I will be talking about stop motion animation and the pioneers of

animation, many pioneers created devices that moved stop motion

animation forward which got it to where it is today, first I will be talking
about persistence of vision.
Persistence of Vision
The human eye is thought to see an
afterimage for approximately one
twenty-fifth of a second.

How is this used in Film and

Animation?
The frame rate of 16 frames per
second or below causes the mind to
see flashing images or flicker. This is
because of the residual image in the
mind. The human eye and its brain
interface, the human visual system, can process 10 to 12 separate images per
second, perceiving them individually.
As a result, the higher frame rate means that the images flow smoothly.

Example
Edward Muybridges
Running Horse it
showcases the
persistence of vision.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heRuLp7CyTM

Muybridge used persistence of vision to photograph a

horse in fast motion using a series of 12 stereoscopic
cameras. The cameras were arranged along a track
parallel to the pictures of the horse and each of the
camera shutters was controlled by a trip wire which was
triggered by the horse hooves. Eadweard was an
English photographer and studied motion, he was
known as the grandfather of motion pictures.
Muybridges first work was the horse in motion (1882)
and this was regarded the first ever moving picture
which lead to foundations for modern cinema. Muybride
was probably with most important contribution to stop
motion and animation. Without Muybrideges disovery
we could still be asking if a horses all 4 legs leave the
ground when they are running.

I will be talking about Joseph Plat next, he was also one of the first people to
prove the persistence of vision by using drawn images changed the slightest and
spun at a speed on a cicle shaped bit of paper so it looks like the image is
moving. Joseph and Muybridge are similar because they both used images with
slight changes to them to prove the persistence of vision.
The horse in motion was the first motion picture to ever be shot and played a
vital part in history as it was the original idea that brought many ideas after it.
Films during this period were very short usually under a minute long. The
Lumiere Brothers are considered one of the first to invent motion picture as well
as Muybridge.

Joseph Plat
Joseph was a Belgian physicist and was the first person to
demonstrate the illusion of a moving image. Joseph used
counter rotating disks with repeating drawn images in small
increments of motion on one and regularly spaced slits in
the other, this was named the phenakistoscope.
The phenakistoscope was an early animation device that
used persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of
motion, the principle had been recognised by the Greek
mathematician Euclid and later experimented by Newton.
Joseph planned this in 1839 and invented it in 1841. Joseph used images on
paper with a small change to each image so when spun at a fast speed it looks
like we are seeing one image and because of the persistence of vision it looks
like it is moving to us.

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mJQAck27l6s

The Lumiere Brothers (French for light), Augudte Marie and Louis
Nicolas are considered to be one of the first film makers in history.
Their first film was shot in 1894 called Sortie De l'usine it's
considered the first ever real motion picture shot in history. The
Brothers held their first screening in 1895 on projected screening.
The screening consisted of 10 short films including Sortie Des
l'usine. The projector was 17 metres long and ran approximately
50 seconds long. They were very short films as most of them ran
50 seconds or shorter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXhtq01E6JI

Stop Frames
Stop motion animation is an animation technique to make a physically
manipulated objects appear to be moving on its own.
In stop motion animation, clay is often used to create the objects and characters
because they are easy to reposition and be re-moulded. However, the type of
animation using clay is called, clay animation or clay-mation. Ideally a stop
motion animation would hold 24 stop frames within each second, though some
may wish to attempt higher for smoother playback, or less with the price of more
jagged animation.

How its done

The aim is to make a materially manipulated object appear to move on its own.
The object is moved in small increases between individually photographed
frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as
a continuous sequence.
Clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Motion
animation using clay is called clay-animation or clay-mation.

Example
Wallace and Grommet
All the characters are made from
moulded plasticine modelling clay on
metal armatures, and filmed with
stop motion clay animation. The
making of Wallace and Grommet was
very time consuming, it was filmed
at typically 30 frames per day so
thats just 1 second of the film made
every day. The Curse of the WereRabbet took 15 months!

I will now be talking about Willis OBrien and without him there could have quite
possibly have been no Wallace and Grommet as he was the first person to create
such figures.

Willis OBrien
Willis was born in Oakland, California. Leaving home at just 11. Willis was a stop
motion animation pioneer. In his early life he had many jobs including but during
his spare time he would take part in sculpting and illustrating which lead him to
become employed as a sports cartoonist for Francisco Daily News. He would

have them become influenced by guiding palaeontologists as a job.

