Techniques and Formats

Techniques and Formats

Time Lapse

Time Lapse is the method of taking a series of photos of a slow action, and playing them back at a faster speed.

Benefits of Time Lapse
-Can make a scenic shot look much better with a smooth flowing sky and ground
-Time Lapses allow for hours of footage to be easily compressed into a minutes worth of video.
Drawbacks of Time Lapses
-Video could be confusing to watch
-Difficult to see what is actually happening in the video

Plasticine and Claymation
Plasticine and Claymation animation is the use of Plasticine or clay to create a character, and make said character move however you want.

Claymation is useful because you can create anything you like, such as a human character, an animal, or even an inanimate object.

This is beneficial because it can enhance the creative mind of the developers, and they can create whatever they want out of clay or plasticine.

However, each model has to be so incredibly detailed, and the models themselves are fragile, which can be difficult for the producers.

Claymation is targeted at younger audiences generally, due to the unlimited resource for creativity it has. This would appeal to younger audiences because the non naturalistic and more abstract style of animation means that the producers can specifically target their animation to any audience.

Some examples of Claymation are:

• Wallace and Gromit
• Early Man
• Flushed Away

The BBFC rating for these films are as follows

Wallace and Gromit - U

Early Man - PG

Flushed Away - U

Found objects
Found objects are natural or man made objects which are known as a form of art. These would not be too useful in animations because the amount of movement with the objects are extremely restricted.

However, this is counter-acted by the fact that the objects will be much more realistic than something made of clay or plasticine.

You can be creative with found objects, as an example, laying out a selection of coins to create a character, instead of just using one coin as a character.

The low quantity of movement within the animations appeals to a more simplistic style of animation, which would appeal to younger audiences because they may prefer that the animation itself is not complicated or confusing in any way.

Cut outs
A cut out can be used within a piece of animated footage on a 2D surface.

Cut outs can be useful because the actual cut out itself can be of a photo taken of a human or animal, rather than being like a cartoon.

However, similarly to the Found Objects, there are a minuscule amount of movement available when using a cut out, and so this would be heavily restricted. To allow fluid movement, for example, having a character walk, you would need a cut out image of at least 15 frames of one person taking a step.

Puppetry
Puppetry can be used to show interaction between two characters at the same time in live action pieces. Puppetry is usually targeted towards a younger audience because of the limited movement of the characters and their mannerisms.

Puppetry within animation is used because of the more human-like aspects of each character, they can more easily portray the idea of a human character.

Pixilation
Pixilation is the method of animation in which you use humans as the animated characters. This can be effective because it allows the animation to be incredibly realistic, as well as allowing a creative freedom to the producers of the animation. However, some movements are difficult to pull of with pixilation, such as a jump or a fall, without seeming incredibly awkward, or being shot without actually fully showing the motion.

Task 2 - Purpose

Purpose of Stop Motion

There are three main purposes for Stop Motion. These purposes are to Educate, Entertain and to Inform

Educate
Stop motion films used to educate usually convey a strong message about serious issues. These are generally made for younger audiences, to educate them on basic life lessons. This can be anything ranging from messages about respecting others, to learning about telling the truth. However, they can be made for other purposes, like the education of teenagers or even adults. For example, a lot of educational videos for subjects in school, college or even work are starting to become animated

Stop Motion is effective for education as it is enjoyable to watch, and so therefore can spread a message for the greater good more effectively.

An example of Stop Motion which has been made to educate a young audience is:

Entertain
Stop motion animation can also be used to entertain. This is the mainstream use for stop motion, and is used in music videos, TV, film and in other types of media production.
Entertainment in Stop Motion is done through, for example, comedies, horrors, thrillers, or action films.
Wallace and Gromit, for example, is a Comedy/Fantasy animation film which is animated using claymation. Coraline (2009) is an example of a horror film that was animated.
Entertainment is incredibly popular for stop motion creators because a lot of the time it can be fun to produce, and so this encourages them to want to continue production. The audience will watch these animations for the sole purpose of being entertained by what is done, and so it is important that the production team behind it are enjoying themselves too, because this will reflect onto the audience.

Here is an example of a stop motion animation from YouTube that is made to entertain the audience:

Next is an example of an Animated Film which was created in 1999 called the Iron Giant

This film is significant because it involves both traditional stop motion animation with CGI.

Information

Other stop frame animations can be used to inform an audience. Informational videos usually relate to political or ethical issues, informing the audience of the events currently taking place, or the events that will take place in the future. These informational videos are also made as a method of persuasion, if in a political sense, for example...


This video was made in 1932 by the Soviets, and is a political animation used to inform those in the USSR about what was going on. Whilst silent, it was still able to portray this message

Stop Motion Animation (Contemporary)

Stop Motion Animation (Contemporary)

Modern animation has come a long way since the beginning of film-making in the 19th century. The contemporary artists involved with animation and film-making are those who, in the modern day, have mastered the art of animation the fullest.

