Project 1: Creating a Pixilation Animation (Production)

To make this animation we used the programme Adobe after effects, I have never used this programme so I was excited to see the way the editing process works, as I've always wondered how it is done, and the level of time and difficulty it takes. As the editing process is usually the part the requires a high level of precision and attention to detail as it determines the consistency of flow throughout the animation. 

The steps to using it are fairly easy. First of all the pictures have to be imported by clicking File-Import,  and then selecting multiple files. Once done the first image of all the other images are selected and by clicking force alphabetical order the programme orders the pictures together in chronological order on its own. Once done the file will appear on the side, and to edit it you simply drag it down to the lower bar. I personally like to click play to see if I am satisfied with the speed and the order of movements frame by frame. As there were no problems with the animation, all that was left for me to do was add effects and sounds. Repeating the process of importing the files and dragging it below the animation bar. Once the animation is completely edited you select file - export - add to render queue. Once the animation is rendered you select File - Export- adobe flash player, and your animation is complete. 

Here are some screenshots of me editing the animation 

I also experimented with the colour of the animation, changing the RGB saturation to see weather it will create a nice effect that could possibly better the animation.  What I liked about the black and white contrast was how it somehow amplified the emotional aspect of the animation, and emphasised  the change in movement. It also gave the animation a somewhat sentimental value. I decided against using the effect as I really liked the way the colour originally stands out and establishes a setting visually to the viewer. 

Green

Blue

Red

Yellow

Overall I found making the animation a lot of fun,  the only problem was that it was quite frustrating at times as it took me around five tries until the animation worked. There were also quite a few problems with the animation getting exported into a quicktime file. I was also quite disappointed with the group as I assigned them individual tasks to find an audio file and work on the credits scene and not a single member completed the task, and as a result the final animation does not have any sound or credits scene. Despite this I thought the the lack of sound amplified the tension in-between the scenes encouraging the viewer to focus more on the scenes. It was useful in improving my problem solving skills with the programme, and with approaching computerised animation 

Here is the final animation 

              

https://youtu.be/aIDcR71xtww

Project 1: Creating a Pixilation Animation (Filming)

The first task set was to create a Pixilation Animation in groups, our group was of five individuals. This to me was both a good and bad number, as if everybody worked with the same positive intention the animation would not only be done in a short time, but it could also be then in a lot more detail. The possible negative side to this was that if certain individuals do not participate it could endanger the animation as well as the groups potential. 

I was personally very excited to have the opportunity to try this stop motion technique.

To start we had to Brainstorm ideas for this animation, these were the ideas we came up with:

Idea one

The story of a baby lion who is in a forest with his family, the baby lion soon wonders off due to his excitement in wanting to explore more of the forest despite his parents warnings. The baby lion without realizing it crosses a safety line put to keep his species safe. Hunter sees lion and kills the baby lion. 

Moral of the story: Curiosity killed the cat

Idea two 

A mini story of a solder set during WW1, whilst solder is in trenches he dies and sees his life flash before his eyes, main focus of the animation experiments with the idea and belief of this and gives the viewer a quick insight into the individuals life. If to be chosen, a way to challenge ourselves and see if this could be done successfully and communicated clearly. Solder spends last few minutes of his life staring and clutching into necklace, life flashback tells the viewer the value of the object. 

Moral of the story: Destruction of War

Chosen idea --> Idea one

The reason for this was that we wouldn't have been able to show the setting of a trench in full detail with the environments we were surrounded by, it would have also been far too time consuming to make the animation the way we wanted. We were also realistic with ourselves and understood that as this is our first animation, therefore it would be wise to make it short, clear and fairly simple. We did agree however that once we are more experienced we would give idea two a try. 

