BEHIND THE TOONS: WHAT IS ANIMATION?
.png)
Today,
you may have sent your friend that funny bouncing emoji or emoticon from your
keyboard on your phone to have a laugh.
You
may have secretly or openly laughed and had a sing along, with your child to an
animated show, that they forced or you were attracted to do so, as a parent.
Or,
watched that short animated video on YouTube that has made you hold in a
laughter in the bus.
Along
the lines of our day to day, sometimes we ran into lots of animated media. In
our childhood, some of us may recognize or remember some of the favourite
animated shows that we sat gracefully and attentively watched.
Their
whimsical and amusing antics left us holding our ribs as the sweet ache hit our
abdomen from a hearty laughter. At times, we even have our favourite characters
that come off as our favourite “buddies”.
However,
in light of this, sometimes it comes as a question, who exactly makes
animation? How is it made and who does it?
To
begin this journey to learn about animation. We shall start with defining what
animation is.
What
is Animation?
Have
you ever drawn on one paper, and then drawn on the next one, and somehow, what
you have drawn seems to me moving when you flip it?
Or
have you seen videos of people who have drawn on papers in a book and
everything seemed to move when they flip?
If
you haven’t, feel free to check the video below
https://youtube.com/shorts/LMEcJjx-zVQ?si=u7Q0BuT2EZUjZwf0
Yes,
now that we are all on the same “page”. Get it? Okay let’s keep going.
Therefore,
animation, can be defined, as the use of drawings or pictures of objects or
figures which are arranged in a series or sequences to create the illusion of
movement.
Therefore, all the animation we watch, wherever we are, and, in most formats, all follow the principle, that they are made from drawings, pictures or photos which are arranged in a sequence and series.
History
of animation
From
your laptop, TV, Computer, phone tablet or one of the latest gadgets that is
able to have a way to watch videos, we are able to watch animations on various
technology. However, we all know that this was not possible in various moments
of history. So, when did animation begin and how was it consumed?
It is considered that the origin of animations
date back to the ancient Greek period, with the Grecian pottery, as an early
form of animation, that showed scenes of movement and expression along its
surface. Can you see the arrangement of various images of a movement?
Image
pottery from Ancient Greece.
Image
source: https://ancientgreece.com/GreekPottery/
Some
of the early animation devices that were used for animation include:
Magic
Lantern: It was used to provide light to slides of pictures
that had drawings of objects and figures, which were arranged at times, as
single pictures but also as several pictures which were rotated and created
illusions of movement.
Cross
section of a magic lantern
Image
source: https://tempest2bassviols.wordpress.com/visual/
Below
is a link showing and discussing how it worked.
https://youtu.be/qmjESb1xC08?si=y5nMO_1T7mQAZQGJ
Thaumatrope:
It was a 19th Century optical toy that had a disk drawings, pictures
or images of objects or figures which were held by strings on two ends of the
disks. The stings were then twirled to move the disks at quick speeds to be
able to create the illusion of movement and thus served as an optical illusion.
Sometimes more than one slide was used.
https://youtube.com/shorts/tdilezK-vhs?si=Gyk7ofWG4C2mz1hs
Example
of a thaumatrope in action
Another
way to use a thaumatrope, involved the use of a straw that had two
complementary pictures held at one end, and then quickly flipped to create the
illusion of movement.
https://youtube.com/shorts/07ex0vpZrJ0?si=tw_sTlWs5UQ4VML0
Phenakistoscope:
It
debuted in 1883, and is also known as the Fantascope. It featured a painted
cardboard disk with drawings and paintings, along the circumference of the
disk. By spinning this disk at a good speed, it creates the illusion of
movement.
Image
of drawings on a phenakistoscope
Image
source: https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2013/10/27/phenakistoscope/
Below
is a short video showing how a phenakistoscope works and a fun fact about its
history.
https://youtube.com/shorts/CU-boBJZ880?si=lmWrz6nU-A6bDqki
Zoetrope:
It is often seen as the phenakistoscope’s successor, which involves a
cylindrical version, as opposed to a disk, that has drawings and paintings on
its surface, in a sequence and series, on vertical slits which are spun at a
good speed to create the illusion of movement.
Image
of a zoetrope
Image
source: https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/fancy-names-and-fun-toys/zoetrope/index.html
Below
is a video showing how a zoetrope works
https://youtu.be/SBg6dAE3mI0?si=U58_vXhyMnfBXk6g
Kineograph:
The name is derived from Latin, which means “moving picture”, and it debuted in
1868 and patented by John Barnes. In today’s times, it is known as the
flipbook. It involves using drawings on books and flipping the pages at a good
speed to create the illusion of movement.
Image
of a flipbook
Image
source: https://www.tumblr.com/lauraphimister/33768039993/flip-book-1868-the-first-flip-book-appeared-in
Below
is a short video showing a kineograph in action.
https://youtube.com/shorts/_41eNnoiVxg?si=LNfpb7u2F7ypC5eg
Praxinoscope:
It is a similar device to the zoetrope, which consists of a cylinder with an
inner circles of angle mirrors as opposed to vertical slits. The angled mirrors
tend to give a better and clearer animation than the vertical slits of a
zoetrope.
