Unit 33 Stop frame

animation
Assignment 1
By James Burrows

Techniques
Persistence of vision:

There is an optical phenomenon called the persistence of vision. This works with a psychological partner called the phi phenomenon.

Going through life you have probably come across or heard of a flip book. This is where you flick through the pages each with a drawing slightly different from the last on it. As you flip through
these pages the images seem to create a moving image.

This is because whenever light strikes the retina, the brain retains the impression of that light for about a tenth of a seconddepending on the brightness of the imageafter the source of that
light is removed from the eye. This is due to a prolonged chemical reaction. As a result, the eye cannot clearly distinguish fast changes in light that occur faster than this retention period. The
changes either go unnoticed or they appear to be one continuous picture to the human observer[1] as stated in the long extract of text your mind cannot distinguish a definite image in this tenth
of a second allowing us to see the images as a video. We have used this to our advantage to create films and videos alike.

This was first put to the test in 1765 by Chevalier Patrice Darcy, a Frenchman (1725 1779) who was a soldier and mathematician. He established that the eye retains an image for about one
tenth of a second.

Peter Mark Roget (1779 1869) was a British physician, natural theologian and lexicographer who further tested chevaliers findings in 1824. There are multiple exaggerated examples you can
use to do your own tests. Stare at the image in the top right hand corner for 30 seconds and then blink on a white surface, you will see a faint image of Jesus.

This theory says that anything above 24 frames per second is seen as a moving image. However, in 1912 this was debunked by Max Wertheimer (1880 1943)

Phi phenomenon

he debunked this by discovering the pi phenomenon. This is an illusion that is visual in nature [2] Max noted that two lights flashed through small holes in a darkened room at short intervals
would appear to be one light in motion; this perception of movement in a stationary object is called thephi phenomenon and became a basis for Gestalt psychology. He studied thephi
phenomenonwith two assistants, Wolfgang Khler and Kurt Koffka.[3]

This proved that in our minds patterns take priority over what is happening. This is because your mind perceives things in organized terms.

With the phi phenomenon came the Gesalt principles (gesalt meaning configuration in German). . These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements
intogroupsorunified wholeswhen certain principles are applied.[4]

These are:

similarity (this is between shapes, triangles organized into a circle will be perceived as a sun)
continuation
closure (where an image isnt complete so your mind completes it for you such as the wwf logo, at the top of the slide)
proximity and figure (a different shading on one side of the photo is darker we pick out object that dont exist or hidden such as the face in this photo) [4]

Stop frame animation

If anyone has ever seen Wallace and Gromit, chicken run, any advert or film that used clay such as the underdog adverts
and any of the early south park episodes youve seen stop frame animation.

This is a very labour intensive way of animation where the animator has to take a photo, slightly move the position and take
another photo.

Because there are 24 frames per second this means the animator needs to take 24 photos for one second of video.

To combat this being the lazy species we are the animators took 2 photos every time they moved the object, essentially
halving production times.

This slight change is usually too small for our minds to notice a specific change in position and see it as motion because of
the frame rate (which will come soon) and the persistence of vision talked about earlier.

There are many versions of stop frame animation.There's clay animation (or claymation, for short), in which malleable
clay characters are used as subjects; time lapse animation, where single frames are taken at periodic intervals to show, for
example, the changing weather over the course of a day; puppet animation, where wired character creations are used; and
pixilation, which employs human subjects moving infinitesimally from frame to frame.[5]

the very first stop frame animation was the humpty dumpty circus created by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton in 1898.
however the footage of this was never preserved, 35 years after America wanted to try with one man Willis H. OBrien.

Willis H. OBrien (1886 1962) was an ex-newspaper cartoonist. In 1925 he worked on his first feature film called the lost
world. his work onKing Kongare considered classic examples of stop-motion photography.[6]

Frame rate

Frames per second or fps for short is the amount of photos (frames) that are shown in a
second. For film and TV this is generally 24 fps while videogames generally use 30 60fps.

This is not a rule more of a guideline as any lower than 24fps the persistence of vision
doesnt happen and you notice the image jerking because your mind notices it is just a
series of photographs.

The time, budget available, style of animation and animator preference.

