History of Animation.pdf

Prehistoric painting of the Lascaux cave

Prehistoric Paintings Lascaux Cave By Pline - CC BY-SA 3.0

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique praxinoscope?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

Prehistoric Paintings Lascaux Cave By Pline - CC BY-SA 3.0

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique praxinoscope?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

The Mysteriouse Magic Lantern By Milton Keynes Museum - https://miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk/

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique praxinoscope?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. X (Trentsensky & Vieweg 1833) - Public Domain

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique praxinoscope?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

How to MAKE A FLIPBOOK By Andymation on YouTube

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique praxinoscope?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

Old celluloid film rolls By Marcel Oosterwijk - CC BY-SA 2.0

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique (praxinoscope)?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

Pauvre Pierrot (Emile Reynaud, 1892) –Public Domain

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique (praxinoscope)?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

The Enchanted Drawing By J. Stuart Blackton - Public Domain

Where do we draw the line?

-15050 prehistoric cave drawings?1659 magic lantern shadow puppet shows?1833 stroboscopic disks (phenakistiscope)?

(or 17,000 BP before present 1950 carbon dating)

••

1868 flipbook kineograph drawn animation?

1888 celluloid film developed?1892 Théâtre Optique (praxinoscope)?1900 The Enchanted Drawing stop motion film

•••

1908 Fantasmagorie, film negative frame by

frame drawing film?

Fantasmagorie (1908) Emile Cohl – Public Domain

THE HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Pre-cinema optical toys and illusions

Thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, shadow plays

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

2D animation

Gertie the Dinosaur (animating pose to pose vs straight ahead), Little Nemo in Slumberland (comics close relationship to animation), Steamboat Willie & St. James Infirmary Blues (animating to sound), Looney Tunes (layering and parallax), Snow White (using reference), The Fleischer Brothers’ 1940s Superman & Popeye the Sailor

3D animation

Pixar’s Toy Story and how Jurassic Park went from using handmade models to computer graphics and VFX by accident.

Pre-cinema optical toys and illusions

Thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, shadow plays

Thaumatrope

A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string or stick. When twirled quickly pictures appear to blend into one.

between the fingers the two

Pre-cinema optical toys and illusions

Thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, shadow plays

Phenakistoscope

The GIF of the olden timesSpinning cardboard disc attached sequential images printed radially around the disc's center. Spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the images to see continuous motion.

vertically to a handle. Series of

Like a zoetrope but not 3D, only

viewable by one person at a time.

Pre-cinema optical toys and illusions

Thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, shadow plays

Zoetrope

The 3D GIF of the olden timesCylindrical variant of the phenakistoscope. Often combined with strobe light or a constant particular framerate.

mechanical motor to display a

Pre-cinema optical toys and illusions

Thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, shadow plays

Shadow Plays

Traditional shadow puppet theater using 2D character rigs, similar to their digital equivalents today. Seen in Southeast Asia.1659 magic lantern, early projector with pictures on transparent plates. Usually, a concave mirror behind a lightbulb aimed at the image to project through a lens onto a wall.

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

Persistence of vision

Persistence of vision is an optical phenomenon where the visual after the rays of light from that object have stopped entering the eye. This can create “motion blur” or in some cases alter the perception of something’s perceived speed as seen much light is allowed in/how quickly its brain can create a picture)

perception of an object persists even

in a camera’s rolling shutter (how

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

Persistence of vision

Persistence of vision is an optical phenomenon where the visual after the rays of light from that object have stopped entering the eye. This can create “motion blur” or in some cases alter the perception of something’s perceived speed as seen much light is allowed in/how quickly its brain can create a picture)

perception of an object persists even

in a camera’s rolling shutter (how

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

Soviet montage theory

The Kuleshov EffectThe idea that individual shots need not have meaning by themselves; their meaning is created by juxtaposition with other shots.

Animation doesn’t just fake motion,

it can create and distort meaning.

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

Eadweard Muybridge

Horse in Motion 1878To settle a bet on whether all the feet of a horse would clear the ground in the same instant Eadweard Muybridge created a track that would trigger cameras to shoot photos when the horse would cross the

trigger wire.

His series of stills can be considered the first film. He later recorded different animals and people’s walk cycles and other movement studies.

Early cinema

Persistence of vision to create movement, soviet montage theory to galloping horse and studies in motion, stop motion trick films

create meaning from two juxtaposed images, Eadweard Muybridge’s

Stop motion trick films

The Enchanted Drawing 1900Pause and hold, keep everything but one thing the same, then first special effects. Later, artists and animators would paint over the filmstock to add color and rotoscoped (drawn over)

resume recording and you get the

animations.

2D animation

Gertie the Dinosaur (animating pose to pose vs straight ahead) & Little Nemo in Slumberland (comics close relationship to animation)

Winsor McCay

American cartoonist and

animatorMost of his films start with him betting that he can animate things.

2D animation

Steamboat Willie & St. James Infirmary Blues

Walt Disney

While not the first to animate to music or sync to

sound, that was arguably Max Fleischer’s KO-KO SONG CAR-TUNES (made 4 years prior), it was a landmark moment for American animation.

2D animation

Steamboat Willie & St. James Infirmary Blues

Cabell Calloway III was an American jazz singer and

bandleader.