Image
of praxinoscope
Image
source: https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/fancy-names-and-fun-toys/praxinoscope/index.html
Below
is a short video of a praxinoscope in action.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ke3o1GOqhvc?si=vBPTrf6AGpcS0xDt
Other
techniques of animation include stop motion, which involve, the use of clay or
plasticine models, which are molded into various poses of objects and figures
to create the illusion of movement.
Below
is a link showing how it is used.
https://youtu.be/_j5qAVT6Nd4?si=-dUK22t9L0W375eh
Evolution
of animation in the 20th Century
Coming
to the end of the 19th Century, the methods of how animations were
created relatively remained the same, embracing the traditional ways of making
illusion of movements by using drawing and painting to develop the images to be
used arranged in sequences or series. The process was relatively refined and
other approaches were used.
It
brought about the rise of refined processes such as cel animation which
involves traditional hand-drawn animation which was mainly done on paper that
was held on pegs, on an animation desk that had a hollow space that illuminated
a light that helped animators look at their drawings on each paper. This was
all done behind already painted backgrounds.
Image
of an animation desk used for traditional animation
Below
is a short video that explains the process.
https://youtube.com/shorts/T9eQCjV3UIs?si=b7xskJu3sbggg1hd
Another
video is here below, that explains a bit of the process by former Disney
animator, Aaron Blaise, who worked on various Disney animated films such as the
Lion, King, Beauty and The Beast, Pocahontas and many others. He even directed
his own Disney animated film, called Brother Bear.
https://youtube.com/shorts/tdoTgbRLSw4?si=YORM4lr59a4-fSuS
This
method of animation, was fairly popular in the 20th Century, with
the first animated feature film was done in 1908 called, Fantasmagorie by
French artist, Emile Cohl. This period
also included films developed by the famous Walt Disney such as Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Lion King (1994) and many
others.
Other
famous animated shows that were done with cel animation involved others from
Warner Brother Studios, such as Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo and many others. Tom
and Jerry and Pink Panther were also among famous cartoons developed by cel
animation.
Coming
to the latter end of the 20th Century, as more technological
advancements continued to occur, computers began to take a center stage of
animation and more of the techniques of making the illusion of movement and
process of making animation was done through digital means.
The
same approach in traditional animation, where paper was used, had now come to
involve the use of software which had frames laid out on a computer where the
animator could draw and colour, and had
all the features to erase, redraw, flip frames and also have frames be
translucent enough to see through their drawings, like the light that hits the
paper in a traditional desk.
Below
is a short video showing an example of frame by frame animation, which is also
like traditional animation, but on a computer.
https://youtube.com/shorts/PhJIHQU1uY4?si=SmAJHmPMnPXlkuml
Other
digital forms that evolved are 2D Animation rig animation, which involved the
development of digital puppets which were then made into various poses to
create the illusion of movement in a sequence or series of images in their
poses. Others included, 3D Animation which also involve the creation of digital
puppets in the form of objects and figures, which are manipulated in their
poses in each frame, which creates a series to give the illusion of movement.
The
difference between 2D and 3D, is in the dimensions in which the characters,
figures or objects exist. In 2D, the characters, objects or figures, exist on a
flat surface and in two dimensions of space, which are length and width, and
through their dimensions, animators attempt to create the the illusion of being
in depth with techniques of drawing such as defining form in shapes,
perspective and many more.
Whereas
in 3D, characters, objects and figures, are created in the planes of length,
width and height. Therefore, they already have depth and do not need techniques
to create depth.
Below
is a video that recaps and explains various type of animation.
https://youtu.be/NZbrdCAsYqU?si=I318vJW7baRpePQ1
Conclusion
Animation
has come a long way from when it started, however, it is important to note that
in each advancement or refinement of the technology or technique used to
achieve the illusion of movement, all types of animation involve the movement
of drawings, pictures or images of objects, characters or figures in a sequence
or series.
Animation
can be done in a variety of ways and methods depending on one’s desire or skill
level. This gives a good range of inclusivity of everyone who may be interested
and wish to started from anywhere they wish.
Whether
you are a beginner or an expert, you can always start from somewhere or even
improve your animation in a number of ways.
References
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-animation-definition/
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-guide-to-the-history-of-animation
https://ancientgreece.com/GreekPottery/
https://tempest2bassviols.wordpress.com/visual/
https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/fancy-names-and-fun-toys/zoetrope/index.html
https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2013/10/27/phenakistoscope/
https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/exhibits/fancy-names-and-fun-toys/praxinoscope/index.html
https://www.tumblr.com/lauraphimister/33768039993/flip-book-1868-the-first-flip-book-appeared-in
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/animation/discover/cel-animation.html
https://pixune.com/blog/types-of-animation/
.png)
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment