Unit 34: 2D Animation

Introduction My report will be based on 2D animation and illustrative methods and what they represent and why they are created and designed the way they are.

Research is a vital part of production as you understand different artistic styles and discover new ways to design things whether it is concept art, animation or just drawings. It also gives you better knowledge and experience of the subject you are researching.

Research is required as I don’t really know much about animation and the animation industry itself as it is so vast. It will help me build knowledge on 2D animation and how it can be applied to games or even TV/web shows.

The research methods I will be using will include watching videos and analysing them and internet research so I find out more about different animation methods including flick book animation, cel animation, rotoscoping animation.

I have chosen these different research methods because if I just use one research method, it will not be enough to raise my awareness and knowledge about animation. I will try to do some primary research, however, the videos I watch, the internet research I do and the pictures I decide to annotate are all secondary research. Primary research is better as I can get information straight from the source and it is genuine instead of tampered.

2D Animation Techniques There are many 2D animators around these days and there are also a lot of different ways to create 2D animation including hand drawn animation, full animation, limited animation, rotoscoping and live­action/animation. There are also different stop motion animation techniques including puppet animation, clay animation, cutout animation, model animation, go motion, object animation, graphic animation, brickfilm and pixilation. Finally, because the technology has improved, you can also animate using computer software and there are hundreds of different software programs you can use such as Photoshop, PoserPro, GoAnimate, Adobe Flash and many more.

Development There have been many pioneers of the animation industry who have designed some of the techniques we know and use to this day. These pioneers include Joseph Plateau (phenakistoscope), William Horner (zoetrope), Emile Reynaud (praxinoscope), Edward Muybridge, Thomas Edison (kinetoscope) and the Luimére brothers.

In addition to this, there have been the developers who have extended the work of these pioneers and they include Walt Disney, Hannah Barbera, Warner Bros, Norman McLaren and Len Lye.

There is also the contemporary work including Monty Python, Yellow Submarine, A Scanner Darkly and Persepolis.

Finally, there are different genres and forms where animation is used including cinema such as Frozen and The Incredibles, advertising such as Monty the Penguin from John Lewis, children’s TV like Tom and Jerry and much much more.

Principles of Animation

Traditional animation or cel­animation was the process of animation used for most animated films during the 20th Century. Individual frames were photographs or hand drawn illustrations on paper. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the very first full length animated feature film ev ver produced.

Flick book animation is a basic style when compared to other methods. It is basically a book with many images on each page re positioned slightly to create the illusion of a moving image when the pages are flicked rapidly. They can be mainly found in childrens’ books but can be targeted to adults maybe using photographs that have been taken quickly with minimal movement.

Rotoscoping is the style in which animators will trace over existing footage. The first technique of rotoscoping was to have live action film images projected onto a glass panel which the animator would trace over. This has also been replaced by computer technology.

Direct animation is the form of animation where footage is produced only by images drawn directly onto a film stock. This is peculiar to other forms as the images aren't frame by frame with an animation camera. You can either use a blank film stock which the animator can draw on, print or glue things onto to create images or, you may etch, sand, punch or scratch black film in order to created your selected image and the animator can use any tool to do this.

Beta movement The beta movement is an optional illusion where a series of static images on screen create an illusion of a smoothly flowing scene. This occurs when the frame rate is higher than 10­12 fps. It is considered similar to the effects of animation. The images do not physically change but give the appearance of movement because they are rapidly changes faster than an eye can see.

The beta movement is often confused with the phi phenomenon but they are different. Phi phenomenon is the apparent motion caused by a static image changing like a motion picture would do. It is the apparent motion between different light sources that are switched on time to time as in chase lighting. There are different images or lights in one place, however, in the beta movement they are in different locations. The reason they are commonly mistaken is because in both cases, lights or images are turned on or off rapidly to produce the illusion.

Frame Rates Frame rate is the frequency in which an imaging device produces unique images called frames. This term applies to animation but also games, movies, and computer/motion graphics. Frame rate is commonly referred to as frames per second (FPS) and in hertz (Hz) in progressive scan monitors.

The human eye can process 10­12 frames per second individually. Depending on what is shown and for how long, the human eye chooses to capture different things. For example, if a green light is shown for 10ms and a red light is shown immediately after for another 10ms, the eye may perceive it as one yellow light being shown. This persistence of vision may also give the illusion of continuity for some visions.

Early silent films had 16­24 FPS however, in the 1920s, the frame rate for silent films increased to 20­26 FPS.

When sound films came out, this number increased to 24 FPS. Motion picture films also followed 24 FPS. Anything higher would create slow motion.

For games consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360, 30 FPS are suitable, however, with higher end devices like the PS4 and Xbox One, 60 FPS is the norm.

Pioneers The first ever animation to be made was by Eadweard Muybridge in 1872 when he animated a horse running by taking pictures. There was a discussion whether all legs of a horse are ever in the air at the same time when running and he proved they are by making an animation as the human eye could not break it down. This animation has changed history ever since.

