Script for More 4 TV show

Presenter
Hello and welcome to Talk Time on More 4, today we will be talking about the history of
animation, with special guest Lydia Dominguez. Animation, what do you associate when
you think of animation?
Clips of Wallace and gromit, morph and a flip book.
But where did this all start?
Lydia
In the early 19 hundreds The Lumire brothers, French inventors and pioneer manufacturers
of photographic equipment who devised an early motion-picture camera and projector
called the Cinmatographe. Lumiere Brothers made a fantastic input into the moving image
industry. They came up with the short clip of workers leaving the lumeire factory This 46second movie was filmed in Lyon, France. This film was shown on 28 December 1895 at the
Grand Caf on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, along with nine other short movies.
Show clip of workers leaving the lumiere factory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO0EkMKfgJI
Presenter
Wow thats interesting, I guess for that time that little short clip would have been a big deal?
Lydia
Yes, in fact because of that short motion clip, it influenced George Pal. Now George Pal was
a Hungarian born animator and film producer, he was most interested in the science fiction
genre than any other. His famous film was The war of the Worlds it was released in 1953,
and was adapted from the novel by H.G Wells.
Clip from the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E1zOXarLk4
Presenter
Interesting, so that the early era of stop motion and animation, but who developed this
further then?
Lydia
Lotte Reiniger was a German animator she is known for her work in The Adventures of
Prince Achmed in 1962. She is best recognised for her silhouette animations anticipating
Walt Disney by over ten years. She has made over 40 films in her career.
Presenter
That is a lot of films! So was there anyone else at all that influenced the amazing animators
today?

Lydia
Yes in fact Jan vankmajer was a major part in the animation industry, he is known for being
a surrealist within animation. He started off at working with masks for theatre productions
and only just got into film in 1964. He then continued this for 20 years where he reached his
long held ambition of making a feature film by lewis Carolls Alice in Wonderlandin 1988.
In fact his work influenced the Quay Brothers.
Play in background
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd03-wm6DDM
Presenter
So who are the Quay brothers?
Lydia
The quay brothers, Stephen and Timothy are American Identical twins, they are influential
stop animators. They are best known for their classic film Street of Crocodiles. This was 21
Minutes long. The Quay brothers are known for having quite obscure films, this is why they
are so well known.
Presenter
Who else has been made recognisable for animations?
Lydia
Animation is described as making an inanimate object move however there are many
different techniques of doing this. One technique is clay or plasticine, this can be hard to
manoeuvre so what animators tend to do is use an underwire so that when the move the
clay or plasticine it doesnt break easily. In this making of Wallace and Gromit a
production by Aardman animations we can see that all the models created by animators in
the frame have been positioned perfectly for facial expressions and gestures. Even the
slightest eyebrow movement. Animation is all about precision. Aardman animations was set
up in 1972 and is company famous for stop animations such as the shows shaun the sheep,
creature comforts chicken run and morph.
Show clip from Wallace and Gromit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnkqlNPDu1E
Presenter
Where is animation used then?
Lydia
Animation is used in all different types of media, 2 of the most popular are tv advertisement
and cinema. In cinema, there are now full feature length animation movies, this is a huge
development on how it started. One of the most recent and popular movie is The Pirates by
Aardman animations. This film is 88minutes long and is a stop motion animation. This is
different to other animations because the time and effort gone in to making this is extreme
so every little detail is thought out precisely. Another form of animation used in media is Tv

advertisement, this can be an interesting and effective way of advertising, as it Is different

and fun. Here is an example.
John lewis advert.
Presenter
Just to finish off can you describe the theory behind why and what in the human body
records animations and also what makes us see it as a moving motion?
Lydia
There are some key elements that go into what we see and what is on the screen before us.
The main theory behind this is something called persistence of vision. Persistence of
vision is something we as humans do every day but yet we dont realise. This is when the
eye retina restores an image but yet you have only seen it for less than a second. A persons
visual form of memory known as the iconic memory has formed this theory. This
especially is key for animations, as they are built up from a series of images that can last as
short of one third of a second, so with this iconic memory you see a series of images but in
your head youre seeing it a one continuous movement. A good example of this is when you
look at flipbook.
Presenter
Wow, thats interesting, but how many frames would need to make our memory record it as
smooth movement?
Lydia
Frame rates are the key to this. An animation set to 12 frames per second plays 12 frames
each second. If the document's frame rate is set to 24 fps, the animation appears to animate
more smoothly than if it ran at 12 fps. However, your animation at 24 fps also plays much
faster than it does at 12 fps, so the total duration is shorter. Therefore, if you need to make a
five-second animation using a higher frame rate, it means you need to add additional frames
to fill those five seconds than at a lower frame rate. With these frame rates the bigger they
are the smoother it will look, which is how our brain sees it as a moving motion. However
there are a few people that dont make frame rates faster, for example there are a pair of
guys on youtube called the slowmo guys who in fact elongate a frame rate from a video
that could only be a second long then make it about 10 minutes long so it shows us what
they eye cant see. So in this case they are not speeding up time but slowing down instead.
Presenter
So is each picture a stop motion then?
Lydia
Yes, a stop fame is an individual picture, combining that with how many they are and
setting the frame rates also contributes to the smoothness of the animation. Which is why
now we have the tools to make each image a certain length and frame rate compared to
elder era of animation, this is why now animations run a lot smoother than those of an older
age. Also with the help of plastacine and clay models we now have the knowledge and tools
to also change models facial expressions and body movement. So over the years animation

has changed in the sense that certain aspects have been modified for the better, but the
general concept of animations have stayed the same. Which is that animation it a series of
individual picture but put together to make one movement.
Presenter
Wow, thank you Lydia for that insight into the history of animation, I hope that the
audience at home have learnt a thing or two about animation.
Thank you see you next time.