Techniques and Styles of Stop Motion Animation.
Persistence of Vision- Persistence of vision is when you put a group of photos/images together and your mind will link them together giving the illusion the photos/images are moving. Here is an example:
Early Animation Devices-
Zoetrope:
The zoetrope is one of several animation toys that where made in the 19th century. This is one of the first ways people experimented with moving pictures. The zoetrope appeared first in England in 1834. It was then seen in France in 1860 and then was then later seen in the United States in 1867. It was originally named 'The Deadatelum' when it was made in 1834 but then it got renamed 'The Zoetrope' by a French inventor called Pierre Desvignes.
Mutoscope:
A mutoscope is a primitive version of the TV and film projector. The mutoscope was created by Herman Casler in 1894. You would find mutoscopes mostly at Penny arcades and Piers. But the mutoscope started to become unpopular when the projector ad film theatres where created and built. However they did keep some of the audience when the mutoscope started to play exotic dancers on there reels. Mutoscope where often reffered as 'What the Butler saw' because people thought it felt like you where peeping through a key hole.
Phenakistoscope:
In 1832, Belgian physicist Joseph Plateu and his sons introduced the Phenakistoscope which is also known as a 'spindle viewer'. But someone had also invented it independently in the same year. The other person who invented this was called Simon Von Stampfer of Vienna, Austria and he called it a 'Stroboscope' This invention was inspired by Michael Faraday and Peter Mark Rodget.Faraday invented a device that he called 'Michale Faraday's Wheel' that consisted of two discs that spun in opposite directions from each other. When he noticed how good and successful his invention he then later made it into a toy and called it a Phenakistoscope.
Kinetoscope:
A kinetoscope is a device which allows people to view motion pictures. The kinetoscope was one of the first such devices that was widely developed and distributed, but even though it was not that successful because of mainly the design, it clearly inspired other inventors so it is actually considered a landmark in animation history. The design consisted of a closed cabinet that was closed in which the film was spooled. People operated it by opening the top of the cabinet and then peer the small hole, and as the film would role across a series of rollers a light in the back would illuminate it which would then give the illusion of moving pictures. The kinetoscope was shown to the public in 1894 and it was created by Thomas Edison.
Thaumatrope:
A Thaumatrope is a Victorian toy that's constructed from a disk or card featuring a different picture on each side and it is attached two pieces of string. When you span the strings rapidly the card rotates on its axis and the two images appeared combined. John Aryton Paris invented this in 1825.
Cell based animation-
Cell based animation is a traditional form of animation that is used in cartoons or in animated films. Call based means that each frame is made/drawn by hand. Full length film featuring cell based animation would require a million or more drawings to complete. Snow White was originally a cel based film. Disney made a film called 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' in 1937. At first when Walt Disney seen the animations for Snow White he did not like her that much because she was to 'cartoonish' and much like Betty Boop. When Snow White was being made the Fleischer Brothers heard about it and made a film that people think is similar but it was not as popular and did not make as much money. Also no-one went to the theatres to see it. Snow White was seen as more cute unlike the Fleischer brother film. When people first seen the Snow White they where amazed because everything on the screen would move unlike before when they usually only seen one thing move. This kind of film was new to people in the 1930s.
Cut out animation-
Cut out animation is one of the oldest ad simplest ways of animation. It consists of flat (2-D) props, characters, etc and they would be made out of materials such as paper, card or fabric. Animators would take pieces of different fabrics and place them together to create characters, etc and they would move them slightly then take a picture and then do it again and again, etc. and when you filmed it at played it back it would look like the things are moving. The earliest cut out animation anyone has found was made by Lottie Reiniger and it was called 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' and it was made in Germany in 1926
Model based animation-
Model based animation is when you have 3D objects and move them in a sequence. The models are mostly known to be made from plasticine or clay and these are the most commonly used but they can be easy/ cheap materials to find/ use. Also it is easy to mould into different shapes and objects. Plus you can get them in different colours or mix them together to make a new colour. They are really good because they will look realistic (depending on how you mould them or what character/object you want.) and you can usually have them in any scenery if you make the set right. When you make a model animation you make your model, move it slightly, then take a photo and then just keep doing that. When you are finished taking all the photos you can play them back and you should have made model animation. But to make sure you have an interesting storyline because people might not want watch it. Most model based animations are made for children because plasticine resembles play-doh and children like that and when they watch the animations they get inspiration and want to make there own little models. An example of children model animation would be Shaun The Sheep. However some model based animations have adult storylines for example Wallace and Gromit.
Aardman Animations is a place that makes model animation and it is based in Bristol. Peter Lord and Sproxton came up with the idea of model based animation when they where in school and that's when they started an animation partnership. Aardman Animations started in 1972 and then they moved to Bristol in 1976 which is where they produced there first professional production. This production is called Morph, and it was for the children's programme called 'Take Heart'.
Pixilation Animation-
Pixilation animation is a stop motion technique that uses live actors and you take a photo and then move slightly and then do the same again before the next frame is taken (take it frame-by-frame) and when you play it back it should make an animated. This is when the actor is kind of acting like a stop motion 'puppet'. Norman McLaren is one of the first people to create a pixilation animation but it was only short and its called 'Neighbours' and it was made in 1952. This was probably the first time people seen characters fly in a film. Here's the short film:
Time based animation-
Time based animation is also known as time lapse its when you record and average film/animation and then speed it up. You see this a lot because people don't want to be sat there for ages watching for example someone draw a picture you don't want to be sat there for ages watching them draw it. It saves you time. You can also see this in beauty videos when someone is doing makeup, etc. Here's an example:
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