Brothers Quay
Stephen and Timothy Quay (Brothers Quay) are identical twin brothers from the USA. Their work in stop motion animation today is highly influential.
They created their first short films in England, these first short films created by the two brothers are damaged beyond repair. They then spent some time in the Netherlands in the 1970s, before returning to England, to team up with Keith Griffiths, who produced all of their films. In 1980, Koninck studios was formed by the trio. This studio is based in the south of London. The brothers Quay took inspiration from many animators and filmmakers, including Jan Svankmajer. They even named one of their films "The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer", which is why he is stated to be such a major influence for the Brothers Quay.
Most of the Borthers Quay animations involve puppets comprised of doll parts, which are partially disassembled. The atmosphere of the films are dark and moody, fitting with the overall feel of their pieces.
Their best know work is "Street of Crocodiles", based on a short story by Bruno Schulz, with the same name. Street of Crocodiles was selected as one of the ten best animated films of all time by Terry Gilliam, and one of the ten best films of any medium by critic Jonathan Romney.
Their films generally lack in dialogue and speech (The Comb), whereas a few include multiple languages all spoken at once, of course, this is not intended to be understood.

Tim Burton

Tim Burton is an american animator and film producer, best known for his dark and gothic themes within his works. His best known works are pieces such as Corpse Bride, Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Unlike Brothers Quay, Burtons inspiration came from childhood heroes of his, Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl. He studied character animation at the California Institute of the Arts, where he made Stalk of the Celery Monster, as well as King and Octopus.

Tim Burton was inspired and influenced by George Melies, a French Illusionist and film director in the early days of film making.

Tim Burton's animations are aimed at teenagers, due to the dark and gothic themes contained within the pieces. These ideologies and themes are inappropriate for young children, yet do not attract the attention of adults.

In 1984, Tim Burton adapted "Frankenstein" in his own way, called "Frankenweenie". Frankenweenie was incredibly successful, due to this, he was given the opportunity to direct "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure".

Nick Park

Nick Park is an English animator who is best known for his works in Wallace and Gromit as well as Shaun the Sheep. He has been nominated for six academy awards, and has won of four occasions.
First, in 1989 for "Creature Comforts". After this, in 1993 for "The Wrong Trousers", in 1995 for "A Close Shave", and finally, in 2005 for Wallace and Gromit.
Creature Comforts

The Wrong Trousers

A Close Shave

Wallace and Gromit

Stop Motion Developers

Developers of Stop Motion

Willis O’Brien

Willis O’Brien was a motion picture specialist from America. His work revolved around stop motion, and he was a pioneer as well as a developer for the modern day works of film and animation. O’Brien is important, and is said to have responsibility for “some of the best-known images in cinema history”.

O’Brien is most notably known for his work on “The Lost World”, “King Kong” and “Mighty Joe Young”, across the 20^th century. In 1950, O’Brien won an Academy Award for Best Visual effects, for the film Mighty Joe Young. O’Brien made a name for himself, and was recognised by Thomas Edison, who was impressed by the films he was producing. Edison was, more specifically, impressed by O'Brien's “The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy” in 1915. He was then hired by the Thomas Edison company to animate a series of short films, containing a prehistoric theme.

Jan Svankmajer

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech artist and filmmaker who works in many different forms of the media industry. his most notable works have influenced the work of others like Terry Gilliam and the Brothers Quay.

Svankmajer would re imagine popular fairy tales in a dark manner, and also for his experimental ideas in terms of the use of his 3D animation in synchronisation with pixilation (human animation).

During the 1950s, Svankmajer pursued a great interest in both theatre and puppetry. He worked at theatres, and it was there that he gained an appreciation for the creation of film, which would be considered by some a bad thing, but by many a good thing. After this, he began his career in cinematography. His first short film, The Last Trick  (1964) gave evidence to his interest in stop motion animation. Svankmajer experimented with a wide range of tecnhiques, such as puppetry, stop motion, clay-mation and pixilation.

Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen, after seeing King Kong after its release in 1933, was inspired to work with animated short films. He also was inspired by Willis O'Brien's models which were created for King Kong. A friend of Harryhausen was able to arrange a meeting between Harryhausen and O'Brien, at which, O'Brien told Harryhausen to take classes in graphic arts, as well as sculpture, to improve his work. During this time, Harryhausen became friends with Ray Bradbury, a writer, who shared similar ideologies. The two joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League, which was formed in 1939 by Forrest J. Ackerman.

Harryhausen's first film in which he was in charge indefinitely of the technical aspects was called "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms." and was released in 1953. It was discovered by the film makers that Bradbury, Harryhausen's long term friend, had sold a short story with the same name, with a similar scene. Bradbury's story was bought by the company, meaning that Harryhausen had attempted at a solo feature film. It was a major international hit for Warner Brothers, and was incredibly successful.

