Stop Motion Animation

CHRIS BEELEY

Introduction
Within this presentation I will be talking to you about:

Techniques used within animation

The development of animation through history, including people that have had a
major impact on the industry and the development of equipment used

Several developers within the business

Contemporary work

Genres and forms of animation thats included within our day to day life

Techniques

Persistence of vision
Persistence of vision is the optical illusion where multiple still images are blended into
one within your mind to make one single image. This is popular within the movie and
animation business as it allows the illusion of movement for films that have to use
inanimate objects as characters.

Stop Frame Animation

Stop frame animation involves the illusion that an still object is moving by taking
pictures of the object in between slight movements and then playing these images in
quick succession in order to make the object seem as though it is moving this is
known as the phi phenomenon. This is used in a lot of major productions such as
Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

Frame Rates
Throughout time the FPS of animations has been increased from the early days when
sound was first introduced and it being 24 FPS to the present day 300 FPS that is
being researched currently by the BBC for sports broadcasts thanks to several
important figures within the animation industry.

Development

Joseph Plateau
Joseph Plateau, born 14th October 1801, was the first person to demonstrate the
illusion of movement through the quick succession of still images. He invented
the phenakistoscope in 1832 which included two discs, one had small slits in for
the user to look through and the other had a sequence of images. When the
discs are rotated at a certain speed the flicker between images caused by the
other disc makes it seem as though they are moving.

William Horner
William Horner, born in 1786, was the inventor of the zoetrope which was the
next technological advancement from Plateau's phenakistoscope. This zoetrope
was made up of a cylinder that had vertical slits on the side and on the inside
there is a set of still images. The user has to spin the cylinder and look at the
images through the slits and this then creates the illusion that the images on the
inside are actually moving.

Emile Reynaud
Emile Reynaud, born 8th December 1844, was the French inventor that created
the first animated projected cartoons. Reynaud created the praxinoscope in
1877 which was the next step up from Horner's zoetrope. It remained as a similar
design but instead of the slits on the outside it had an inner circle of mirrors so as
it spun the reflections looked as though they were moving. The praxinoscope
allowed for a brighter and less distorted picture.

Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge, born on the 9th April 1830, was an English photographer
that was famous for his contribution to the studies of making motion happen
through photographs. He was known mainly for the famous work he did in order
to check if a horses hooves leave the floor when they are galloping, he did this by
taking images of a moving horse quickly so it was seen as separate frames.

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison, born on February 11th 1847, was the inventor of the next
technological advancement in animation when he made the kinetoscope. This
device has a peephole that created the illusion of movement by moving a strip of
film with still images on past the peephole and making it seem as though these
images were moving. This wasn't quite a movie projector yet but it brought
forward the base idea for video projectors with moving films.

Lumiere Brothers
Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean Nicolas were the first film makers in
history when they made the cinematograph which allowed the viewing of these
videos by multiple people and not just one. Their first film was made in 1895 and
was called "Sortie de l'usine Lumiere de Lyon", this consisted of the filming of
workers leaving a factory in Lyon and was considered the first ever motion picture
created.

George Pal
George Pal, born February 1st 1908, was an animator and film producer mainly
associated with sci-fi and was nominated for many major awards throughout his
career in animation. He was involved in some major animations such as 'The War
of the Worlds' and 'The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm' and he also has a
star on the Hollywood walk of fame, for his impact on the film industry through his
animations.

Developers

Developers
Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien, born March 2nd 1886, was a developer that created a lot of famous works such as
The Lost World, King Kong and The Mighty Joe Young and won an academy award for the best
visual effects in 1950
Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Henry Harryhausen, born June 29th 1920, was a creator, writer and producer that
made a form of stop motion animation known as dynamation. He was well known for his work
also on The Mighty Joe Young, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of
the Titans.
Jan Svankmajer
Jan Svankmajer, born September 4th 1934, is a film maker and artist known for his and
animations and features which have influences the likes of The Brothers Quay and Terry Gilliam

Contemporary Work

Tim Burton
Tim Burton, born August 25th 1958, is a film director, producer, artist, writer and animator
that is famous for dark but quirky animations such as:
Beetlejuice (1988)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Frankenweenie (2012)

Whilst also being known for work in popular blockbuster movies such as
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Batman (1989)
Batman Returns (1992)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - This film is his biggest to date bringing in $1 billion

Tim Burton (cont...)

Burton would make small animated films as a preteen in his backyard using stop
motion techniques or by shooting on 8mm films, he also spent a lot of his
childhood drawing, painting and watching films which showed his creative side.
When at CalArts Burton made a short film called Stalk of the Celery Monster which
later on attracted the attention of Disney which got him an apprenticeship there as
an animator where he worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist
on films such as Tron, The Black Cauldron and Fox and the Hound which all
kickstarted his career in the animation business.

Genres and Forms

Genres and forms

TV Animation
Animation within the TV industry is growing a lot and is extremely popular in the
children's TV industry with programs such as In The Night Garden, Bob The
Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine all examples of animated TV shows that are
extremely popular.
Cinema
Animation is used quite commonly used in films these days mainly by companies
such as Pixar in films such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc and The Incredibles, whilst
also being used earlier on by Aardman Studios when making Wallace and Gromit
and Chicken Run
Advertising
Animation has started being used in advertising as well in adverts such as the
England Rugby World Cup advertisement and the BBC have used animation in
their adverts to make them seem more interesting and appealing.

Genres and forms (cont...)

Video Games
Another massive industry that has grown through animation, as a lot of fantasy
games exist now a lot of CGI has to be used to animate these characters,
practically every game is animated if they include non realistic features such as
aliens or futuristic devices or outer space.
Websites
Animation is used in websites in order to make them more visually appealing or to
tailor them to certain target audiences, for example the CBBC website uses
animations to appeal to their child viewers and make them want to visit the website

Conclusion
Overall it's clear how animation has evolved through time from the starting stages
of the phenakistoscope to today's animations of everyday use in things such as
films, games and TV and we observe animations close enough to everyday without
maybe even realising and is a big part of modern day entertainment.