This study is called Sallie Gardner at a Gallop or The Horse in Motion. It shows images of the horse with all its feet off the ground.

Joseph Plateau was a Belgian physicist and the first person to demonstrate the illusion of a moving image. He did this by using a device he called the phenakistoscope which used rotating disks with repeating drawn images in small additions of motion on one and regularly spaced slits in the other.

The zoetrope is a pre­film animation device that is similar to the phenakistoscope . It also produces the illusion of motion by showing a sequence of drawing or images with progressive phases of that very motion. When the cylinder turns, you are able to look through the slits and the user sees a rapid succession of images with looks like it is moving.

The drum­like cylinder was created in 1833 by William Horner, who knew about the recently produced phenakistoscope.

Animation Progression Animation has changed throughout the years and there some people that have to be mentioned for this such as Thomas Edison, the Fleischer Brothers and Walt Disney.

Stopping animation was when you would change something in the scene by pausing the filming. For example, if you wish to execute someone you would pick up the axe, stop recording, change the person into a dummy, then chop their head. This can also be done to create the illusion of magic.

Sequential animation is when the image or drawing would change at every frame. For example, the animation Funny Faces would be a great example for this type of animation which was made by Stuart Blackton in 1906. Stop motion was used in this animation along with cutouts.

Unlike other animation studios, the Fleischer Brothers decided to animate humans mainly instead of anthropomorphic characters. In addition to this, they based their animations of characters like Betty Boop on actual human characteristics. They were one of the real competitors against Walt Disney Productions.

However, Walt Disney created the first ever featured animated film: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Even though many people believed this would be the downfall of Disney, Walt Disney believed in his creation which earnt him over $8 on its initial release which is now equivalent to $134, 033, 100 today. This film was also the first animated feature film to be made in Technicolour.

Snow White began an era that was later addressed as the ‘Golden Age of Animation’ for the studio. Animation staff continued to work on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi as well as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Wind in the Willows. The shorts staff continued to work on Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Influence example A great example for a massive influence in modern day animation is the animated TV show ‘The Flintstones’. This 1960 Hanna­Barbera production has definitely influenced the likes of Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane to create similar shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy. However, the biggest difference is that The Flintstones were made using traditional animation animation techniques such as cel­animation and hardly any computer software. However, these modern shows which are also movies heavily depend on computer technology for their success.

I must state that if The Simpsons and Family Guy were made using traditional animation techniques, I don’t think they’d be so popular. Their unique personalities would definitely change. Even the fact that it can be shown in high definitions is a massive factor.

2D Animation Process The main steps to 2D animation are: Storyboard, Audio, Animatic, Layout.

Every animation will need a script and storyboard to start with, otherwise, you will not know what you want to end up with. Rough drawings of scenes are sketched by the animator and the script is timed to each drawing to make a scene.

After this, you will need audio. If there is dialogue, you will need voice actors to record their lines. This includes words, grunts and singing if that is in your animation. Background music and sound effects are not yet recorded.

You will then need an animatic to be created. This is when the voice acting will be timed according to the script so the animators have a rough idea of what they will need to do.

A model sheet will then be used to create the characters. A model sheet is sued so all the designers will know exactly how to draw the characters so there is no confusion and errors in between scenes.

Next, the layout will need to be done. This includes camera angles, lighting and shading for each scene. In addition to this, the character artists will have to decide what each character will be doing during the scene (eg. poses).

The main animation is ready to begin. First, you will need to make key frames which are the start and end drawings in each scene. You will then need to do in betweens for each frame. For example, if I was drawing a waving hand, I’d draw the start position, the end position, then I’d draw the in betweens so at the end it would look like an actual waving hand.

Finally, the final frames will have to be traced from paper onto a cel which is a thin piece of plastic paper. The coloured cel is placed onto the background, photographed and this process is repeated until all the frames are complete. Finally, the photos are placed onto a film reel to finish the animation.

Nowadays, this lengthy process is aided by computer software. So, instead of coluring each frame by hand, you are able to use editing tools on a computer like Photoshop to easily colour background and characters. Even though the software would be expensive to acquire, it could help in the future as computers eliminate the need for ink and paint.

Summary In conclusion, the way of producing animation has changed vastly over the years but the general method remains the same. It is easier to make animation now than it was 100 years ago as computer software are able to aid us in the making of animation. These software features allow us to speed up the time taken to produce animation as well as improve the quality pf our animations.

Animations can be used in many different ways. From simply proving a point that horses have all their legs in the air at one point when running as proved by Eadweard Muybridge or even making a propaganda animation against the German army like Walt Disney had done.

In recent times, you see animation being used in games, TV shows and in the film industry. 12 FPS is used for pre­school shows, maybe because childrens’ shows don’t need information to be retained and the more colorful and vivid they are, the better. However, cinematic animations use 24 FPS as the animation should be a lot more smoother and generally nicer to look at. They contain stories which require more time to be fully understood.

Animation has been and always will be a great way to express emotions and feelings as well as being simple forms of education.