Harryhausen expanded on stop motion techniques by creating "Dynamation". Dynamation was when the background and foreground was split into two separate images, which the models were then involved with, which seemingly made the models interact with the live action of the scene. This was advanced, and was incredibly important for the future of animation and film making. If Harryhausen hadn't experimented with this technique, it may have made modern day CGI more complicated, and could also have had a reduction in the creative minds of animators and film makers today.

Development of Stop Motion (Pioneers)

Development of Stop Motion

Pioneers of Stop Frame Animation

Towards the start of film making, cameras weren’t used for narratives. Film was just used as a recording device. However, without the early developments made by specific pioneers, stop motion, and film making in general may not exist as we know it now.

Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer, was indefinitely important in the early development 
of motion picture, through his work in 1872 with Leland Stanford. Muybridge was hired for a study in which Stanford wished to know whether all four feet of a horse left the ground. Muybridge set up a series of cameras, each triggered by a trip wire, which would take a photo of the horse in motion. These photos were then put together, which made it seem as though it was moving. People initially had different views about this subject, with artists either extending the front legs forwards and hind legs backwards. Other artists would keep one leg of the horse on the ground at all times. There was a large amount of disparity in belief here, and so it needed to be proven scientifically, this is when Stanford got Muybridge involved. It wasn’t until 1878 that Muybridge carried out this experiment at Stanford’s Palo Alto. Muybridge placed several glass-plate cameras in line along the edge of the track, with the shutter being activated when the horse passed a piece of thread. The images he had taken were then copied onto a disk, which would then be viewed in a machine which he had invented, called the zoopraxiscope. The zoopraxiscope was a projecting alternative to the phenakistiscope, where the disk was spun, and the projected sequence of images showed them to be in motion. This kind of study seems spontaneous, and possibly pointless, however, this paved the way for the future of animation, as it was the first idea of a moving image, this being of a horse in motion.

Joseph Plateau

Joseph Plateau was incredibly important for the development of Stop Motion animation, as he developed and demonstrated the phenakistiscope. To achieve this, he used a series of disks which rotated against one another, with different images drawn across each section of the disk. To create the illusion of movement, it was imperative that each image was not drastically different, but was, instead only slightly different to the previous one. For example, if the phenakistiscope wanted to display a person kicking a ball into a goal, it would be important that it didn’t go from their foot being close to the ball, to their leg then being moved backwards, then forwards again towards the ball, and then the ball ending up in the goal without any other movement. It would need to be made so that, instead of the person’s leg abruptly snapping backwards, it would appear to be in one fluid motion. This was done by the phenakistiscope. The phenakistiscope was the earliest widespread device used for animation, and was able to create the fluid illusion of motion using just images. The phenakistiscope plays a short continuous loop, and is coined as one of the first forms of moving media entertainment. It could be argued that Joseph Plateau is the most influential part of modern day film, despite not being involved in the newer developments, because he invented the phenakistiscope in 1833. Without the invention of the phenakistiscope, there would be no real advancements in the way of stop frame animation and film making.

The Lumière Brothers

The Lumière Brothers are hugely significant in the development of motion pictures. This is because they created the first ever motion picture. This was a short piece titled “La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière”. This translates to “Workers leaving the Lumière Factory.” In which workers at the Lumiere factory are filmed leaving. This has absolutely no narrative to it, demonstrating how recording wasn’t used for narratives, and instead was used for just filming whatever they could. As pointless or strange as it may seem to just film a group of factory workers leaving the factory, it ended up being crucial to the development of animation and film in the modern day. People at the time wouldn’t have imagined that the film made by the brothers would have such a huge impact on the future of filmmaking, however impressive it may have seemed.

The Lumiere had a setup of one single camera which was used to project the footage at 16 frames per second. 16 frames per second was enough for the viewer to see the movement of the images in such a way that they could still see the fluid motion of the films. They recorded each film about everyday French life, simple things such as the arrival of a train at a station, a game of cards between two players, a baby being fed or soldiers marching along a path. Other films they created were comedy films and shorts, as well as creating the first “newsreel” and the first documentaries. In 1896, they began to send out skilled and trained workers to cities all around the world, showing films as well as shooting new material. 

Techniques for Stop Motion

Techniques for Stop Motion

Persistence of Vision, Stop Frame and Frame Rates were all crucial in paving the way for modern day films and animations. Early discoveries which were found after Edward Muybridge theorised about whether or not all four of a horse’s legs left the ground when it was running. They used 24 different cameras, each activated by a tripwire to see the movement of the horse at as many points as possible.

