx 75% of animation

workforce are graduates• Half the workforce is freelance• Highly successful “hubs” exist in

and around London, Manchester, Bristol and Cardiff

• Animated content exists in many areas, e.g. computer games, websites, film, commercials/advertising, children’s TV, simulators.

• First Oscar for an animation in 2002 – Shrek

• Animation can be 2D or 3D: 2D/3D computer generated or 2D traditionally drawn, or stop frame

Animation TechniquesCel Animation• Bray and Hurd - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncgqzuBkoIw • Krtek (Mole) - http://vimeo.com/15593194 • Krtek (Mole) -

Claymation• Sean the Sheep (Aardman) - http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWBuDaDqIs • Tony hart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLJULXYgmE0

Compositing/Computer Generated Animation• Compositing Showreal - http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIIqBtnjf44 • CGI - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D5F7kBUCyQ

ZoetropeWilliam HornerIn 1834, William Horner invented the daedalum(“devil’s wheel”) or mostlyknown as the zoetrope (‘translated as life-turn’), a rotating drum with evenly spaced cut-outs in the wall through which images inside the drum appeared to be animated. Natural movement was achieved at about 14 fps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_8fX-N3Ji4

BRAVIA-drome• The largest Zoetrope, housing an animation of footballer Kaka

Eadweard Muybridge• Muybridge invented the

zoopraxiscope, a method of projecting animated versions of his photographs (motion pictures) as short moving sequences

• He anticipated subsequent developments in the history of cinema.

• Muybridge is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion - in 1877 and 1878 (e.g. he proved  a horse lifts all 4 hooves off the ground at one point in the action of running).

• His zoopraxiscope pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography.[

Eadweard Muybridge

Galloping horses, animated using photos by Muybridge.

Thomas Edison• In 1877, Edison,(inventor of

the modern, mass produced electric light bulb) invented the phonegraph, a rotating drum onto which indentations representing sounds could be recorded and played back.

• In 1888, Edison met Eadweard Muybridge (inventor of the zoopraxiscope),

• Edison later invented the kinetoscope (1888) - which became the forerunner of modern projection. It involved a sheet of perforated film being moved over a light to give the illusion of movement

Thomas Edison

Kinetoscope (1888)

35 mm filmstrip of (1894–95), featuring Annabelle Whitford Moore, in the format that would become standard for both still and motion picture photography around the world.

Thomas Edison

Edison with phonograph

Edison’s light bulb

Lumiere BrothersLumiere BrothersThe first screening to a mass audience is considered by film historians to be the birth of cinema. • “Sortie de l'usine Lumière de

Lyon”, 1894, is considered the first real motion picture in history.

• The surname, "Lumière", is French for "light“

• The first public screening of films with admission charges was on December 28, 1895, at Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris.

• This featured 10 short films, - the first film, Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory) had audiences ducking out of the way.

Lumiere BrothersLumiere Brothers• From then on, filmmakers became

interested in entertainment value and genres (e.g. historical, fantasy, horror, etc.)

• Their cinematograph is considered the invention that began the era of motion pictures.

• The Lumière brothers created a camera that was portable and could film, process and project all in one unit.

• Each film is 17 meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, runs approximately 50 seconds.

• The brothers used perforated film strip used in cinematography

Sergei Eisenstein• In the famous "Odessa Steps" sequence from Sergei Eisenstein's film Battleship

Potemkin, the theory of intellectual montage was applied:• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMWMq4AEyjU• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yYcZmAvd3k• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_PotemkinA Montage is a juxtaposition (combination of clips) used in film. During the 1920s, pioneering Russian film directors and theorists Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov developed the first use of film montage.

In the Battleship Potemkin and the Odessa Steps scene, there is a strong message (ideology) to stand up against the oppressors – a form of propaganda. The new, innovational filming techniques used (e.g. close up shots, panning, motion, different camera angles, suspense, horror, extreme close-ups, cuts, etc.) are the predecessor of modern techniques we see at the movies today.

Eisenstein believed  film montage could create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual images. Two or more images edited together create a "tertium quid" (third thing) that makes the whole greater than the sum of its individual parts (gestalt theory)

Eisenstein's greatest demonstration of the power of montage comes in the "Odessa Steps" sequence of his 1925 film Battleship Potemkin. On the simplest level, montage allows Eisenstein to manipulate the audience's perception of time by stretching out the crowd's flight down the steps for seven minutes, several times longer than it would take in real time

Persistance of Vision (POV)• An after image is thought to remain on the back of the eye in

between each frame of the animation• This creates the impression of smooth continous motion.• The eye is not a camera, therefore an after image is not possible• The theory Persistance of Vision (POV) is therefore disputed

Thaumatrope

Phi Phenomenon• Phi phenomenon was discovered by a man called Max Wertheimer

in 1912

• When a series of images are flashed up in quick succession our brain fills in the gaps between them and gives us the impression they are moving smoothly

• It is based on the notion of gestalt theory where the whole is more than the sum of the parts

• Here is a an example of phi phenomenon (click phi1, phi2, phi3, etc.)http://www.digitaldivine.org/phi_experiments.htm

Shalom

Gestalt theory• The brain makes up the rest …

Phi or POV?• Which theories do you think are the best?• Create an animation in Flash, then break apart the frames

Phi or POV?

Advertising• Interruptive Formats – these are often adverts which ‘pop-up’

on your screen and require you to close them before you can continue to view the website content.

• Affiliate Marketing – a website (the affiliate) displays an advertisement for an advertiser (the merchant). If a user clicks the advert, the affiliate may receivesa commission.

• Banner - a horizontal or vertical online advert sometimes called skyscraper or leaderboard banners.

Contemporary Animators• Pixar• Dreamworks• Walt Disney• Aardman