Research
Pioneers of Animation
Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (1801 - 1883)
Plateau describes the working of a disc with 16 slots and images in between. This principle is one of the major techniques which enabled us to produce "moving pictures" from the end of the 19th. until today. The first disc illustrating Plateau's scientific description is the Dancer as seen in the black & white drawing below. This disc is both an incunabula and precursor of animation film and cinema.
Joseph Plateau was the inventor of the phenakistiscope which is a spindle viewer. Which were able to create the illusion of live more than 60 years before the invention of film. However, this early method of creating live in static images was not the first successful attempt to show animated images.
The Phenakistoscope is uses the persistence of vision to create an illusion of motion. Although this theory had been recognized by the Greek mathematician Euclid, it wasn’t until 1829 that this principle became firmly established by Plateau. The Phenakistoscope used two discs mounted on the same axis. The first disc had slots around the edge, and the second had drawings of action, drawn around the disc in circles
‘Chris Cotterill’ - This pioneer has made a massive impact towards moving image because if he and his sons didn’t make this way of moving image then we may not have developed film and animation the way we have today.
http://users.telenet.be/thomasweynants/plateau-intro.html
http://animationgeek.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/early-pioneer-joseph-plateau.html
Plateau describes the working of a disc with 16 slots and images in between. This principle is one of the major techniques which enabled us to produce "moving pictures" from the end of the 19th. until today. The first disc illustrating Plateau's scientific description is the Dancer as seen in the black & white drawing below. This disc is both an incunabula and precursor of animation film and cinema.
Joseph Plateau was the inventor of the phenakistiscope which is a spindle viewer. Which were able to create the illusion of live more than 60 years before the invention of film. However, this early method of creating live in static images was not the first successful attempt to show animated images.
The Phenakistoscope is uses the persistence of vision to create an illusion of motion. Although this theory had been recognized by the Greek mathematician Euclid, it wasn’t until 1829 that this principle became firmly established by Plateau. The Phenakistoscope used two discs mounted on the same axis. The first disc had slots around the edge, and the second had drawings of action, drawn around the disc in circles
‘Chris Cotterill’ - This pioneer has made a massive impact towards moving image because if he and his sons didn’t make this way of moving image then we may not have developed film and animation the way we have today.
http://users.telenet.be/thomasweynants/plateau-intro.html
http://animationgeek.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/early-pioneer-joseph-plateau.html
William Horner 1786-1837
William Horner was another animation pioneer, who created the zoetrope. He created the zoetrope in the year 1834. A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession. It was basically an improvement on the phenkitascope. It led to the praxinoscope being made and also lead to animation being viewed simpler. this made animation easier to be seen because it had small slits on the side where the person could look inside and it would give a better effect than a phenkitascope. the designs on the zoetrope vary from animals to football players, and is still used today.
http://tomtyldesleyanimation1.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/animation-pioneers-william-horner.html
William Horner was another animation pioneer, who created the zoetrope. He created the zoetrope in the year 1834. A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession. It was basically an improvement on the phenkitascope. It led to the praxinoscope being made and also lead to animation being viewed simpler. this made animation easier to be seen because it had small slits on the side where the person could look inside and it would give a better effect than a phenkitascope. the designs on the zoetrope vary from animals to football players, and is still used today.
http://tomtyldesleyanimation1.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/animation-pioneers-william-horner.html
Charles-Emile Reynaud (1844 – 1918)
Charles was a Frenchman, who developed a technical understanding of visual science as photographer’s apprentice.
In 1877, he developed the praxinoscope – the successor to the zoetrope.
The praxinoscope was an animation device, the successor to the zoetrope. It was invented in France in 1877 by Charles-Émile Reynaud. Like the zoetrope, it used a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder. The praxinoscope improved on the zoetrope by replacing its narrow viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors, placed so that the reflections of the pictures appeared more or less stationary in position as the wheel turned. Someone looking in the mirrors would therefore see a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion, with a brighter and less distorted picture than the zoetrope offered.
In 1889 Reynaud developed the Théâtre Optique, an improved version capable of projecting images on a screen from a longer roll of pictures. This allowed him to show hand-drawn animated cartoons to larger audiences, but it was soon eclipsed in popularity by the photographic film projector of the Lumière brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxinoscope
https://chroniclesofanimation.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/charles-emile-reynaud-the-praxinoscope/
Charles was a Frenchman, who developed a technical understanding of visual science as photographer’s apprentice.
In 1877, he developed the praxinoscope – the successor to the zoetrope.
The praxinoscope was an animation device, the successor to the zoetrope. It was invented in France in 1877 by Charles-Émile Reynaud. Like the zoetrope, it used a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder. The praxinoscope improved on the zoetrope by replacing its narrow viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors, placed so that the reflections of the pictures appeared more or less stationary in position as the wheel turned. Someone looking in the mirrors would therefore see a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion, with a brighter and less distorted picture than the zoetrope offered.