Persistence of Vision – This relates to the human eye merging multiple images all at once, to create an illusion of movement. This theory states that the human brain can store any one image at one time for 1/25^th of a second. This means that when a larger amount of images is shown, as long as the difference between them is only slight, the human eye and brain will be able to see those images moving. For example, if you were to show (chronologically) 100 slightly different frames over the span of four seconds, it would be perceived as fluid movement and motion.

In 1912, Max Wertheimer defined the Phi Phenomenon. This was defined as the optical illusion in which when a series of still images are viewed by a human in rapid succession, it will be perceived as continuous motion.

Similar to this is the Beta Movement, also coined in 1912. This was the idea that a sequence involving several still images will give the viewer the illusion that they are moving, creating a piece of “film” which flows smoothly. This “movement” only occurs with a frame rate greater than 12 frames per second. In the below example, the white space will move from the top of the shape (Position 1) to the next position, clockwise in the circle (Position 2 etc.). If the white space moves from 1 to 2, then to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in a clockwise circle at a fast enough framerate, then the illusion of movement will be created.

If the framerate of the piece is too low (below 12) then the intervals of darkness between each frame begin to create a flicker. The shutter creates 3 periods of darkness between each frames, and so the viewer is actually seeing 72 frames per second.

This idea of the persistence of vision, combined with the Phi Phenomenon and the Beta Movement, created a foundation for modern day stop frame animations to exist.

Stop Frame – Stop frame is a technique used for creating movement in an animation in which each individual frame is manipulated, before being placed on the timeline. Stop frame means that you have more control over the production of the animation, you can make inanimate objects move around is if they have a mind of their own, you can create interesting effects as well as having strange and often surreal storylines, however, always maintaining the right speed is difficult, it can be time consuming, and you need to split the final production into two audio tracks.

A good example for stop frame animation is the Zoetrope. The Zoetrope is a “pre-film” device used for animations. It can produce the illusion of a moving image by showing a sequence of images of a certain motion (e.g. a horse running, or a person waving).  The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 by William George Horner. The images within the Zoetrope device were rotated in a circular motion, passing a slit of light which showed the images to be “moving”. This was an early example of the importance of framerate for moving images. This was because if the device was spun at an incredibly slow pace, the gaps between each image would be visible to the viewer, therefore removing the illusion of movement that was attempted to be created. In the modern day, films and music videos are shot at either 30 frames per second, 48 frames per second or 60 frames per second. Films which are shot in 30 frames per second are done so that the viewer can recognise the smoothness of the movement (remember that the human eye renders images for 1/25^th of a second) and so this would solidify the smoothness of movement within the film/animation.

Stop frame over time has become incredibly advanced, with works such as Early Man, Shrek, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Emoji Movie and Coraline. These films, even the older ones, are incredibly advanced, and would take huge amounts of time to make and produce. For example, it took one entire week to animate one minute of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Today’s animations have the earliest animations to thank, films such as Steamboat Willie, from Walt Disney Animations, for discovering new things about film making which had never been thought of before.

Some techniques for stop motion animation are:

·         

      Pixilation – using live actors, who are, frame by frame, pictured doing a certain action. This is then placed into editing and made to seem as if it is a fluid motion. Actors will ever so slightly change their position before the next frame, so that they appear to be moving when all the frames are compiled together.

·         Claymation – Claymation is when you use clay. or plasticine to present real life characters, or inanimate objects, but it gives the opportunity for customisable movements, for example making a chairs legs extend, without having to actually break/alter a real chair.

·         Object animation – This is a type of animation in which you use real, inanimate objects within your film. It is essentially the animation of any object which is not drawn, so for example, toys, blocks or dolls.

·         Cut-out animation – Cut-out animation is a form of stop motion animation in which you use flat characters and props, which are placed on a flat background. This is usually done with paper, but can also incorporate card, fabric and also photographs

Frame Rates – Considering the framerate of your production is essential to creating a film, whether it be an animation, or a live action movie. The human brain and eye process images at 1/25^th of a second, and so 25 frames per second is a safe enough bet for being able to create smooth movement. For an added level of safety, movies are often shot at 30fps. However, sometimes movies will be shot at a greater amount of frames per second. This greatly enhances the movement and dynamics of each action. Some examples of films which have been shot at higher framerates are:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (48FPS)

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (48FPS)

It has been said that in the future, all films (especially big blockbusters) will be shot at the higher 48 frames per second, rather than the standard 24 frames per second. There are more specific framerates for media productions now, such as 29.97 frames per second, as well as 59.94 FPS. These framerates are used because, after colour television was invented in 1954, the information of this being added to the TV caused the picture to look unwatchable, so the solution was to place a frame dip (of 0.03fps) to remove two of the disruptive signals out of the phase, which created a bearable image for viewers. These 0.03 frame differences make a massive change, but may not have been implemented if it were not for the previous discoveries about framerate.

Fresh Guacamole by PES | Oscar Nominated Short