- Persistence of vision: The theory that animation works by showing the viewer/audience a sequence of images at a high enough "frame rate" or speed so that the brain interprets the sequance of still images as a moving image. An example of this is when you light a sparkler and spin it in a circle, if fast enough, you are able to see it as a ring of light. "optical illusion that occurs when visual perception of an object does not cease for some time after the rays of light proceeding from it have ceased to enter the eye."
Example:
- Thaumatrope: In 1825 the Thaumetrope was innovated by John Ayrton Paris. It was developed to exploit the "persistence of vision theory". The Taumatrope consists of a thick piece of card with a hole punched on each side. Two images are printed, one on each side, with opposite orientations. Sting is then attached to each hole, and, once spun, the images look like they are one.
Example:
- Phenakistoscope: Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and his sons created the Phenakistoscope but originally called it the "Spindle Viewer" in 1832. A similar design, called the stroboscope, was invented later that same year by one Simon Von Stampfer. Plateau's Phenakistoscope was the first widely available moving picture animation device which portrayed an illusion of movement. This revolutionary device worked by the viewer spinning a cardboard disk, and viewing the reflection of the animation through a series of thin slits.
Example:
- Zoetrope: In 1830 the "Zoetrope" created in England by the french inventor William George Horner. It was named after the Greek words "Zoo" and "Trope" - Zoo meaning "Life" and Trope meaning "Something that moves". It works by 12 images being drawn on a thin piece of paper on the inside of the cylinder, Which,once spun, the viewer will see as a sequence of moving images if viewed at the right angle.
Example:
- Praxinoscope: In 1877, Charles Èmile Reynard created his inproved interpritation of the Zoetrope. It works similarly to the zoetrope, however rather than looking through thin slits on the side of the cylinder to view the animation, the viewer is able to see the squance by looking at the circle of mirrors in the centre of the device. Viewing the animation in this way meant that more people could watch at and one time.
Example:
- Kinetoscope: The Kinetoscope was created by Tomas Edison and Kennedy Laurie Dickson in 1889 - 1892. It worked by rapidly passing a strip of film between a lens and a light bulb while the viewer watched through a peephole. Behind the peephole there is a spinning wheel with a thin slit in it acting as a shutter. The film was viewed at 46 frames per second. This created a accurate representation on motion.
Example:
Why technology needed to develop:
The devices showed the public that viewing a visual moving image narrative was possible, however, the technology available at the time did not allow complex narratives to be shown. The better the technology became, the more complex and interesting the narratives became.
Developers:
George Pal:
Pal was an american film director, producer and animator. György Pál Marczincsak, more commonly known as George Pal, was born in Cegléd, Austria-Hungary on 1st February 1908.Pal died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1980.He is mostly recognized for his “Puppetoon” animations. Bellow is an example called "Tulips Shall Grow". Pal was a pioneer of motion animation, and his work inspired directors such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Born Willis Harold O'Brien on the 2nd March 1886, O'Brien began his career as a cattle rancher, later becoming a famous stop motion animator in 1915, O'Brien died in 1962 . As a teen, O'Brien worked as a cowboy, cartoonist and boxer. Throughout his animation work later in life, he referenced these jobs. It is said that on a quiet day at work, he and his coworkers would create tiny clay boxers and "stage" mini fights. This is what started is interest in stop motion animation. O'brien's early models were simply made of clay, but as time went by he would make more complicated armitures and give them a rubber "skin" allowing them to be more movable and sturdy.
Ray Harryhausen:
Harryhausen was born in Los Angeles in 1920. His first claim to fame was the prehistoric films and the research of Dynamation. His his most well known for his film "Jason and the Argonauts", when they used early stop motion techniques with clay to animate characters such as Talos. Harryhausen was inspired to take a career in animation after watching "Kong" in 1933.