Betty Boop was the first female leading and the first from animated cinema

female human character

2D animation

The Multi-plane camera (layering & parallax)

The multiplane camera

is a motion-picture camera that was used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a sense of parallax or depth.

2D animation

The Looney Tunes

Warner Brother’s Looney Tunes 1930 -> 1969 -> now

In 1930, WB became interested in developing a series of musical animated shorts to promote their music. Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman were hired to produce their first series of cartoons. Bosko was Looney Tunes' first major lead character. Later on we get Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Sylvester the Cat, and Space Jam.

2D animation

The Fleischer Brothers’ 1940s Superman & Popeye the Sailor

1940s Superman

The 1940s Superman animated film series is a

collection superhero short films released in Technicolor

by Paramount Pictures. These films are based on the iconic comic book character Superman, marking his first animated appearance.

2D animation

The Fleischer Brothers’ 1940s Superman & Popeye the Sailor

Popeye the Sailor

A sailor “built different”

Popeye the Sailor is a

fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar as a comic strip and in 1933, Max Fleischer adapted the character into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. Popeye’s defining characteristic is his super strength gained by eating

spinach.

2D animation

Reference & Rotoscoping

Reference

Using reference isn’t cheating and is often used by animators to plan the performances they will later animate. Being able to act time to figure out timing.As seen in the Snow-White

out the motions ahead of

clip.

Rotoscoping

The act of tracing (drawing over) video frame by frame and stylize footage.As seen in the Gulliver’s

to create realistic animation

Travels clip.

2D animation

Reference & Rotoscoping (tracing video)

Modern Rotoscoping

The most frequent use of rotoscoping today is Richard Linklater’s films such as

Waking Life

(as seen in the clip shown)

A Scanner DarklyApollo 10½Honorable mention:Undone (tv series)

2D animation

Cartoons for adults

Yellow Submarine (1968)

Surreal musical adventure filmDirected by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King Features Syndicate, the film was of The Beatles’ music.It was accredited with changing the perception of animation from the childish Saturday morning cartoons of The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and Johnny Quest to something of more substance for

an audiovisual artistic showcase

adults.

2D animation

Cartoons for adults

Fantastic Planet (1973)

French science fiction animationRene Laloux's mesmerizing sci-fi classic, based on the book Om en Serie by Stefan Wul, is a landmark of European animation. It’s political and complex compared to many previous animations and till today holds up as a cult

subject matter and themes were

classic.

2D animation

Japanese Anime - AKIRA

Akira (1988)

Japanese animated cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his earlier

Manga.

Regarded as one of the greatest films of all time and paved the way for western audience exposure and adoption of Japanese anime alongside some honorable mentions:Sailor Moon (1992)Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)Cowboy Bebop (1998)

Paprika (2007)

2D animation

Entering a digital age

Treasure Planet (2002)

An adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel, futuristic space setting.Despite positive audience reception, it was a financial flop due to poor marketing, and doomed to fail and was the scapegoat for Disney’s big push towards fully 3D animated films going forward, with some

“Treasure Island,” set in a

exceptions.

For all the advanced techniques developed, the movie was in “production hell” and took 5 years to produce and 12 years of preproduction which further incentivized the adoption of 3D computer graphics.

2D animation

Entering a digital age

While 2D animation is far from gone, digital tools like Toon Boom,

Open Toonz, and Adobe After Effects have played a major role in the cost-effective development of animated TV programming.Studio Ghibli is one of the few remaining studios using “traditional animation” techniques and have open sourced their

software.

3D animation

Stop motion: models and clay

Willis O'Brien

Tadahito "Tad" Mochinaga

Ray Harryhausen

The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (1915)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Clash of the Titans (1981)

3D animation

Stop motion: models and clay (honorable mentions)

Animation Shown:

Pat a MatPinguWallace and GromitJames & The Giant

••••

PeachBob The BuilderFantastic Mr. FoxCoraline

•••

Marcel The Shell

3D animation

The founding fathers of 3D Computer Graphics (CG) Animation

Steve Jobs

John Lasseter

Edwin Catmull

1986 Bought graphics division of LucasfilmLater founded Pixar Animation

3D animation

The founding fathers of 3D Computer Graphics (CG) Animation

Alvy Ray Smith III

Edwin Catmull

American computer Co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and

American computer scientist Other co-founder of Pixar and the President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Invented Catmull–Clark subdivision surface algorithm. (a staple tool in every software for all 3D Modelers today)

scientist

and animator

PixarCreated one of the first raster paint programs, HSV color model (hue, saturation, value), The Wally B (one of the first 3D animated films, the first with squash n stretch deformers) with John Lasseter

Adventures of Andre &

Created the first computer generated vfx for 1976 film Futureworld.

3D animation

The founding fathers of 3D Computer Graphics (CG) Animation

The Adventures of Andre & Wally B

Futureworld 1976 (first 3D hand / face)

3D animation

Toy Story (First blockbuster fully CG animated film)

The Pixar Animation Process / How are Characters Animated at Pixar?- Toy Story Behind the Scenes

3D animation

How Jurassic Park went from using models to cg by accident

Jurassic Park - From Stop Motion to Digital By COCObeanz on YouTube

Modern Animation

Where are we now?