Origins of American Animation 1. What Is The
1. WEB SITE RESEARCH
Topic research: Origins of American Animation
1. What is the educational benefit of the information related to your topic?
The educational benefit of the information related to my topic is that the viewer can understand the origins of American Animation how it started, how it began, and why did we move toward animation. The information is educational because it gives a history on how American animation began compared to what modern day animation is.
2. What types of viewers will be interested in your topic?
Animators, illustration artists, and arts majors would be interested in the origins of American animation because of the ties it has to their career or interests. Filmographies and directors would also be interested in the topic because its what they do, storytelling through the use of visuals. Possibly even photographers because the start of animation was the combinations of photos run through a slide to create a moving image.
3. What perceived value will your topic give to your viewers?
The viewers will gain knowledge from learning about the origins of American animation and how it began. This information could be used to understand their interests and how it came to be. The viewers will gain value by also watching the animation videos that were made from the beginning. Origins of American Animation are a collection of 21 animated films and 2 fragments. The collection features films that are clay, puppet, and cut-out animation, as well as pen drawings.
4. Primary person(s) of significance in the filed of your topic?
A primary person that had significance in the field of animation was George Méliès who had demonstrated in 1896 that objects could be set in motion through single-frame exposures. There was also J. Stuart Blackton who animated chalk experiment Humorous Phases of Funny Faces and was later followed by Winsor McCay, who made between four thousand and ten thousand separate line drawings for each of his three one-reel films.
5. Primary person(s) that made your topic information available?
The information of the origins of American animation but mostly the videos of the animation was taken from several collections from the Motion Picture and Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. The information was taken/included in The Paper Print, American Film Institute by J. Stuart Blackton, A.F.I./Maurice Zouary, A.F.I./Frederick Edell, A.F.I./George Marshall, A.F.I./Dennis Atkinson, A.F.I./James Ashton, A.F.I./Rhode Island Historical Society, A.F.I./Thomas Souder, A.F.I./Bernard Uhl, Louise Ernst, George Kleine, and Cinémathèque Québécoise Collections. But these films were previously released in 1994. Another contributor to this exhibit is Philip Carli who wrote piano score and performed music that has been added to these films and is not part of the original motion picture.
Other people include Karen Lund who compiled the information. Judi Hoffman created the catalog records. Hussein Hassan created the thumbnail images. Lastly Marc Dudley performed the digital quality review.
6. Important moments or accomplishments in the history of your topic
Important moments or accomplishments in the history of animation is making 2d images look like they are actually moving and they were done with the mediums of clay, puppet, and cut-out animation, as well as pen drawings; which was fascinating for the time. Basically the beginnings of animation can be glimpsed in the clips that the collection includes. Also the use of multiple camera uses like stop motion or one clip.
7. How did the media of times of your topic treat your topic?
The media actually loved the idea of moving pictures and thought of as advancing in the field of film and photography. Sometimes the short films were based on issues like immigration or they were unrealistic and fantasy like with centaurs and etc. It doesn’t look like the media reacted negatively to the idea of animation itself but there may have been negative reactions from the topics of the short film itself.
8. Current events related to your topic?
I know recently that there was a start up on a 2d animation film posted because they thought that our generation is only using 3d animation. Forgetting the beauty of 2d animation, clay animation, etc. There has been discussion that we are losing how animation began and the beauty of it all before we had computer software that could expand the animation. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/disney-veterans-to-save- dying-art-of-2d-handdrawn-animation-with-new-film-hullabaloo-9710694.html http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/can-disney-veterans-steampunk-hullabaloo-film-save- 2d-animation/
A lot of media attention has went toward the new film The Box Trolls which features clay animation and the amount of time and work that goes into creating a single movie like it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/09/12/review-the-boxtrolls-is-another- laika-triumph/ http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/09/26/boxtrolls-directors-push-stop-motion- animation-to-new-levels/
9. List discussion and social media coverage of your topic?
Dying art of 2d animation http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/can-disney-veterans-steampunk-hullabaloo-film-save- 2d-animation/
Furthering stop motion animation with new techniques and technology http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/09/26/boxtrolls-directors-push-stop-motion-
If animation is cooler than Michael Bay’s movies http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/25/6423133/boxtrolls-laika-stop-motion-animation- interview
10. Anything else that will help you better understand your topic for this project? e.g. related academic research and or related books and articles on your topic?
