Task 1

Techniques

Persistence of vision- is referred to as an optical illusion that occurs when visual perception of an object an example being light proceeding from it have ceased to enter the eye.

The theory human brain subconsciously stores images for roughly 1/25 of a second, this means when slightly different images are shown in quick succession, the human mind recognizes as a fluid movement.

Stop Frame- Stop motion is an animated-film making technique which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion when the series of frames is played back as a fast sequence.

Stop motion has been around over 100 years’ early examples of stop motion film is J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith’s 1898 film The Humpty Dumpty Circus the film consisted of wooden toys being brought to life to depict acrobats and moving animals.

Considered the golden age of stop motion animation through the work of animator Willis O'Brien. The film The Lost World (1925), O'Brien began to animate mixed stop motion dinosaurs with actors this got a lot of recognition from many people but wasn’t till King Kong (1933) when stop motion got to new heights.

 Variations of Stop Motion-

Cut out animation- is a variant of stop motion animation that uses flat materials such as paper, fabrics and photographs in production. Main examples of cut out animation is South park (1999).

Frame Rates- The Frame rate must be rapid so the “Visual Persistence” and the “Phi Phenomenon” can take full effect – overlapping the images in our perception, to make them seem to be one smoothly moving image.

Frame Rate is used in Modern technology examples being Animation, TV, movies.

Silent films- Had stated frame rates were anywhere from 16 to 24 frames per second. Many film companies asked theaters to play the silent movies at a higher frame rate to minimize the potential flicker on the screen as well as projectors employed dual and triple-blade shutters.

Animation- Drawn animation, moving characters are often shot "on twos", that is to say, one drawing is shown for every two frames of film (which usually runs at 24 frames per second), meaning there are only 12 drawings per second which isn’t that many.

Sound film- Was Introduced in 1926, Sound films began to use 24 fps compared to silent films 22-26 fps. Various studios updated equipment, the rate of 24 fps became standard for 35mm sound film

Although cinema and television images appear to be a single moving images, in reality they are a series of still pictures.

The Frame rate is also a frequency in which consecutive images called frames apply on display. 

Development

Pioneers-

Joseph Plateau- Phenakisticope

Inventor- Joseph Plateau 1801-1883

Year of invention-1832

The Phenakisticope was the first widespread animation device that created a fluid illusion of motion

Examples of Phenakisticope-

Background information-

The Phenakisticope used a spinning disc attached vertically to a handle it was also an early animation device that used the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of motion.

William Horner

Inventor- William Horner 1786-1837

Year of Invention- 1834

The Zoe trope, He originally named his device Daedulum or “Wheel of the Devil”. The Zoe trope is part of a several pre-film animation devices that produce the illusion of movement it displays a sequence of drawing or photographs showing a progressive phases of motion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetrope

The Zoetrope is used in modern practice an example of how it’s used today is

TOSHI IWAI

"All of my work begins with animation and never strays too far from it. I started making these simple flip books when I was in about fourth grade. The margins of all my elementary school textbooks were filled with these. This is where my work begins. The excitement I got from making these animations has never disappeared - that and the fact that these are personal media, things you can carry around and look at alone."

"Movement is still my greatest interest. I believe movement itself is a communicative language, and I'm trying to use it that way. If we see an interesting type of motion, say, a flock of birds turning in coordination, we often get involved in what it is that's moving - birds, in this case. But even if it were not birds, but just dots on a screen or something else equally abstract, we can still be totally engaged by it."

From an interview with Toshio Iwai by Azby Brown, 1997

The main example why it’s still used to this day is flip books which can be used in school to get a better understanding of types of animation.

Emile Reynaud

Inventor- Emile Reynaud 1844-1918

The Praxinscope was an animation device that came after the Zoe trope was invented in 1877 by Charles-Emile Reynaud. Similar to the Zoe trope used a strip of images around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder. The Praxinscope was an advancement on the Zoe trope by replacing its narrow viewing slits by creating an inner circle of mirrors.

The Praxinscope led the way for the start of animation starting the moving picture. The praxinscope is still available in modern day praxiniscope board games are still accessible on platforms like amazon. www.amazon.co.uk/4M-3474-Animation-Praxinoscope/dp/B000P02HYC.

Developers

Willis Obrien 1886-1962 - Was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion pioneer, he was considered to many as the best images in cinematic history. His most well-known work includes The Lost World (1925) King Kong (1933) Mighty Joe Young (1949). Mighty Joe Young also won 1950 Academy Award for visual effects. 

Willis Obrien is extremely important with the expansion of animation as an early pioneer in that craft. Willis O'Brien's The Lost World (1925) can be compared the Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) directed by Windsor McKay, there are many similarities with their work. Windsor McKay’s Gertie the Dinosaur was the first film to feature a dinosaur. He gained his ideas for the film from his son who would bring flip books home where he saw the possibility of making a moving picture. He also gained a lot of his inspiration from animators such as James Stuart Blackton and Emile Kohl.

