I am using this blog to help explain to a young audience what animation is and the different types of animation that exist. It helps to know the pros and cons of the different types of animations and how they are made. I will give examples and include images and videos in this blog to help.
An animation is a list of images which don't move (these are called frames). They are then put together so that it looks as if they are moving. There are many different television programmes which are animated such as The Simpsons and Tom and Jerry.
Persistence of Vision
It is believed that animation, with its frames, can be understood by the human eye because of something called 'Persistence of Vision'. This is really just saying that the human eye keeps images for a fraction of a second before moving onto the next image, so that everything we see blends together into one continuous movement.
Below I have added an image of a moving horse as an example of Persistence of Vision. This is an animated cartoon which is made up of drawings and we are seeing 12 every second. An animation can be made to look more fluid by using more drawings per second, or made to look more jumpy by using less drawings per second.
Types of Animation
Below I will discuss different types of animation, advantages and disadvantages of each and I will give examples as well as including images and videos to help explain.
Flip Book Animation
This type of animation is where a small book is made that has a series of images on one side of each page, which change slowly from page to page. When the book's pages are flipped through quickly, the images seem like they are moving. Below I have added two videos from Youtube; one shows how a flip book is made and the other is an example showing two fully made flip books.
The first flip book appeared in 1868, when it was made by someone called John Barnes Linnett. But the flip book was then called a 'Kineograph' which means 'moving picture'. In 1894, a man called Herman Casler invented something called the Mutoscope, which attached pages of a flip book onto a rotating cylinder. When this cylinder was turned, the pages were flipped. The Mutoscope remained a popular attraction for years, appearing in arcades and along walkways on beaches. Flip books are now just seen as a type of toy for children or as a small novelty.
One advantage to Flip Book animation would be that you do not need to have any computer skills to create this type of animation because it is done by hand, made in a printed book.
A disadvantage to Flip Book animation would be the fact that there may only be one or a few copies, depending on how many you make, whereas with certain other types of animation, you can store them on the computer and make copies easily. Another disadvantage to Flip book animation would be the fact that it would be very time consuming, drawing on every page.
Cel Animation
This is when a sheet of what is called 'cellulose acetate' or 'cel' is used to paint animation frames. Cellulose acetate is basically a transparent sheet of paper, or thin plastic. Paints are used to draw on these sheets. A sheet with a drawing of a character may be put over a sheet which has a drawing of a background to create a full scene. Different images of the character were drawn showing seconds of movement and photographs were taken of each movement to be put together to make a cartoon.
In 1908 a film was released called 'Fantasmagorie' when director Emile Cohl decided to combine more than 700 drawings, which were then carefully photographed one by one. When these pictures were all put together, one after another, the drawings appeared to move. Other animated films soon folled such as 'Felix the Cat' which was released around 1920.
Disney are now best known for their animated movies as brothers, Roy and Walter Disney opened their Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923 and introduced Mickey Mouse to the world in 1928. They were the first studio to come out with a full length animated movie which was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' in 1937.
An Advantage to Cel animation would be the outcome of the animation. It can look more crisp and clean and can look more detailed than other types of animation.
A disadvantage to Cel animation would be the fact that it is very time consuming due to the huge amount of frames and drawing needed for this type of animation.
Examples where Cel animation can be seen being used would be in the Lion King
Rotoscoping
Rotoscoping is when drawings are traced over footage, image by image or frame by frame. This is done by putting a projection of a recorded live-action film onto a frosted glass panel. An animtor then re-draws what he sees. Below and to the right I have added an image of a man working with a rotoscope machine to help explain.
The technique was invented by a man called Max Fleischer, who started using it around 1915. He first used it in his series Out of the Inkwell. Max patented the method in 1917.[3] Fleischer used rotoscoping in a number of his later cartoons from 1930 onwards, most notably being Betty Boop, the animation of Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels and a series of Superman Cartoons.
An advantage to Rotoscoping would be that the animation would looks like it is moving realistically and the timing would be accurate. It is a more hands-on job rather than animating using the computer and computer software.
A disadvantage to Rotoscoping may be again that it is time consuming as it must be done frame by frame and by hand.
An example of where Rotoscoping can be found would be in the Take On Me music video by A-Ha. Below I have added a video from Youtube showing this video.
Drawn On Film
The technique of Drawn on Film animation, which can also be called ‘direct animation’ or ‘animation without camera’ is where images are drawn directly onto film stock to create footage. Below I have added an image of what film stock is.
The most famous animator who used the technique of Drawn on Film animation is Norman McLaren, who produced numerous animated films using this method.
An advantage to this type of animation would be the fact that it can be done quickly.
A disadvantage to Drawn on Film animation would be that the outcome is very sloppy and you are also limited to what you can do with this type of animation compared to others where you can drawn colourful characters and such.
Known Drawn on Film animators include; Stan Brakhage who created his film ‘Mothlight’ and Len Lye who created the first direct film screened to an audience which was called ‘A Colour Box’. Below I have added videos which include two Drawn on Film animations and one video which explains how the process works.
Photographic Stills
Photographic Stills animation, otherwise known as 'Stop motion', is where photographs are taken and are put together in a series to create the appearance that the objects within the photographs are moving.
The first instance of the stop motion technique can be seen with a man called Albert E.Smith and J. Stuart Blackton for The Humpty Dumpty Circus in 1897, where a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life.
A very notable movie made using photographic stills animation is Willis O' Brien's work on the movie King Kong in 1933.
An advantage to this technique is that it can result in some great animations. Depending on what is done with them, still images can be manipulated to make it look as if things are happening which may not actually be able to in real life.
A disadvantage to Photographic Stills animation would be the fact that it would be very time consuming to create because thousands of photographs may have to be taken then they also must be edited together. Another disadvantage is that you must have knowledge of how to use editing software to put the photographs together to create the animation.
A famous example of where we can see Photographic Stills animation would be with Wallace and Gromit which is stop motion using clay figures. Other examples would be in the television advertisements for McDonalds and Volvo. The McDonalds advert shows two men wearing t-shirts and the images on their shirts move and they are able to pull the images off the shirts and into real life. The Volvo advert shows a pair of scissors cutting out wheels etc of a car until a full vehicle is made and it is able to move along the screen. Below I have added videos of these which I found on Youtube.
Flash Animation
The first use of Flash animation which became well known was by a man called John Kricfalusi in 1997. He produced a cartoon, the first cartoon series which was made specifically for the internet. John Kricfalusi went on to make more animated projects with Flash including online short cartoons, television commercials, and a music video. It was after this that web cartoons began appearing on the Internet more often.
An advantage to using Flash would be the fact that it is quick and easy once you learn how to use the software. Another advantage would be that characters created in Flash can move and look clean and fluid in comparison to some of the other types of animation.
A disadvantage to using Flash animation would be in learning how to use the software. Once you learn how to use it, it is a simple enough piece of software, however you must create a few animations and watch a few help tutorials/videos online before you can remember the basics.
Examples of where Flash animation can be seen would be in the music video 'Mosh' by Eminem. This technique can also be seen in 'Gotham Girls', an animated cartoon series which is produced by Warner Brothers.
I hope this has helped to explain more about animation and the different types available. In case you still have any questions that are unanswered by my post above, I have added a list of websites below with information about everything I have talked about and more.
Helpful Websites:
About Animation and its history - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/25806/animation/215381/Early-history?anchor=ref715172
How to create a Flip Book animation -
Cel animation explained -
More on Cell animation -
Rotoscoping explained -
More on Rotoscoping -
Drawn on Film explained -
Photographic Stills/Stop Motion explained -
About Flash animation -
Flash Animation tutorial -
