The Annals of Animation

Post 11: Sin City

2005-11-30T23:42:00.000-05:00

Just this past weekend I had the opportunity to watch a movie that many of my friends have hailed as the best animated feature they'd ever seen, with crazy special effects and gripping interplay among color, light, and shadow. Sin City, recently released to DVD is an animated feature length film set in the seedy side of a city that is reminiscent of Batman's Gotham with a twist. A twist you say? The entire movie is shot in black and white. I bet Disney never considered possibilities such as this intense level of realism in all the years that he committed pen to paper.

The film borrows ideas and attributes from many places across the police/gangster drama including Casablanca,Dick Tracey, Batman, Chicago, and from outside the genre but still a major player in enhancing the impact of the animation is Schindler's List. Schindler's list is shot entirely in black and white except for one scene with a young girl is wearing a red dress for dramatic emphasis. Sin City borrows this idea and uses it to enhance everything from (no surprise) a red dress, to an old car, to a young prostitute's piercing blue hauntingly innocent eyes.

If anyone has yet to check out this film I recommend that you RUN to the nearest place you can get your hands on it and watch it on the largest screen available to get the full effect. At times you will certainly forget that you are in fact watching an animation... Except for in the scenes of extreme violence (a katana, a plethora of guns, hand grenades, hanging, and fistfights) , but nevermind that... Focus on the amazing artwork that will mezmerize you for roughly two hours unless of course you feel compelled to watch it again.

Post 10: The Adventures of Prince Achmed

2005-11-09T00:25:00.000-05:00

I think I may have watched what amounts to just about the coolest most unique performance I've ever seen in my life aside from say artistic gymnastics routines. For the curious among you, you may be wondering what exactly I'm raving about... the answer is Sand Art. I found an online video of a man who is an artist who creates beautifully detailed images in seconds with a handfull of sand he casually cascades onto an overhead projector. At the same time as he is busy dashing dragons and sea monsters that freely flow and quickly fade into two lovers kissing, the onscreen images are choreographed to music that is played as an audience watches his creations move across the screen. Not only is the process cool to watch but it reminds me of the video we watched in class of The Adventures of Prince Achmed that was entirely constructed through the use of sillouhette paper cutouts manipulated incrementally to achieve the illusion of movement and the finished product bears a striking resemblance to this more modern production. I would actually be more interested in seeing The Adventures of Prince Achmed approached using the sand art technique rather than the choppy motion that is displayed using the stop motion technique as it would add to the excitement of watching the story unfold before ones eyes, an aspect of enchantment perhaps as the sand fades from one scene to the next. Different effects could be achieved if the artist could manipulate the background color of the light that shines from beneath the sand to cater to each mood as the storyline progresses, as is seen in The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

Post 9: Sports

2005-11-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

The topic of sports is certainly no stranger to me as I have played organized sports since I was 2 years old, and continued to do so all the way until the present (at 22 yrs). Nowadays I mostly coach sports but occasionally participate in a track meet or in pick-up games or intermural sports. The inherent connection between animation and sports is undeniable. Without knowledge of human motion, natural ranges of motion and body positions, it would be almost impossible to make any human character appear to move on the screen in the same fashion as they do in life. It is clear that even in the early days, Disney understood this concept since he made his staff conduct character studies and complete the "flour sack" exercise as illustrated in Of Mice and Magic.
Currently most educational references related to sports involving technical skills such as gymnastics or the field events in track or competitive diving contain a series of pictures intended to illustrate each stage of performing a specific routine. I think that the future of such references either lies on video/DVD where the athlete and coach can actually watch the action being performed incrimentally and pause to give instruction or perhaps it would be more favorable and cost-effective to borrow Muybridge's idea and create short animations to teach each routine. It might be prudent to develop a flip book with space for notes on what should be improved for each athlete, highlighting various points in the animation where correction to form is needed. The only book I have seen that institutes a similar idea is the Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible that has roughly 200 frames (1 in. x 1 in.) of Nolan Ryan (of Texas Rangers fame) pitching a baseball in the upper righthand corner... additionally the book is written in a way that each phase is broken down according to chapter in the natural progression of the movement, with relevant details and diagrams elsehwhere on the page. This tool, if applied to gymnastics, where the athlete cannot see the position of their body mid-handspring or back-tuck, could be extremely useful and thus streamline the efficiency of the entire gym by reducing the time instructors need to spend correcting specific shortcomings.