Animations generally used 24fps but because they photographed each frame twice they
really filmed at 12fps.

Photographing twice is called animating on twos but animators can animate on threes
(8fps) or on fours (6fps).

It wasnt created by animators though back when deciding the base frame rate.

We used 24 and not 23 or 25 because it is simple mathematics that half of 24 is 12, a third
is 8 and a quarter is 6.

Joseph Plateau (phenakistoscope)

In 1832 a Belgian physicist names joseph plateau and his sons introduced the
phenakistoscope, also known as spindle viewer. It was independently invented the
same year as Simon Von Stamphers stroboscope. Plateau gained his inspiration
from the work of Michael faraday and peter mark Roget. Mr faraday invented his
own wheel in which had two disks that spun in opposite directions. Plateau took
faradays invention and transformed it into a toy, this was the phenakistoscope.[7]

The phenakistoscope utilises the persistence of vision to work. It consisted of two

disks like faradays wheel but on one disk was slots to look through and on the other
were drawings similar to the last. However unlike faradays wheel where the disks
sun in opposite directions the phenakistoscopes disks spin in the same direction.[8]

Some problems with the phenakistoscope are that only one person can view it at a
time, if spun too fast the image becomes blurry and backwards it wouldnt be a
correct moving image.

William Horner (Zoetrope)

In 1834 a William George Horner invented the zoetrope, originally

Horner named it the wheel of the devil. Strongly influenced by the work
of Joseph Plateau and his phenakistoscope, Williams invention was
forgotten by the world until 1867. it was rediscovered in England by M.
Bradly and in America by William F. Lincoln. Lincoln renamed it to the
zoetrope also known as wheel of life.[9]

The zoetrope still utilises the persistence of vision to trick your mind into
believing the images are motion. To use the zoetrope you looked
through the slats at the top of the disk then use your hand to spin it in a
clockwise motion. The zoetrope allowed multiple people to view it at the
same time. However it was still considered a toy.

Emile Raynaud (praxinoscope)

In 1877 a French inventor called Emile Raynaud invented the

praxinoscope. This was an advancement from both Joseph Plateau and
William Horner's inventions. This was invented to lower the jerking effect
of the zoetrope. To solve this Emile put mirrors on a column in the
centre, one mirror for each drawing. Because the praxinoscope didnt
require slats the drum would appear stationary while the central
reflections created a smooth motion.[10]

Just like the zoetrope you can view the praxinoscope from any direction,
the smoother viewing allows the persistence of vision to happen a lot
easier. The praxinoscope can only show about 1 second of animation
though something that had been a problem throughout the 3 inventions

Edward Muybridge

Edward James Muybridge was born in 1830. he was a photographer.

Muybridge solved the life long stigma that when galloping horses dont
completely leave the ground. Adapting the very latest technology to his
ends, he proved his theory by getting a galloping horse to trigger the
shutters of a bank of cameras by doing this he proved what so many
eyes could not see, and that is that a horse lifts all its hooves off the
ground during galloping.[11]

In order for him to share his discovery Muybridge invented the

zoopraxiscope, a method of projecting animated versions of his
photographs as short moving sequences.[11]

Tomas Edison (Kinetoscope)

In 1891 the American inventor who is credited for 1,093 US patents

Tomas Edison created the Kinetoscope. This was influenced heavily by
the photographer Edward Muybridge and his zoopraxiscope. In February
of 1888 these two mind came together to merge Edisons phonograph
and Muybridges zoopraxiscope to create something that had moving
images with sound. [12]

However this collaboration never happened[12] In it, a strip of film was

passed rapidly between a lens and an electric light bulb while the viewer
peered through a peephole. Behind the peephole was a spinning wheel
with a narrow slit that acted as a shutter, permitting a momentary view
of each of the 46 frames passing in front of the shutter every second
this means Edisons invention had a frame rate of 46 fps giving a
smoother picture than most feature films produced today.[13]

This was originally considered a toy until its unveiling on Broadway

caused such a stir it became general apparatus for film making.[13]

Lumiere Brothers

Known as the first film makers in history the lumiere brothers created
the first motion picture camera and projector named the
Cinmatographe.

