Unit 23 - Techniques of Stop Motion - Post 3

Techniques

These are crucial to the past, present and future of animation and stop motion - with out these early and techniques, we wouldnt have Dreamworks, Disney or anything in between.

Persistence of Vision:

The human brain subconsciously stores images for around 25 frames per second. This therefore should be the amount of frames per second to be used in a stop motion animation.

The persistence of vision also refers to the optical illusion that happens when visual perception of an object that doesn’t change over a period of time after the beams of light proceeding from it have stopped to enter the eye.

Frame Rates:

Frame rate is the measurement of the frequency of frames in a moving image. Since 1927, frame rate has been a standard 24 fps. This changes depending on region such as PAL being 25 fps.

The future of such is much different – take The Hobbit, where director Peter Jackson shot the film in 48 fps as he argued it made for a ‘clearer film’ but this decision was met with criticism from other filmmakers. This was because of research made by scientists into ‘consciousness perception where the human brain sees the world at a rate of around 40 conscious moments/frames per second – after its release people said that it gave The Hobbit too much reality for a film.

Summary:

These early techniques and developers are essential for the world of animation and stop motion as they would not have inspired the likes of Walt Disney and Ray Harryhausen to do what they did to revolutionise the world of animation as we know it.

''Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?'' - Tim Burton

Unit 23 - Early Animation Inventions - Post 2

Early Inventions

Phenakisticope:

Joseph Plateau invented the Phenakisticope in 1832 with his sons – this consisted of two wheels spinning in opposite directions to imitate movement.

Adjacent is a drawing of the movement needed for the animation to take place.

Often the images would consist of small cartoons of people walking, planets and stars and much more.

Zoetrope:

Invented by William Horner, who initially called it a Daedalum which meant ‘wheel of the devil’ invented the Zoetrope which was one of several pre-film animation machines. These showed progressive phases much like the last one where the device was spun, it imitated movement. Often marketed as toys for children, depicting images of people walking or dancing and often animals such as horses running. Opposite is a modern version of the device with extra inserts to change over the images depicted inside.

Thaumatrope:

John Aryton Paris is usually credited to have invented the Thaumatrope which came about in the 19^th century. It is a very simple device which consists of two imaged printed on each side of a paper disc with string on each ends so you can twist the string to reveal the image on the other side – rapidly rotating such gives the illusion of the image moving.

They are very simple to make which made them appealing in primary schools as you could make them in under an hour.

Flip Books:

Another very simple animation technique which has been suggested to have been around much longer than any other animation device however the first account was in 1868 by John Barnes Linnett under the name of a ‘kineograph’ which means moving picture. They don’t always simulate a story but usually has some form of motion.

Flip books are not always self contained books as lots of children's magazines and books had them in the corner of pages as an added feature in the book.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3q9MM__h-M

Praxinoscope:

Commonly referred to as the sucessor to the Zoetrope, this takes the same idea as the zoetrope as it rotates rapidly – however this animation device utilises light to give the animation a projected look to the animation. Light goes through the slit projecting the image onto the surface in front.

This was revolutionary for the time – invented by Charles-Émile Reynaud in 1877 in France – the projected nature of the device didn’t come out until 1889 so it could be used in theaters. These were not devices for children though, these were for projecting more sophisticated images.

Unit 23 - Example of a Stop-Motion - 'Fell in Love with a Girl' by The White Stripes - Post 1