In 1889 Reynaud developed the Théâtre Optique, an improved version capable of projecting images on a screen from a longer roll of pictures. This allowed him to show hand-drawn animated cartoons to larger audiences, but it was soon eclipsed in popularity by the photographic film projector of the Lumière brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxinoscope
https://chroniclesofanimation.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/charles-emile-reynaud-the-praxinoscope/
Eadweard Muybridge 1830-1904
Eadweard Muybridge developed a fast camera shutter and used other state-of-the-art techniques of his day to make the first photographs that show sequences of movement. In 1879, the Zoopraxiscope was developed by Eadweard Muybridge, which projected a series of images in successive phases of movement obtained through the use of multiple cameras.
The zoopraxiscope is an early device for displaying motion pictures. Created by photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge in 1879, it may be considered the first movie projector. The zoopraxiscope projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion.
http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Muybridge.htm
Eadweard Muybridge developed a fast camera shutter and used other state-of-the-art techniques of his day to make the first photographs that show sequences of movement. In 1879, the Zoopraxiscope was developed by Eadweard Muybridge, which projected a series of images in successive phases of movement obtained through the use of multiple cameras.
The zoopraxiscope is an early device for displaying motion pictures. Created by photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge in 1879, it may be considered the first movie projector. The zoopraxiscope projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion.
http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Muybridge.htm
Thomas Edison 1847-1931
Thomas Edison is best known for bringing forth the electric light bulb, one of the most important inventions ever to be built by man. However, it may be surprising for some to find that his other, albeit lesser known achievements lie in the realm of early cinematography. In celebration of Lomography’s very own movie maker, the LomoKino, let’s take a closer look at an early motion picture device by Edison.
Of the whopping 1,093 US patents credited under American inventor Thomas Edison, one of them is an early filmmaking device which he called the kinetoscope. Edison built it in 1891, sparked by an interest in motion picture when he met photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge and his work.
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. The Kinetoscope was designed for films to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector but introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic projection before the advent of video, by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter. A process using roll film first described in a patent application submitted in France and the U.S. by French inventor Louis Le Prince, the concept was copied by U.S. inventor Thomas Edison in 1889, and subsequently developed by his employee William Kennedy Laurie Dickson between 1889 and 1892. Dickson and his team at the Edison lab also devised the Kinetograph, an innovative motion picture camera with rapid intermittent, or stop-and-go, film movement, to photograph movies for in-house experiments and, eventually, commercial Kinetoscope presentations.
https://www.lomography.com/magazine/112686-thomas-edison-and-the-kinetoscope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison is best known for bringing forth the electric light bulb, one of the most important inventions ever to be built by man. However, it may be surprising for some to find that his other, albeit lesser known achievements lie in the realm of early cinematography. In celebration of Lomography’s very own movie maker, the LomoKino, let’s take a closer look at an early motion picture device by Edison.
Of the whopping 1,093 US patents credited under American inventor Thomas Edison, one of them is an early filmmaking device which he called the kinetoscope. Edison built it in 1891, sparked by an interest in motion picture when he met photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge and his work.
The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. The Kinetoscope was designed for films to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector but introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic projection before the advent of video, by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter. A process using roll film first described in a patent application submitted in France and the U.S. by French inventor Louis Le Prince, the concept was copied by U.S. inventor Thomas Edison in 1889, and subsequently developed by his employee William Kennedy Laurie Dickson between 1889 and 1892. Dickson and his team at the Edison lab also devised the Kinetograph, an innovative motion picture camera with rapid intermittent, or stop-and-go, film movement, to photograph movies for in-house experiments and, eventually, commercial Kinetoscope presentations.
https://www.lomography.com/magazine/112686-thomas-edison-and-the-kinetoscope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope
Research
Action Figures
Travis Scott - 90210 Music Video using action figures.
Travis Scott - 90210 Music Video using action figures.
The soundtrack is in correlation to the visuals of sop motion. There is very fluid motion, there is a lot of effort into the body movement and gestures with hands and legs. Used for movement and destroying the city. With an action figure it would be quicker to move the figure and it can’t stand up on itself without needing support.
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The second part he uses duplicate action figures so it looks like he’s talking to himself. A negative of using action figures would be that you can edit their facial expressions. So you would have to use a different form of communication.
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Iron Man vs Bruce Lee fight scene using action figures.
Iron Man and Bruce Lee are both very big action packed movies, using these lives like action figures you can capture more real movements form the characters. It’s over a minute of action packed fighting until Bruce Lee finally defats iron man and discovers these two tiny men inside the suit.