Idea one in-depth 

Roles

Director/photographer: Halima (me ^^/)

Baby Lion: Carly 

Dad Lion: Carlos

Mum Lion: Afsheen 

Hunter: Edward

Story line (key frames/scenes)

1. Baby Lion is seen with mum and dad Lion 
2. Playing and moving around in the forest 
3. Baby Lion starts to slowly wonder off 
4. The hunter enters
5. Baby lion and hunter freeze whilst making eye contact
6. Scene slows to dramatize scene and create tension 
7. Hunter shoots the Baby Lion 
8. Baby Lion slowly falls and dies 
9. Hunter puts arms up in triumph 
10. Animation ends 

Equipment

One Baby Lion mask

Two Lion masks 

Camera

Gun (paper model)

Craft Knife

Glue

String (to attach masks)

Location

School fields

Trial version

We did a quick practice version as a way to see how the animation would play out and weather any alterations were needed.  It was also to test the efficiency of the props and weather they worked and fit in with the theme of the animation. Here are some pictures from the practice session.

I experimented with this stop motion technique by using my phone, as I found it easier to capture the speed of the movement. Sadly there was not enough memory on my phone, also that for this to be a minute animation there had to be 1000 pictures taken. Therefore the option of a phone was not available. Regardless to have the actual experience of how animators approach Pixilation, it is better to use a camera. This session was very useful as my colleague was able to practice the movements of a lion, and was able to understand how to use it to best express the character.


Making the final animation 
It was time to do the final animation, and for it we used a camera that took 10 frames per second, all that was left to do was to act out the animation one last time. To do this all five members were needed, and it needed to be done on the day as it was crucial in terms of time management, as this was our only chance to do it. Sadly on the day certain members were faced with personal problems, or illness and could not participate during the day. At the time, the remaining team members (two members and I) were all unsure of what to do, luckily for us we had a student from the second year volunteer to take the role of the Baby Lion. Roles were quickly switched between the remaining members, and I was happy to see how everyone was able to easily adapt and solve the issue.

Change in script
Parent lions removed, only characters in animation are the Baby Lion and the hunter

Snapshots of Jess as the Baby Lion 

We later had a team member and quickly put her as part of the film, she was originally meant to be the parent Lion, however due to the change in the script, we decided to have it as a short flashback as a way to emphasize the freedom that is being lost. A way to heighten the emotional aspect of the animation.

Snapshots of Carly as Baby Lion in the prequel.

What I really liked was the change in setting due to it being later on in the day, as this added a sentimental value to the animation, giving it the texture of a foggy dream. I left the ending open to many interpretations, such as weather it is the lions afterlife? Or simply the Baby Lions last and most cherished memory, which was of being free.

Overall I enjoyed doing this project, as it taught me a lot of new skills involved with animation and gave me an insight into aspects that I always wondered about whilst watching a film, animation, or an advertisement that uses Pixelation. The team work started off really well but towards the end worsened slightly, despite this every member did get involved in some way and participated in helping the animation get to where it was, from the story to the props. If the hard work was kept consistent the animation would have been longer and more detailed then it was. It helped give me an insight of the teams animators have to work with and the possible problems that one may face. There was a moment where it was decided that those who didn't work hard enough would simply have to do their own animation, however I figured that in the real situation it is quite rash to make such a decision and it is better to learn how to communicate with the individual to see why they have trouble doing this and to motivate them to create better results.

Animation Techniques: Computer Animation

Computer Animation is split between 2D animation and 3D animation. 2D animation includes techniques that specialize on manipulation, whilst 3D animation specializes in creating virtual worlds that involve both objects and characters. To create the illusion that it is real.

2D Animation 
2D animation tends to be primarily based on using 2D Bitmap graphics or 2D Vector graphics. These programmes include additional computerized versions of traditional animation techniques This includes interpolated morphing and rotoscoping. Other applications involved in 2D animation involves:

Analog computer animation
This technique is able to create a compltly smooth and fluid motion 24 frames per second, additional properties such as colour are heightened immensely resulting in a brighter and more saturated tone.