Auguste and louise then created La Sortie des ouvriers de lusine

Lumire which is considered the first ever film. As the Name suggests it
is a film showing the employees of their factory leaving work on a
single day. While by todays standards this film is mind numbingly boring
when it was first released it shook France and the world that they could
watch something that had already happened in history.[14]

They are also responsible for the train entering the station film which is
famous for scaring the viewers.

George Pal

George Pal was a Hungarian animator. He was born in cegled on the 1 February 1908.
both of Georges parents were stage celebrities. George initially went to the Budapest
academy to become an architect however, he ended up doing illustration classes. [15]

He graduated at a time when Hungary did not need architects however, they did have
jobs for animation illustrators.[15]

he eventually became a UFA studio set designer in berlin but left Germany in 1933
when the NAZI political party came into power. For 6 years he settled in several
European countries before moving to the USA in 1939.[16]

In the following year pal and paramount signed a contract allowing him to continue his
work with stop motion puppets. This was a series knows as puppetoons. Along with 40
episodes of this show in 1941 Pal worked on rhythm in the ranks, in 1943 he worked on
Dr Seuss The 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins and in 1945 Jasper and the Beanstalk.
[16]

George Pal received 7 academy award nominations for these films and received a
special Oscar in 1944 for the series.[16]

In 1948 and 1949 George worked on his first full length motion pictures. These
combined live action, special effects and animation. In the 1950s and 60s six of these
films received academy awards.[17]

On the 2nd May 1980

Genres and forms.

TV animation: this is a huge market with most kids shows being animations, everything from
Scooby doo, SpongeBob square pants, horrible histories and fireman Sam use different animation
techniques. many animations that arent intended for kids are on t.v. family guy, American dad,
the Cleveland show and south park are animations not intended for children with their mature
humour and adult themes.

channel idents: there are many versions of stop frame animation. Theres clay animation
(Claymation) where you use clay figures in stop frame animation, an example of this is morph
(1977) and Wallace and Gromit(1990) . There's paper animation where you use drawings instead
of clay, which is what the early seasons of south park used. Puppet animation where you use
puppets and stop frame animation to give the illusion that puppets can move, examples are
puppetoons, the clangers and in the night garden.

Cinema: there is more animation than you think in movies. You have your full animations such as
despicable me, big hero 6, toy story and frozen. You also have your live action with animation
such as who framed roger rabbit. You have your films with CGI, technically this still counts as
animation because you are using something that doesnt physically exist to move independently,
a great example of this is the hobbit trilogy and the marvel hit guardians of the galaxy.

Advertising: animations in advertising has been going on for years with the solicitors
firm national accident helpline with their character underdog, the 2015 rugby world
cup received its own animation[18] and years ago Hastings direct used animation for
their adverts with a toy knight and car[19].

music videos: not used as often as first thought some artists use animation for their
lyric videos, examples are major lazor light it up, Adeles Skyfall lyric video and b.o.b
nothing on you ft Bruno mars used papermation for their official video.

computer games: every video game uses animations either in cut scenes, interacting
to the environment or responding to the input commands.

mobile phones: every time you open and app you receive a fade animation originating
from the app location, you receive an animation when scrolling through the ui of the
phone and apps.

Websites: just like mobile phones websites have an animation for when you click on
something or scroll down their webpage

Bibliography
1.

http://www.foundationsmag.com/persistence_of_vision.html

2.

http://www.psychologynoteshq.com/phi-phenomenon-and-psychology/

3.

http://www.britannica.com/topic/phi-phenomenon

4.

http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm

5.

http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/a_short_history_of_stop_motion

6.

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/willisobrien.html

7.

http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/html/exhibit07.htm

8.

http://animationgeek.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/early-pioneer-joseph-plateau.html

9.

http://animationgeek.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/early-pioneer-william-george-horner.html

10. http://www.victorian-cinema.net/reynaud
11. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/eadweard-muybridge
12. http://www.lomography.com/magazine/112686-thomas-edison-and-the-kinetoscope
13. http://www.britannica.com/technology/Kinetoscope
14. http://www.britannica.com/biography/Lumiere-brothers
15. http://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/PAL/GP12.htm
16. http://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Pal
17. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0657162/bio
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXppMqUVMYE
19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2TjA_hKsps