Post 8: Royalty Free

2005-10-26T15:18:00.000-04:00

I recently came across an article about the use of royalty free animation by major broadcast companies that choose to run their ads in high definition in addition to their regular broadcast footage. The most interesting aspect to this development is that the creators of these high definition ads are using stock footage from a variety of sources and changing either the background or the generic product a model is holding to the one they are advertising and then broadcasting the spot as their own work. How can they get away with this? You might ask... Well the answer is more simple than you might realize ...That the stock footage they are using is from a growing library of such clips assembled (and in some cases actually shot) by a company located in New York, Ribbit Films.-insert cute frog logo here. The company is selling subscriptions/usage rights to their stock footage services to interested parties at a hefty $300 per clip, though the article does not specify how long each clip lasts. The footage in some cases includes substantial blue and green screen capabilities as well as channel separation, thus making a wide variety of effects possible when the footage is assembled into a project using Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid Express... and some other notable animation programs. What does this mean for the future of television advertising? Are we going to see a surge in the use of this type of footage to create more artistic ads in the future or is the price point still to high to warrant its use in the average commercial. The advantage at this point is that the footage is in a high-definition format and is thus on the cutting edge of technology for the time being, whether or not the library of stock footage will remain in such an advantaged position in future years remains to be seen.

Post 7: What Exactly is 3-D?

2005-10-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

For those of you who may have missed out on the 3-D craze of the 1980's and even far earlier with the invention of the Stereoscope and the realization that by displaying two similar images shot from slightly different angles and placing them next to each other, one can create the illusion of 3D or three dimensions, now is your chance to get aquainted with this fascinating technology. This revolutionary technology is fun stuff to say the least and adds a new level of percieved realism to any production whether it be live action or animation.

LucasFilms, Industrial Light & Magic, Dolby(of recording technology fame) and Disney have all recently teamed-up to bring a new century approach to the decades old technology by employing the use of two seperate digital projectors that each have a dedicated output channel for the left or right eye and run at roughly 60fps (George Lucas's preferred frame rate for his films, compared with the more common 24fps) to achieve a far more crisp and seamless 3D effect than ever before possible. One article claims that the new approach eliminates previous 3D dilemmas encountered when the user tilts or turns their head or sits on the end of the aisle in the theater. With the advent of this new technological breakthrough coupled with Dolby/THX surround sound, viewers can be certain that new features will be released bringing an unparalleled theatrical experience to a cinema near you. Can you imagine, say... the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan or Star Wars in enhanced digital 3D with surround sound? Talk about intense. For now the only film that has been completed in this format is Disney's new animated release "Chicken Little" where viewers can expect awe-inspiring effects and dramatic detail in every character. The best bit about the development of the technology is that the project, although not "open source" is set up so that any of the partners are free collaborate with other companies in efforts to further the technology without facing legal penalties, this means that we, as an audience, have a bright future ahead regarding subsequent trips to the cinema... just watch out for falling bits of sky.

Post 6: Pixar Studios

2005-10-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

Pixar Studios is a pioneer in integrating the use of computers and computer modeling into the animation process and has even gone as far as to develop their own animation software and alter the traditional production line from start to finish in order to develop their shorts and feature films. Many of the same steps used to create a live action film, from set dressing, to lighting, to wardrobe and prop selection are instituted in Pixar's unique 4 step production process. (they claim it is as simple as 4 individual steps although many many more processes are involved in arriving at a finished product ready to present before an audience). The preproduction phase at Pixar Studios is not all that unlike the digs of the traditional animation studio at Disney (Disney is the company that developed Pixar in its earliest days) and this is not surprising since the use of conventions such as a storyboard are still the most efficent methods of conveying or pitching a new idea to the cadre at the studio. It would be far more difficult to simply talk about or write a paragraph that concisely states the idea of characters like Penguins that operate as if they live in a perpetual Mission Impossible ( a la Madagascar).

The major difference is clearly in the actual production phase where the characters are modeled and drawn on a computer using pin points on the surface of the model as references to acurately reproduce a computer model and then the models are shaded, voices are added and personalities begin to take shape, meanwhile the sets for all the scenes are dressed and shaded, artificial light is added, color schemes are chosen to envoke a specific mood at each scene/stage of the story ...all prior to any actual animation taking place. This is a far cry from the traditional Disney approach where a single character is drawn and animation begins from the outset. Pixar has also achieved a third dimension through the use of computers that leaves traditional animation looking flat and (haha, "cartoony").

Post 4: Stop Motion Animation

2005-09-28T19:24:00.000-04:00

I can remember as a child, sitting in a classroom prior to some holiday and watching a Disney Frog & Toad movie or an episode of "Gumbie & Pokie"... or even... at Sunday school, watching the endless supply of "David & Goliath" stories (the dog's voice will haunt me forever). The effect of these "claymation" animated features was breathtaking because I, as a 2nd grader could relate to playing with modeling clay and making it come alive in my imagination. In reality, this is probably one of the more simple methods of animating a character (with its own complications of course) because the artist does not need to sit down and draw thousands of frames or cells before he can see a few seconds of animation. With stop motion animation, there is instant gratification because you know from the first movement exactly what it will look like onscreen and do not have the problems of perspective and foreshortening that perplex traditional animators.