Flash Animation
This technique is often used in Adobe Flash, why it is significant is that it is able to create a clean graphic appearance, this allows is to produce quick changes from specific views.

PowerPoint Animation
This technique uses the programme Microsoft PowerPoint to create an interactive game or movie that is ordered slide by slide.

Cinemagraphs 
This technique uses still photographs and repeats a specific movement in a consistent loop, this process is known to be used to create animated GIFs.

3D Animation 
3D animation is often started in the same way, by creating a 3D polygon mesh and manipulating it from there to enhance a certain image to make it appear three dimensional. Depending on the object (or image) the mesh may need support to stand, and to do this an armature is often used to do this. It is then used in key frames to create movement. Other applications involved in 3D animation involves:

Cel-Shaded Animation

This technique allows a 3D design to appear similar to the styles seen in comic books or cartoon series. It readjusts the colour, gradient, shades and saturation to match the style wanted.

Machinima Animation 
This technique focuses on creating a cinematic production to create realistic graphics, it is often used in video games to increase the experience and joy of the video game.

Motion Capture
This technique records the movement of objects or of people and uses it to create an animate digital copy, it often focuses on the details the capture the intensity of expression or actions that we as people are able to identify with. It can be used in a variety of applications, including film making, video game development and computer animation

CGI Animation
The technique includes the process of generating animated images to create the illusion of movenet by the use of computer generated graphics.

Animation Techniques : Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion animation involves using objects to create the illusion of movement, this is done by photographing the object frame by frame. This type of animation can be done through both comuter methods and traditional methods, however traditional methods tend to be preferred as it requires less money and time.

These are the different types of stop motion animation:

Puppet animation
This process involves using puppet figures that include an armature inside the body to keep the puppets movement in control. the puppet is usually put in a specifically made environment that is a part of the set of the animation. When using more then one version of the puppet, the process is then known as Puppetoon.

A good example of Puppet Animation in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" produced in 1993


Clay Animation 
The process of this animation involves using clay to create figures, the figures may be equipped with wire to support a particular pose for the figure. It is usually combined with stop motion animation to make.





A good example of Clay Animation in "Wallace and Gromit" produced in 1989


Strata-cut Animation
This process involves using a long spread of clay and slicing it into thin sheets, each sheet contains a frame of imagery and when sliced the camera is set to capture the frame of each slice, as a result conveying the movement and visual imagery inside the clay

Cutout Animation
This process involves using a two-dimensional material and moving it to create a nice effect, the material choice is often either paper or cloth.

A good example of this is seen in "South Park" produced in 1997



Silhouette Animation 
The process of this animation is very similar to cut-out animation, the only difference being that the material is back light so that it can be viewed as as a silhouette.










A good example of this is "Princes et Princesses" produced in 2000


Model Animation
The process of this animation involves a combination of techniques as a way to create an interaction between animation and the live action setting. To do this effects such as inter-cutting ans split screens are used to smoothly transcend and combine the two.










A good example of this is seen in "King Kong" produced in 1933


Go Animation
This animation is very similar to "Model Animation" with the concept of wanting to combine two different dimensions together. The difference being that this process focus more on creating a motion blur in between the frames.










A good example of this is seen in "The Empire Strikes Back" which was produced in 1980


Graphic Animation 
The process of this animation involves manipulating flat graphic material such as photographs or magazine pages to create movement.

Brickfilm Animation 
This animation technique involves using brick toys to make an animated film, the most popular type or toy used being Lego. This type of animation is commonly used in websites like YouTube, due to how easy it is to do with equipment that is available and affordable to all.

Pixilation
This animation technique involves using people as characters and manipulating their presence with effects such as showing them to appear in one frame and then disappear in the next.









A good example of this is seen in "The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb" produced in 1933.