Phil Tippet:
Tippet was born in 1951 in Berkeley. He was the lead animator with Job Berg on the production of "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back". They used a techniques they called go motion to animate the AT-AT walkers and the adorable alien camel/Alpaca "TaunTauns". Tippet was inspired at an early age by Harryhausens "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" and also O'briens's "King Kong".
Otmar Gutmann:
Tim Burton / Henry Selick:
Burton was born August 25th, 1958 in burbank, Henry was born 6 years previous on November 30th 1952 in new jersey. Tim Burton is well known for many films, none more so than "The Nightmare before Christmas." Their work consists of stop motion animation using puppets. Tim Burton had a strange childhood, which is often refferenced through his work, such as "Frankenweenie" which, in an interview, he said "Mr and Mrs Frankenstein of the film are the optimistic versions of my parents, although in some ways I had a slightly more troubled relationship with my parents than that in the film. And Frankenweenie was based on my own childhood dog, Peppi. If I could have brought him back to life, I would. I did it in film instead,"
Adam Shaheen:
The founder of Cuppa Coffee Studios was born October 13th 1964. His work their involved him producing and developing original stop motion programmes. Some of his works include:
Jojo's Circus, Celebrity Deathmatch, Bruno and Tigga and Togga.
The Brothers Quay:
Stephan and Timothy were born in Philadelphia 1917. Their chosen method of Stop Motion animation was to use inanimate objects such as dolls and screws which they perpously disfigure. They also heavily rely on music, yet the film is often without dialogue.
Nick Park:
In Preston, England, 1958, Nick Park is born. Park is most well known for his work on "Wallace and Grommit", he also worked on the critically acclaimed "Chicken Run" - Which was is his highest grossing stop motion animation film he created to date.
Media Platforms and Audiences:
TV Programme:
- Pingu -
Pingu, the lovable penguin, was aimed at the younger population/audience, and their parents with them.
- Salad Fingers
On the other hand, salad fingers is a, slightly creepy, comedy aimed at teenagers and young adults as they have a different sense of humor and a more mature art style.
Feature Film:
- Kubo:
Kubo is a full feature film which uses a mixture of stop motion and computer generated animation to tell the narrative of the film.
- Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Loaf and Death
A Matter of Loaf and Death is another feature film, however the character models, interactive objects (houses, cars etc.) are tall made of wire frame with clay over the top. Most/all Wallace and Gromit films are aimed at a primary audience of 5-15, however there is also a large secondary audience of 16-34.
- Sainsbury's - The Greatest Gift
An advert released to embody the spirit of Christmas with claymation characters and a voice over by James Cordon. This ad was primarily aimed at the working class adults, due to the main protagonist is a working class man working in a production factory.
- Xbox Ad
Music Video:
- Handlebars - Flobots
"Flobots" used a minimalist hand drawn art style for their stop motion animation music video to accompany/help tell the narrative of their lyrics. It tells the story of two friends who split off from one another and lead their lives separately, one to become a man of the people, friendly and helping everyone selflessly, and the other to become a CEO of a corporate institution that resembles the Nazi party. This eventually leads to the "friend of the people" forming a "resistance" and fighting back, ending in the "Nazi" security opening fire on unarmed civilians.
- Somebody that i used to know Gotye
In this unconventional video, stop motion is used to show the singer (representing who the song is about) blend in with the background, to connotes that whoever he is singing about changed and became the same as es everyone else/lost their individuality.
Indent:
- E4 Indent - Peel
This Ident bridges the gap between live action and stop motion, showing that both formats can be used together to make a sucessful project if planned well.
- E4 Stop motion indent
A clay mation animation to show a variation in the different style's of Estings on E4.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that stop motion animation is aiming at an older generation as they may have grown up with stop motion animation and have a sentimental love for it, however I believe that as computer animation is the way forward and stop motion is going to become obsolete and eventually die/stop being used.
Bibliography:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumatrope
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenakistiscope
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetrope
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxinoscope
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pal
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_H._O%27Brien
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Harryhausen
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Tippett
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otmar_Gutmann
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