Histories of Animation - Spencer Roberts Lecture

Histories of Animation

Emily Colh - Fantasmagorie, 1908

This is mostly considered to be the very first animation cartoon that is created with the stop motion photography technique.

Bruce Bickford - Prometheus Garden, 1988

This film is done with clay animation, also knows as claymation, one of many form of stop motion animation.  Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. It is based upon the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan who stole fire from the gods and made the first mortals out of clay.

Later on we see this form of animation take bigger dimensions in the animation studio of LAIKA, where they use a much higher developed technique of stop motion animation.

Technologies

ROTOSCOPE

Max Fleischer was was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer. He was responsible for a number of technological innovations including the Rotoscope. One of his most famous cartoon characters was Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye and Superman. 

Before this, it was hard to draw stable, constant, slow, life-like movements. 

Koko the Clown, 1916 - His brother Joe helped him make the machine and his other brother posed in a clown suit.

ZEOTROPE

In 1834, William George Horner proposed a more convenient device based on Plateau’s Phenakistoscope which eliminated the need for a mirror and allowed several people to view the device at one time. Horner’s idea was to take shape in the form of drum with an open top into which was placed a hand drawn sequence of pictures on a strip of paper. The pictures were placed around the inside of the edge of the drum and could be viewed through slots in the outside of the drum.

The Zeotrope allowed mass audience to participate through multiple slots. 

Contemporary 3D Zeotropes can be seen in Dinseyland - Pixar and in the Studio Ghibli museum.

CELL ANIMATION



This is an animation film created by Winsor McCay. McCay decided to animate a Dinosaur to prove that his drawings were moving. The notion of bringing a dinosaur "to life" was astonishing. Thus, in 1913 McCay began to animate "Gertie The Dinosaur". 
Without guidance, or anything but his own experience to rely on, McCay produced an astonishing piece of animation that holds up even to today's standards. McCay painstakingly animated details such as particles of dirt falling, and water dripping. He gave Gertie personality and emotions. We see her eating, drinking, playing, and even crying.
(source: http://vegalleries.com/gerthistory.html) 

CGI

Computer animation, or CGI animation, is the process used for generating animated images.

The most modern form animation used by the most well known animation companies such as Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks and so on. CGI gives you a more realistic feel of the animation since the characters are looking more alive and real and it has more realistic and detailed backgrounds.