Animation Techniques : Traditional Animation

There are many animation techniques, the most commonly used technique being traditional animation techniques. Traditional animation consists of both hand drawn animation and is also refereed to as cel animation. How an individual would approach traditional techniques in animation is that the animated film would consist of photographs that are drawn (more then often) on paper. The drawings are then either photocopied or traced (Depending on what the artist prefers) onto transparent sheets known as Cels. Cels are filled with assigned colours, tones and saturation on sides and the lines of the drawings.  One completed, the Cels are photographed individually whilst against a painted background by a Camera and then onto a film. This approach became the most popular and widely used during the 21st century.


Despite this, alterations have not been made to the appearance and style of traditional Cel animation, and is kept preserved as a way to mark the time of its release.











A good example of  a traditionally animated film is "Pinocchio" which was produced in 1940



There are four main techniques involved in traditional animation.

Full Animation 
The process of full animation includes using detailed drawings that are ordered specifically so that when put together it would form a plausible movement so that the resulting animation will have a smooth effect and feel. The style of full animation is split between a realistic style and a cartoon style.

This is a good example of a realistically full animation is"The Little Mermaid", produced in 1989











A good example of a cartoon styled full animation is "The Iron Giant" that was produced in 1999.



Limited Animation
The process of limited animation differs from full animation with that the drawings are usually determined by a free use of line that are expressive and that mainly convey movement. It is best known for being cost effective, making it a popular technique for television series and web cartoons.









A good example of a limited animation is "Yellow Sumbarine" that was produced in 1968


Rotoscoping
The process of Rotoscoping involves tracing movement frame by frame, it can be used in two ways that can be seen as both beneficial and problematic. One way it can be used is to copy outlines and styles from animators drawings. The other way it can be used is to emphasize an expressive style, in addition to this it is also very time-saving as artists are less likely to make any mistakes, thus not having to start over.









A good example of a Rotoscaping animation is "A Scanner Darkly" that was produced in 2006.



Live action/animation
The process of Live-action involves combining two styles to create one whole diverse style. The two styles that are often combined are hand drawn characters and live action orientated shots, however this order is also often switched depending on the animators personal preference.

A good example of a live action animation is "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which was produced in 1988

Where It All Began

The History Of Animation 

The history of animation all started with a man named Peter Roget, who was a British Physician and Philologist. In 1824 Roget presented a presentation known as the "Persistence of vision in regards to moving objects." Despite the fact that Roget's description of the illusion was most likely incorrect, it was still very influential and inspirational because it made it seem possible. It was the start of documenting and identifying a new technique, and as expected with these projects, mistakes are often made, which is what brings us upon development and progressing onto mastering and perfecting the technique.

The next stage began around 1831 and saw the creation of the phenakistoscope, a machine built by two scientist named (Dr) Joseph Antoine Plateau and (Dr) Simon Rittrer. The significance of this machine was that it was able to produce an illusion of movement, that was visible on a rotating disk. Showing the movements of a number of images chronologically ordered when moved at a certain speed. When the speed of the movements and the rotating disks matched, it created an animation effect.

Here is an image of the phenakistoscope, and how it looks once turned

This was a massive step at the time as the vision of animation was no longer just an idea, a report, but has been progressed to create a working model that proves that it can work. This step is the most important, as it is often this step that determines the significance and purpose of the project, and the value it will place in human society.


Despite this huge step, it was still not the end for the progression of Animation as in 1889 Thomas Edison revealed his creation of  the Kinetoscope, which was a machine that was able to project film that was 50ft in length for around 13 seconds that was seen through a peephole by one individual at a time. It introduced the technology and steps needed to create the illusion of movement. How this was done with the Kinetoscope was that a strip of film that contained a sequence of chronological images was placed over a light that had a fast shutter, and thus played an illusion that would soon be the standard for playing all cinematic projection.

This is a Kenetoscope

During the same year George Eastman started the manufacture of what is known as photographic film strips, he did this using a nitrocellulose film base. By doing this he helped introduce the importance of photography into the world, and popularized it making it become mainstream and well known by the variety of the population.