Stop motion animation is a fascinating method of creating the illusion of character movement on film. The process, in its most basic form is rather straightforward. A character or object is placed in the field of vision of the camera and a picture is taken. Then the object is moved a very small distance, with a pose or gesture adjustment, taking care to make sure that the camera remains stationary. Another photo is taken and the process is repeated over and over again until the project is over. Much in the same fashion of time-lapse photography, the finished product has the effect of rapid continuous motion.

In our modern age, there are now computer programs such as Macromedia Flash to create the illusion of stop motion animation and the texture of modeling clay (or torn paper in the case of South Park) however, the principle remains the same. Characters make slight movements in each frame, the frame is captured and the process is repeated over and over again. A prime example of modern animation in this style are those produced by Atomfilms, including Wallace & Gromet and Chicken Run.

Post 3: Advancements in Video Game Animation

2005-09-21T14:45:00.000-04:00

When people from my parent's generation were in college, the latest and greatest in video-game animation on the old Atari 2600 console consisted of a user-controlled line and a moving dot that took chunks out of the top of the screen and games like Pac Man where the only secret move to outwit your opponents was to go out of the top of the screen and pop up in the bottom as you ran away from the dreaded multi-colored ghosts. I may be going out on a limb here, but I think times have changed a little since then... with the the latest G3 games expo in the not too distant past, both Sony and Microsoft (and their many affiliated game manufacturers and various software companies) debuted console games scheduled to be released on the new Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 platforms that are very seriously beginning to blur the distinction between live action and animation. The graphics in games like Killzone 2 where the explosions, voices, faces, body language, ragdoll effects, and artificial intelligence are mindblowing are actually beginning to make the user feel immersed in another world where they actually are facing an enemy invasion and reloading a realistic machine gun right in their living room. The addition of cinematic effects like varied camera angles, close ups, and cut-scenes, further enhance the unparalled experience and often make games resemble feature films... only better because the viewer can now participate in their own destiny! The much anticipated release of Microsoft's Halo 3 isnt a far cry from this level of realism either, though there is the added dimension of being set in space and thus some of the physics for the motion are a little off to keep the game fun and familiar (jumping 20 ft in the air while dual weilding a lazer cannon and a submachine gun for instance). I find it fascinating that in such a short time from the early 1980's that the advancements in video-game technology have allowed programmers to generate this remarkably accurate level of realizm, from the movement of characters on-screen to the detail of every leaf and blade of grass in the background.

Post 2: Walt Disney... What a guy

2005-09-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

Without the contributions of Walt Disney, all the efforts of early animators would almost certainly have gone the way of the Dodo bird... certain extinction because of the failure to adapt to changes in the market and the ability to keep up with what appeals to the masses. It is interesting to me that Walt Disney stuck to his rigorous work ethic that he developed early on despite the fact that his first attempt at going into business failed dreadfully due to overspending. Disneys dedication to improving the quality of the genre is commendable while on such a tight budget and wtih few resources to reflect upon as refrences. Through streamlining the production process Disney singlehandedly secured the market for his products and unquestionably surged ahead of his competitors by leaps and bounds.

Post 1: The Fascinating Origins Of Mice And Magic

2005-09-03T15:08:00.000-04:00

The pioneers in the field of animation were without question the most diligent artists of their time. While most fine art and commercial print artists only needed to produce a single piece of work, these men were required to consistently reproduce their work without error thousands of times over in order to bring their subjects to life on the screen. Even in today's advanced, computer aided society, having to recreate nearly identical drawings in exact scale is quite a tedious task.

I find it truly remarkable that the originators and subsequent innovators of animation as a new medium, while in its infancy, were so diligent in their work. Back when it all started and there was little money to be made, the animators had to crank out nearly a hundred drawings a day in order to fulfill a production rate of only several minutes of completed product per month. I can only imagine the torment that a seemingly minor mistake while a series of drawings was in its final stage would cause the artists. Once color was introduced into the process, things became even trickier as the paint that was used was very sensitive to changes in temperature and had a limited storage life. To lose all that hard work in the final phase would have undoubtedly been heartbreaking. To the audience, color animations must have seemed like a wonderful innovation but in terms of production, the application of color only intensified the nightmare of achieving a quality finished product. I'm not sure I could handle the pressure.