Ray Harryhausen 1920-2013- Was an American born British artist, writer and producer who created his own stop-motion animation called Dynamation. His work includes with his mentor Willis O'Brien on the film Mighty Joe Young (1949) as well as his own projects such as The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Jason and the Argonauts (1963)   

and his last film being his most popular Clash of the Titans (1981). 

Ray Harryhausen is known to inspire many well-known 20^th century directors including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Henry Selick. Ray himself was inspired by the original King Kong (1933), worked on by his mentor Willis Obrien shows he looked up to Willis and his ideas on stop-motion and filmmaking, Ray expanded that by being the pioneer for the start of special effects. Star Wars (1977) and Jurassic Park (1993) being two of the most well-known films in cinematic history, gained the influence of special effects through Harryhausen and his ideas.

Jan Svankmajer (1934+)- is a Czech filmmaker as well as being a self-labelled surrealist known for his animations and features in other types of film. Being a surrealist his work his heavily influenced by the cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, its best known for being visual artworks and writings. Jan was influenced by puppet shows he went to as a child. Svankmajer later on went to study in the department of puppetry at the Prague Academy of performing arts.

Some of Jan Svankmajers notable movies includes Alice (1988) Conspirator of pleasure (1996). Being known for his Short films and his inspiration from puppets. He led the way for Modern day puppet films and shows including, TV shows-The Muppet Show (1976-1981) Sesame Street (1969) Thunderbird's (1965-1966) Movies- Labyrinth (1986) Muppet (2011) Team America World Police (2004). Jan Svankmajers primary target audience is young kids as puppet TV shows and movies are normally below a PG rating because they appeal to younger audiences. The secondary audience would be the parents of the children because they have to buy the cinema tickets as well as watch the movie with them which bumps up the box office hits on the movie.

Contemporary

Tim Burton 1958-

Tim Burton is a well-known film director, producer and animator. He is mainly known for is dark Gothic movies as well as fantasy movies. Famous ones including Beetle juice (1988) Edward Scissor hands (1990), The Nightmare before Christmas (1993), He also directed two Batman movies, Batman (1989) Batman Returns (1992) starring well-known actors Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito.

Tim Burton’s early short films led the way for his success his most famous short film being the animation Stalk of the celery monster (1979). It attracted attention from Walt Disney Productions offering Burton an apprenticeship to work in their studio. He went on to work as an animator and a story board artist.

In 1982 Burton directed his first stop motion animation short film. With the short film being a horror, Burton's target audience would have been 18+ due to that being the legal age to see a horror in the cinema. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=batman.htm

Burton's most successful film due to the box office hits is Batman (1989) with a total domestic growth of $251,188,924.

Tim Burton's Gothic horror movies including The Nightmare before Christmas, Beetle juice, Edward Scissor hands and many more consist of dark scenes that could potentially scare young children. This is why I believe its aimed at mid teens ages 11-18. With a young audience it allows Burton to be imaginative and think outside the box. When expressing fictional characters and worlds within a movie gives children a sense of escapism and exploring their mind.

Tim Burton’s dark Gothic themes are heavily influenced by Christopher Lee (1922-2015) who Burton took a lot of his materials for his films from his books. Christopher Lee starred in films such as Dracula (1958), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Star Wars: Episode II (2002). He is most recognized from the Dracula films in the late 1950s which led the way for horror to be expressed much more within  films such as The Shining (1980) and 21 century films such as Insidious(2010).

Nick Park (1958-) Well known English animator who created projects such as Wallace and Gromit (1989-) and later released into a movie in 2005. He also created Shaun the Sheep (2007-2016) and Chicken Run (2000) which went on to be the highest grossed stop motion film ever.

Park was interested in animation from a very young age being known to love the Beano comics consisting of the character Dennis the Menace. He went on to study animation at the National Film and Television School in Buckingham shire. Image of Parks work at the age of 13. 

It was at the National Film and Television school where Park began to gain ideas to make Wallace and Gromit.

Parks target audience is aimed at a much younger generation around the ages 12 and below. With no swearing or any sorts of violence portrayed in his films its mainly aimed at younger audiences.

Task 2

Educate- Stop motion educates younger audiences with persistence of vision, the pictures presented in stop motion help children gain information through vision and gives them a chance to explore their mind. Another example of how stop motion is educational is that it’s been around for 100+ years and has expanded at a rapid rate giving the chance for kids to study it as a subject in colleges across the world.

Animation has also allowed access to do online. PowerPoint has an easy to use animation system which can be used for educational use.

Entertain- Stop motions key purpose is to entertain the viewers, stop motions target audience is mainly aimed at younger kids as it gives them a chance to show expression and expand the mind. Companies such as Aardman have produced tons of stop motion movies that have been extremely popular for younger kids films such as Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, The Early Man and many more. https://www.aardman.com/.

Some entertainment isn’t appealing to everyone, people have different tastes when it comes to movies, TV shows or even musicals/theatre as well as other types of entertainment.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yG_k2Zlw7Y

First post- Quinn