Now what was left was to view these projections and films to the population, to start using these techniques, this was done quite a while after in 1892 when a man named Emile Renynaud opened up a Theatre named Theatre Optique that was a place where people could view these images.

This was still not enough, as motion picture was still just shortly introduced and was seen as a phenomenon and something revolutionary to many that there were still developments that people saw and wanted to commit to. This saw the invention of the Cinematograph in 1892 that was able to project these moving images, this was made by a (French) inventer known as Leon Bouly. As we still see today, Bouly had the trouble of not being able to develop his ideas the right way due to a lack of money. To solve this issue Bouly sold the rights to the cinematograph to the Lumiere Brothers (the first filmmakers in history)  in 1895.

This is a Cinemetograph.

As the cinemetograph was made all that was needed was to fuffill its purpose by creating films for it to project. The first film made was screened in 1895 known as Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon (the original French name being: La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon). It was a 46 second movie played at the speed of 16 frames per second with a total of 800 frames.

Shortly after in 1896 the Vitascope (Designed by Thomas Armat)  was invented which was a machine that used light to project films (mostly of films made by Thomas Edison). The Vitascope would produce up to fifty frames per second, profucing up to 3000 negatives per minute. This product was a massive development from the Kinetoscope, however because of that the company of the product were quick to understand that the product would soon be an item of the past as it is no longer needed

An image of the product the Vitascope and how it was first advertised in 1896.

One of the films it was known to show was 'Song of the Flame' which was a musical famously known to be photographed fully in technicolor and was the first to feature in a widescreen sequence.

Now that the opportunity has risen to make animations, it was the start of a new technique, of a new interest and specialty and because of that many people wanted to give it a try as it was still fresh and open for many modifications and styles. One of the more popular animations that came out was in 1906 by J . Stuart Blackton called "Humorous phases of funny faces'.

This was a silent cartoon generally known as one of the first standard picture films mioving at 20 frames per second. His method consisted of drawing comical faces on a blackboard in  a chronological order and then later filming it. The advantages of using a blackboard was that when drawing another face he would just simply erase it and then redraw another  face, the background being black allowed him to not worry about the movement of the background and having it sync with the characters.

This is segment of the silent cartoon.
Shortly after in 1908 another groundbreaking film was released named Fantasmagorie, a french animation that is highly regarded as the first animated cartoon. It was produced by Emile Cohl and what made it so highly known was that it was the first animation to draw each frame on paper. Using the traditional styles of hand drawn animation. What gave the paper the illusion of resembling a blackboard was that it was filmed onto negative film. The film consisted of 700 drawings, giving it a time frame of two minutes. Some  may say that he was inspired and forwarded the chalk line effect from J. Stuart Blackton.

This is a segment of the animation

This still wasn't the end of Emile Cohl's animation, as in 1910 'En Route' was released, the first paper cutout animation and why this was significant is that it introduced a less time consuming technique by not having to constantly redraw each frame but to simply change the positioning of the paper. The film was Cohls way of commenting on society at the time and his views on how the increasing amount of traffic by the production of transport will eventually lead to nothing but disaster to mankind. The film was a huge improvement and reflected upon the developments on animation as it lasted for five whole minutes.

This is a segment of the animation

Another well known animator is Winsor McCay who is known for his animation 'Little Nemo' that was produced in 1911. a comic strip which told the story of a boy named Nemo that would dream of amazing adventures and stories, the comic strip is well known and highlights praised for its experimentation with colour and the format of illustration in panels. The panel always ended with Nemo waking up from his dreams.












One of the panels in 'Little Nemo'

He also produced an animation known as Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914 which was the first animated film to feature a dinosaur as the main character and consisted of 10,000 frames. It features a variety of different and new animation techniques including registration marks to reduce jittering in the animation, tracing paper, and key frames that decide both the start and ending points to create a smooth transition. This higlighy influenced and changed the way animators would approach animation.









