Stopmotion Animation

Influential Animators

I will be writing about three different animators that have been influential in the animation world;

• Walt Disney
• Warner Bros.
• Norman McLaren.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney is the most famous of all animators from the golden age of American Animation. When he first came about he was only famous for making adverts but now is more commonly known for making family friendly movies which are enjoyed by all. Walt Disney’s first film series was called ‘Silly Symphonies’. The most iconic and remembered of this series is the ‘Steamboat Willie’ episode. Steamboat Willie was Walt Disney’s first animated film with synchronised sound. However, don’t mistake Mickey Mouse as his first character. That title goes to Oswald Rabbit. Walt Disney lost rights to Oswald Rabbit until 2006 when they won back his rights. Walt Disney himself invented the multiplane camera which was used to make animations for many years after as well. The multiplane camera allows a 3D effect in the 2D animations by adding a sense of depth. It works by having different layers of glass sheets, each layer would have a different layer of the scene. The background would be on one layer and the character on another. Walt Disney had used many effects for his films. In his film ‘Snow White’ he used ‘rotoscoping’. Rotoscoping is when they record or take a picture of an actress doing what they want the animation to do and then trace it. Disney’s last traditionally drawn animated film is ‘Princess and the Frog’.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros started many years ago with just three of the four founders, Sam, Harry and Albert Warner, when they first acquired a movie projector. In 1918, they opened their first studio in Hollywood and the youngest brother Jack and a controller Chase joined them to help with finance. Hugh Harman and Rudolph Isling worked for Walt Disney for many years and learned to draw animations. When Disney moved to expand his empire, Harman and Isling went to Warner bros and introduced ‘Bosko’ in the first ever episode of the Looney Tunes, a Warner Bros parody of Disney’s ‘Silly Symphonies’. Looney tunes is now very popular and the thing everyone remembers about Warner Bros. By 1940, Avery Schlesinger has his three best animated stars Porky Pig in 1936, Daffy Duck in 1937 and Bugs Bunny in 1939. These three characters were wildly popular and still adored today. In 1942, the Schlesinger studio surpassed Walt Disney studios as most successful producer of animated shorts. In 1944, the Warner brothers bought Looney Tunes and renamed them Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren created many films for the NFB (National Film Board). McLaren excelled in film making including film animation, abstract film, pixelation, drawn on animation, visual music and graphical sound. Between 1936 and 1939, McLaren worked for the GPO Film Unit (General Post Office). During that time he created four films that made people aware of him; Book Bargain, Mony a Pickle, Love on the Wing and News for the Navy. In 1939, McLaren moved to New York city with a grant from the Soloman Guggenheim Foundation and stayed there until 1941. During that time he released four drawn on film animations; Boogie-Doodle, Dots, Loops and Stars and Stripes.

3D Animation

This is my final 3D animation.

Cut-Out Animation

This is the final product of my cut-out animation. I made an advert for the channel Dave.

Animation Timeline

This is a timeline about the development of animation over the years.

Eardweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge is what people would call an artist. He was around when photography first became a big thing. In 1855, Eadweard Muybridge left his hometown to San Francisco under the name of E.J. MuyGridge. After he travelled to San Francisco, the carriage he travelled in crashed causing a serious head injury to Muybridge. This caused him to see things differently. He spent six years in England as MuyGridge the bookseller but then decided to become Muybridge the photographer. He even started calling himself Helios the Sun.

To be a photographer at this time, they needed to be a chemist as well. The ‘Camera’ was just a piece of glass and some chemicals. The preparation for each photograph was tedious and careful. The inspiration for Muybridge was a landscape painter William Keith. Muybridge made photographs of landscape that look similar to a landscape painting.

He was asked to come to a racecourse in Sacramento to prove that the horses do lift all four feet of the ground. However, when he took the picture it was a good picture but he later admitted that it was shadowy and indistinct and he realised the shutter didn’t open and close properly.

Muybridge’s wife was a very flirtatious woman. However, Muybridge still wanted to marry her so he paid for her divorce to her ex-husband then married her himself. They then had a son called Florado. Not long after they had their son, Muybridge found out that his wife has had an affair. This made him wonder if the child was even his. Muybridge was so full of rage that when he found out whom the affair was with, he caught a two-hour boat ride then the train. All the while firing his pistol whenever he could as if he was practicing. He then walked a very long journey to Yellow Jacker Ranch. When he reached his destination, he knocked on the door. When the man he was looking for answered, he said ‘A message from my wife’ then shot him an inch below the left nipple.

Muybridge was then arrested and taken to court. He said he felt justified and that it was in his rights as a husband to do what he did. The trial was a great media circus. If Muybridge were found guilty he would be hung, if found not guilty he would be incarcerated. He was found not guilty but was released instead. The crowds all applauded. However even to this day, we do not know if Florado was Muybridge’s son or not.

Muybridge then caught a boat to Central America under the name Eduardo Santiago Muybridge. The murder did affect his photography as darker themes were hidden in his photographs. His behaviour changed as well. He started wearing a slanted hat, smoking cigars and wouldn’t look people in the eye.

After all that, he was invited back to that racecourse to try again. He made it his obsession. He knew that in order to assess motion he needed a sequence of images. He put twenty-four electronic shutter cameras in a row that went off as the horse passed them. The pictures were successful. But some people thought they were ridiculous and didn’t believe him. Thus Muybridge used stop motion.

Proposal for Animation-2D Animation

Name: Danielle Wood.

Date: Wednesday 12th February 2014.

Format: Cut-Out Animation Advert.

Working Title: Dave Advert

Intended Audience and Age: My intended audience is fans of the channel 'Dave'. The reason this is my intended audience is because only people who like 'Dave' would understand what is in the advert and is most likely to see the advert.

Medium used: The medium used will be stop-motion to create a sting for the channel Dave. This will be done by gradually moving my cut-out logos and objects and taking frames to fit 12 fps. The end result will look like the logos and objects are moving on their own.

Indication of the Style:
The indication of style for my short animation would be a comedic sting of fighting logos, this would be seen by young adults and adults. The logos will be printed from the internet and will not be done by me.

Inspiration: My inspiration for this animation came from making a list of all my favourite things and deciding on the channel 'Dave' and making an advert.

Summary of Idea: My idea for my cut out animation is I print out logos of popular programmes on the channel Dave and have them come in a knock the ones before them off the screen. At the end the channel logo will knock the last logo out and writing will appear saying 'Fighting To Be The Best'.

Materials/Equipment: The materials needed paper to print logos and scissors to cut them out. The equipment needed is a camera and the software iStopMotion.

Length and Size of the Production: My advert will be under or about 30 seconds long since it will be a short sting.