The motion was very fluid and I think the action figures mobility made them effective.
Iron Man and Bruce Lee are both very big action packed movies, using these lives like action figures you can capture more real movements form the characters. It’s over a minute of action packed fighting until Bruce Lee finally defats iron man and discovers these two tiny men inside the suit.
The motion was very fluid and I think the action figures mobility made them effective.
Western Spaghetti by PES with use of Plasticine
PES is the creator of some of the most widely viewed stop-motion films of all-time including Roof Sex, KaBoom!, Game Over, Human Skateboard, Western Spaghetti, and Fresh Guacamole. On YouTube alone, his films have been viewed over 225 million times.
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Blue Man - Claynation
I like what creator 'Dylan Standard', did with a simplistic idea. I like the simplistic set design he has created for this blue man. He has use simple materials like ice lolly sticks for the black bench. Potentially he got of integrated facial expressions, but he has created a simple narrative of a blue mans events without the need of expressions. Plasticine gives you the most flexibility on what you could do, aslong as you can mould your content. Despite this anything you cant mould you can use real objects alongside plasticine.
The PEN Story, short video use of photographs
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I like the use pf photos because it changes the perspective of the viewer. Its photographs of photographs with is a creative option that I could choose.
The physical location moves around a house as the content inside the photographs is changing also. The story is of a man and women who get old together and the pictures are used as their memories. There is even a point when the photos went inside a frame as portrait images of the two, and how they get older and the women gets pregnant with a child. The images are effective at portraying time because images are used as a way to store memories so can show progression of time. |
Stop Motion with printer
The use of images and photographs has been my favourite by far, these videos both by a company called The Pen Story whcih are very creative. Despite the extra effort of taking photos of phots, doubling the amount of work, the result in my opinion are better. I found that plasticine and action figures seem a bit childish to watch or a bit boring. Whereas this you can use real images and crisp pictures opposed to working with plastic or clay.
Contemporary Stop Motion Animators
Aardman Animation
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol. Aardman is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit.
Aardman films have made $972.1 million worldwide and average $163 million per film. All of their stop motion films are among the highest-grossing stop-motion films, with their debut, Chicken Run, being their top-grossing film as well as the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time. Founded 1972; 44 years ago Founder Peter Lord David Sproxton |
Over on Aardman Animations website if you go onto history, it lists the endless awards and achievements they have received dating back to 1972 up to 2015. The studio have revieved 10 Oscar nomination, winning 4 of them.
http://www.aardman.com/the-studio/history/ - Over on their website, which i have to say is aesthically pleasing with cool looking animations.
Film reviewing website called The Film Stage uploaded a article of such talking about the pre release of the Aardman well know stop motion favourite Shawn of the Sheep 2.
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardman_Animations
https://thefilmstage.com/news/aardman-animations-announces-shaun-the-sheep-movie-2/
http://www.aardman.com/the-studio/history/ - Over on their website, which i have to say is aesthically pleasing with cool looking animations.
Film reviewing website called The Film Stage uploaded a article of such talking about the pre release of the Aardman well know stop motion favourite Shawn of the Sheep 2.
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardman_Animations
https://thefilmstage.com/news/aardman-animations-announces-shaun-the-sheep-movie-2/
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The Brothers Quay
Stephen and Timothy Quay are American identical twin brothers better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They are influential stop-motion animators. The brother is from Pennsylvania, US. They are also the recipients of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for their work on the play The Chairs.
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The quay has a very niche, stylistic feel to all the work, but it’s extremely creative. In Quay, we get a glimpse at these iconic doll heads, as the brothers show how their look changes in natural light. Their studio – cluttered with lo-fi tools such as bits of glass frosted with laundry soap – features a prominent window around which they place mirrors to angle the rays of the sun. “However, in Britain,” they add, “you never quite get a clear sunny day.”
Jan Svankmajer was very experimental and liked very niche concepts. He was also the main influence on contemporary artists like the Brothers Quay. This experimental stop motion caught the attention of big fan Christopher Nolan. Nolan is the director of Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar and the Dark Knight Trilogy is using some of his considerable industry clout to promote a programme of newly scrubbed-up 35mm short films by stop-motion animators the Brothers Quay.
Jan Svankmajer was very experimental and liked very niche concepts. He was also the main influence on contemporary artists like the Brothers Quay. This experimental stop motion caught the attention of big fan Christopher Nolan. Nolan is the director of Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar and the Dark Knight Trilogy is using some of his considerable industry clout to promote a programme of newly scrubbed-up 35mm short films by stop-motion animators the Brothers Quay.
Other examples from Mikey Please English up and coming stop motion artist
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