Willis specialised in stop-motion, his

first film drew attention of Thomas
Edison (Kinetoscope) and he was employed by him to animate other films. His
own titles include The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933) According to
ASIFA-Hollywood Willis was responsible for some of the best-known images in
cinema history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLVt6bMJ8Ds
In this clip you can see some of his first work on dinosaurs, as he had an
obsession with dinosaurs as a kid he created these figures and used stop frame
to create small movies of these dinosaurs later creating more of these type of
movies but began to make them fight in the clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl2AkWqIMlE

The Brothers Quay

The quay brother were born in 1947 and they formed Koninck Studies and
produces dark moody animations. Doll parts and other organic and inorganic
materials, often partially dissembles. There films had no meaningful spoken
dialogue with the exception of a few. Their films are highly reliant on music.
These brothers used stop motion to
create some dark movies with
charcters made from unusual objects
making it really unique to what other
people would have been making stop
motion for at the time.
Examples of work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vWeRnpMgbj8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5B7ftCw_rqg
The brothers quay have progressed work from
Willis OBrien by using the idea of small
models made from plasticine usually, Willis
was the first to introduce model figures into
animation and create small and long
productions with illustration. The Brothers
Quay have been inspired by Willis and
created their own twist to it by making their
productions more morbid and dark using model figures, but they highly relied on
music as their dialogue whereas Willis would have been using animal figures
which didnt need much dialogue just mostly sounds.

Frame Rate
Frame rate also known as frame frequency is the frequency/rate at which an
imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term
applies equally well to film and video cameras, computer graphics and motion
capture systems. Frame rate is most often expressed in frames per second (FPS)
and is also expressed in progressive scan monitors as hertz (Hz).

Ray Harryhausen
Ray was born on the 29th June 1920 in Los Angeles California. He had a passion
which never stopped for dinosaurs and anything fantasy. Whilst at Grammar
School he learnt how to make model miniature set. He began to make three
dimensional figures and that led him to make his own version of prehistoric
creatures. When he was 18 he entered a competition called the Junior Museum
Hobby Show with his work and won first prize. Ray was of huge importance to
Stop Motion animation and was considered the father of stop motion animation.
Ray was responsible for discovering how animals move and turning it into
animation figures. He learnt all he could about Willis OBrien and stop-motion
photography later contacting him. Ray became lifelong friends with OBrien.
Examples of work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY0Amr65nkE

Movement of Model
Models used in animation/stop motion would usually been plasticine as it
doesnt dry out like playdough would. Some plasticine
models are moulded around a metal skeleton like Chicken
run was. Using the skeleton could restrict movement of the
model but the skeleton has joints like a human would so
the movements would be more realistic. When using
models in stop motion it is very time consuming
because of how careful you have to be with the
movements of the models, the smaller the movement
and how many times you photograph each small
movement the smoother your stop motion would be. If
you were to do large movements, for example a
few steps and just moved the leg one step by one step and then just
photographed each step it would look very choppy and would make the
character look like its wobbling. To create a smooth step involves a lot of
patients moving the knee and moving it slightly photographing each small
movement to create a smooth finish.
Aardman Animation
Founded in 1972 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, the first production
BBCs Vision On which led to the creation of Morph 1977. Aardman were
responsible for some of the most successful animation/stop motion films
ever made including Wallace and Grommet, Chicken Run and Flushed
Away all using plasticine models and all photgraphed using stop frame. In
2005 a fire broke out at the Aardman Studios burning 30 years of models,
props and scenery, but luckily it didnt prevent and production at the time.
Aardman are probably the largest stop motion company and have made
the most successful stop motion movies.

Tim Burton
Tim Burton was born in Burbank, California on the 25th August 1958, Tim
described his childhood self as quirky, self-absorbed and highly
imaginative. After high school Tim won a Disney scholarship and works for
Disney on 2 productions, he met his wife during the film set of Mars
Attack.
Tim Burtons produced popular movies like Beetlejuice (1988) a
supernatural comedy horror about a young couple forced to cope with life
after death and The Nightmare before Christmas (1993).
Examples of work: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/
Awards Won.

Tims work would have been inspired by people like George Pal which was
one of the first animators to create animation like puppetoons and later
winning awards for his work and Tim progressed George Pals work and
modernised it by using better techniques and technology which led
animation to where it Is today.

Animation can be presented in many different ways I will be showing you

a few ways animation has been used in the past.
http://historyandusesofanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/genres-andforms-of-animation.html

Cinema is the first form and genre animation is used for and
animation/stop frame in cinema are usually family films mainly aimed at
children because its easy to keep the attention of a child with animation.
The first every motion film by The Lumier brothers was released in
cinema. Animation is also used in advertising usually when advertising
products but the popular channel E4 use animation as their theme to
stand out as it suits the channel. Coca cola have used animation to
advertise their product just like many other companies.
Another is childrens television, animation for children has been animated
for a very long time. A very early animated kids show is Mr Bean being
released in 1970s. Music videos have used animation is modern music
videos an example is a-ha Take On Me, using animation is an advantage
because it allows you to do almost anything and get creative which is
perfect in a music video. Lastly computer games also use animation, but
in a different way to give it a particular feel for a particular genre. For
example when promoting a horror game it is important that they get the
animation right so it depicts the scary theme. A good game which does
this well is FEAR 3, the animator has creating the game with a unique
style, they have harsh lights for visions to make it feel uncomfortable,
many other genre would also do this.