Gertie the Dinosaur 

In 1926 the first full length animated film was released in Argenitina called El Apostol which specialized in using cutout animation. The film was produced bu Alfonso De Laferrere and had a total of 58,000 frames that had 14 frames per second that resulted in a time frame of about 70 minutes. This is a massive development. Unfortunately the only known copy of the film was destroyed in a fire which resulted in the movie being known as a lost film.










Design of Irigoyen of El Apostol 


In 1923 it was the year that the Walt Disney Company was founded by two men named Walt and Roy Disney and was at the tame named Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and quickly dominated and lead the way for the future of the American animation industry.

It first started with the production "Alice In Wonderland" The style of this film was influenced by a technique that combined live action characters with cartoon characters that was originally done by Max Fleischer. Disney Brothers simply further developed this technique to create their resulting style in the film.








A part of the film"Alice In Wonderland"in 1923

Shortly after in 1928 Disney Brothers Studio released "Steam Boat Willy", what made this significant is that it was among the first to combine film production with synchronized sound. It is known as the debut of the much loved character Mickey Mouse. the mascot of Disney. It did not only have Synchronized sound,but also a soundtrack which resulted in it being the most popular cartoon at the time.

Micky Mouse in "Steam Boat Willy"


In 1930 the first animation to be created with a two strip technicolor produced by Walter Lantz named "The King Of Jazz"At the time the dyes available were only red and green (with dashes of other colors mixed in) but no blue dyes, however the green dye luckily would appear as cyan under certain conditions. Therefore to aspire to produce a Technicolor animation a lot of skill and precision would be needed to maintain control over these situation to gain the result wanted. Materials such as filters would be used to manipulate the colours hue, saturation and brightness.











A poster of "The King Of Jazz"

In 1934 a man named Urb Irwek creates a multi plane camera. This is a camera that is often used as a part of traditional animation processes, as it is able to film separate layers at various speeds to create a three dimensional effect whilst still maintaining the illusion of depth. One of the features it works on is that the further away the camera is from the frame, the slower the speed of the frame. This is known as the parallax process. There is also the technique of having the foreground in an opposite direction to the background to create a rotating effect in the frame.















A multi plane camera

Later in 1957 John Whitney was working to create analog computer graphics using the mechanism of a World War two M-5 gun to do this. In 1961 he again used different gear mechanisms to create film sequences.

In 1964 we saw this being extended by Ken Knowlton who started working on developments for computer techniques for producing movies. H developed the programme known as BEFLIX which was a programming language for bitmap computer produced movies.







A computer technique for the production of Animated movies.



In 1982 we saw the movie known as Tron being made with CGI premise produced by Walt Disney Productions, the movie was influenced by a video game of pong. The movie was intended to first be an animated film, also having a 30 second animation as a trial of the main character. However later on it was decided to be a live action movie with the back light of computer animation.

Tron 1982 poster


Another movie known popularly known to be among the firt to use CGI is "The Last Starfighter" which was produced in 1984 and was dircted by Nick Castle. In this film the CGI was used in place of the models of star ships and to depict both the environment and the battle scenes. It among the first films to use CGI in place of real life object rather then digital.graphics.












"The last Starfighter" poster

In 1993 CGI made a massive development and this devlpment was shown in the movie known as "Jurassic Park" which used its CG to depict realistic (living) creatures.  The dinosaurs were created by using a life sized animatronic (a robotic device) dinosaur aided by the visual effects of the company  industrial light and magic.

A part of the movie showing the detail of the CGI


Two years later in 1995 we once again were able to experiance a massive development in CGI being in the film known as "Toy Story" a full length 3D CGI film produced by Pixer.











"Toy Story" film poster in 1995


These were the key highlights of the history and developments of Animation, what this shows is not only the power of a society's desire to exceed and develop, but also the power of one single idea and the power it has to change the course and concepts of mankind.