I would probably need a little more research on the absolute beginnings of animation and not just a collection or works of animation films that were created during the 1900s. How animation specifically affected people during that era and how someone came up with the idea for hand drawn film or clay stop motion.
Similar websites research: Links to the examples of effectively organized and designed similar websites
1. A topical educational website?
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/topics.htm
What makes this website effective?
Information is easily found and there are lists of multiple educational publications on a specific topic. There are also other publications listed and similar to the topic the viewer is searching for. 2. A collection based website? http://www.frick.org
What makes this website effective?
This website is effective because it showcases all of the works belonging to the single collection. Where the specific item that belongs to the collection is located. They also include a brief description of the piece and the history behind the galleries.
3. An archival or museum website? http://www.mnh.si.edu
What makes this website effective?
This website is effective because the amount of information that is presented on the website. The website can effectively give the user information on the topics they are interested in and are easily found.
4. Any website related to you topic? http://www.animate-it.com/category/get-animating/
What makes this website effective?
Although this website is aimed at getting the consumer to buy their product so that children can learn to animate. It is effective in teaching children how to animate and educating them on how to use technology to create and design something that they have watched and enjoyed.
2. WEB SITE DEFINITION
Your Name: Jennifer Wong
Name of your website: The Origins of American Animation
Purpose of the website: (In three sentences or less) Why your site exists
The purpose of the website is to provide access to information relating to the Origins of American Animation. The website will also inform viewers of the different types of animation and the processes of each. Intended audience/viewers: In order of importance who are the primary intended visitors to your website: Be very specific
1. Art students or Artists of any age 2. Animators 3. Film Makers 4. Photographers
Objectives of your website audience/viewers: What will your website accomplish? Be very specific
1. To share and provide examples of some of the first American Animation 2. To give information on the beginnings of American Animation 3. To give examples on specific types of animation (clay, puppet, 2d, etc) 4. To generate more interest in American Animation
3. CONTENT OUTLINE:
Home page:
Title: The Origins of American Animation
Subtitle: N/A
5 Primary links :
1. Home 2. The beginnings of American animated drawings (about page) 3. Clay animation 4. Cut Out 5. Pen Drawings
6 Secondary links
Under The beginnings of animated drawings: About and Introduction to animated films
Under Clay Animation: Clay Animation overview, the list of clay animations with video and commentary
Under Puppet Animation: Overview, the list of puppet animation with video and commentary
Under Cut-out animation: Overview, the list of cut out animation with video and commentary
Pen Drawings: Overview, the list of cut out animation with video and commentary
Copy/text: (2 – 3 short paragraphs of 3-5 sentences each explaining purpose of site)
N/A
Primary pages (Typical of what is needed to best present the required information)
Primary pages #1
Title: The beginnings of animated drawings
Subtitles for each subtopic on the page: About and Introduction to animated films
Links in addition to the sites primary and secondary links : Home, The beginnings of animated drawings, The Collection, How to order copies of the film, Copyright and restrictions
About
The development of early American animation is represented by this collection of 21 animated films and 2 fragments, which spans the years 1900 to 1921. The films include clay, puppet, and cut-out animation, as well as pen drawings. They point to a connection between newspaper comic strips and early-animated films, as represented by Keeping Up With the Joneses, Krazy Kat, and The Katzenjammer Kids. As well as showing the development of animation, these films also reveal the social attitudes of early twentieth-century America.
Introduction to animated film
Animated drawings were introduced to film a full decade after George Méliès had demonstrated in 1896 that objects could be set in motion through single-frame exposures. J. Stuart Blackton’s 1906 animated chalk experiment Humorous Phases of Funny Faces was followed by the imaginative works of Winsor McCay, who made between four thousand and ten thousand separate line drawings for each of his three one-reel films released between 1911 and 1914. Only in the half-dozen years after 1914, with the technical simplifications (and patent wars) involving tracing, printing, and celluloid sheets, did animated cartoons become a thriving commercial enterprise. This period-- upon which this collection concentrates--brought assembly-line standardization but also some surprisingly surreal wit to American animation. The twenty-one films (and two Winsor McCay fragments) in this collection, all from the Library of Congress holdings, include clay, puppet, and cut-out animation as well as pen drawings. Beyond their artistic interest, these tiny, often satiric, films tell much about the social fabric of World War I- era America.
Featured header or slider visuals (Include a thumbnail and title for each image)
The enchanted drawing
Fun In a Bakery Shop
2 or more; smaller supporting visuals (Include a thumbnail and caption for each image)
Primary pages #2
Title: Clay Animation/ stop motion
Subtitles for each subtopic on the page: Overview and Videos
Links in addition to the sites primary and secondary links : Home, The Beginnings, Clay, Puppet, Cut-out, Pen Drawings
Copy/text for each topic covered on the page (1-3 short paragraphs max for each subtopic)
Clay Animation Overview:
Clay animation was created through using clay to create clay subjects like animals, humans, and objects. The clay is usually molded around a skeleton usually made out of wire where the clay will hold. For a modern day example Coraline directed by Henry Selick is a clay animation film, which featured making over a thousand hand gestures and faces for the single main character, although more advanced from the beginnings of animation because it was the first ever film to be shot in 3d. There are many forms of clay animation including free form, clay painting, and others. With this studios would use stop motion to create the animations themselves, clay animation is one of the many forms of stop animation that we still see today in our movie theaters. Stop animation is produced by recording each frame or taking a still picture, then playing the frames back in fast or rapid succession for the viewer to see a moving object.
(Attach video here of Coraline)
Featured header or slider visuals (Include a thumbnail and title for each image)
Mary and Gretel
The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy
2 or more; smaller supporting visuals (Include a thumbnail and caption for each image) A set up for stop animation
Primary pages #3
Title: Cut-Out
Subtitles for each subtopic on the page: Overview and Video Links in addition to the sites primary and secondary links : Home, The Beginnings, Clay, Puppet, Cut-out, Pen Drawings
Copy/text for each topic covered on the page (1- 3 short paragraphs max for each subtopic)
Cut-out animation is the production of using 2d or flat characters that are cut from paper, fabric, or even photographs. Cut-out animation uses the stop motion method by recording each frame or taking a still picture, then playing the frames back in fast or rapid succession for the viewer to see a moving object. Cut-out animation is not very popular in today’s society and has faded into the background of 2d, 3d, and clay animation, although 2d animation is on a recent decline of being replaced by 3d animations.
Featured header or slider visuals (Include a thumbnail and title for each image)
W.S.S Thriftettes
The First Circus
2 or more; smaller supporting visuals (Include a thumbnail and caption for each image)
Primary pages #4
Title: Pen Drawings
Subtitles for each subtopic on the page: Overview and Video Links in addition to the sites primary and secondary links : Home, The Beginnings, Clay, Puppet, Cut-out, Pen Drawings
Copy/text for each topic covered on the page (1- 3 short paragraphs max for each subtopic)
Pen drawn animations are most closely related to 2d animations that we see toward the beginnings of animation where an object will be drawn on a piece of paper successively and will be played with a faster frame rate. In the videos that are apart of the collection there are two types of pen drawn animation shown. One of where the viewer can see the animations being drawn by the artist with the help of stop motion and cartoons that are made using the stop animation method.
Featured header or slider visuals (Include a thumbnail and title for each image)
Humorous Phases of Funny Faces
Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge
Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing
The Phable of a Busted Romance
Policy and Pie
2 or more; smaller supporting visuals (Include a thumbnail and caption for each image)
Sidebar to appear on primary pages (with your recommended content) Titles and or subtitles for recommended widgets Recommended copy/text and links