SH1667

Introduction to Animation
I. What is Animation?
 The synthesis of movement through the sequential use of images and fragments of
time.
 Basically a technical process of creating motion from a series of static images.
 Demonstrates the illusion of movement that is open to manipulation in many different
ways.
 Can be as intimate and personal as a stick figure doodle in the corner of a flip book,
or as expansive and public as animated laser lights and holograms splashed upon a
cityscape.
 Can be expressed in linear, interactive or real-time forms, and thus is a very broad
concept.

II. History of Animation

 Paleolithic Era – early cave paintings of prehistoric mankind depict expressions of
life via a frozen moment, such as dancing people or running wild animals.
 Pre-Renaissance Era – gave birth to the early forms of puppetry, where different
means are used to make objects move and imitate living things, such as people or
animals.
 Renaissance Era – the period gave birth to the attempts to imitate life via mechanical
means, commonly known as automata. The earliest known human automata, the
android, was believed to have been constructed Hans Bullman of Nuremberg,
possibly during 1535.
 Early Victorian Era – scientific developments (electricity and steam-powered
machinery) have further reinforced the idea of automata as a form of “animation”
similar to movement by living beings; this branch has evolved to what we know today
as robotics.
 Middle to Late Victorian Era – gave rise to different methods of synthesized
movement via “optical toys”, such as the Thaumatrope, Phenakistiscope,
Stroboscope, Zoetrope and Praxinoscope. The period also gave rise to animation
being shown as a form of art for a large audience.
 19th Century – saw the rise of projectionists, who are entertainers that travel
countries with their magic lanterns, the earliest known form of what we know today
as the film projector.
 21st Century – gave birth to conventional animation that we are familiar today;
animation evolved much on this period and is now a very popular art form that can be
done traditionally or digitally.

III. Principles of Animation

 Developed by the 'old men' of Walt Disney Studios.
 Came as a result of reflection about their practice and through Disney's desire to
devise a way of animating that seemed more 'real' in terms of how things moved, and
how that movement might be used to express character and personality.
 Composed of 12 basic principles:

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o Squash and Stretch – gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it
moves. It is also useful for animating dialogue (facial expressions when talking,
mostly) and other facial expressions. It is the most important element to master as
it is used very often.
o Anticipation – prepares the audience for a major action that is about to be
performed, such as running, jumping or a drastic change of expression. This
basically means that preparation must be demonstrated before the actual action in
order for the action to come out as realistically plausible.
o Staging – refers to the mood, attitude, reaction or idea of a character as it related
to the story; it directs the audience’s attention to the story or idea being told instead
of the story elements themselves. This principle mainly utilizes use of long, medium
or close-up shots as well as camera angles.
o Straight Ahead and Pose-to-Pose Animation – principles that start at the first
drawing up to the drawing at the end of a scene. Size, volume, and proportions can
be lost in the straight ahead method, though it can be remedied if the scenes are
done with spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way.
The pose-to-pose animation is a more planned-out version of the straight ahead
animation charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. This
allows better control of size, volume, and proportions.
o Follow Through and Overlapping Actions – principles where parts of an object
(such as long hair, capes, dresses, floppy ears, and tails, etc.) will catch up to the
main mass after the object stops (follow through) or changes direction (overlapping
action). A good example is the “drag” animation employed on cartoon characters
doing a running animation.
o Slow-out and Slow-in – softens actions and makes it more lifelike by having either
fewer frames (faster actions, slow-out) or more frames (slower actions, slow-in).
This allows a scene to have shock appeal or the element of surprise.
o Arcs – a principle that gives animation a more natural action by having them follow
an arc or a slightly circular path.
o Secondary Action – are actions that enriches a main action sequence by adding
more dimension to the doer of an action, in turn supplementing or reinforcing the
main action being done. This can be done in the form of gestures or environmental
changes (for example, rumbling distortions can be employed on a character that is
angrily stomping as he/she walks).
o Timing – a principle that comes best with experience and personal
experimentation (for example, via trial-and-error methods or observation of
movements of different types of objects or beings, such as those in film) for its
refinement; it uses more drawings between poses to slow and smoothen actions,
while fewer frames make actions faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast
timing adds texture, mood, emotion, reaction, and interest to movements or
situations.
o Exaggeration – a principle that using caricatures of facial features, expressions,
attitudes, and actions will make moving objects look more natural in an animated
environment. It doesn’t necessarily mean the extreme distortion of a drawing, or
broad, violent actions. Good taste and common sense will keep an animation from
being too theatrical or excessively animated.

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o Solid Drawing – applies the basic principles of drawing (form, weight, volume,
three-dimensional illusions) to animation to give it the illusion of life. This principle
prevents animation from being bland, monotonous and flat.
o Appeal – posits that the performers of an animated scene must have charisma
based on their character traits (such as being heroic, cute, or villainous). It allows
easily read design, clear drawing, and personality development to capture and
involve the audience’s interests on a given length of time. Animations must be
produced with story continuity, character development, and higher quality of
artwork in order to have a lasting appeal to an audience.

Reference:
 RMIT University, Center for Animation and Interactive Media – What is Animation?
(n.d.). Retrieved on April 17, 2017 at
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_intro.html.
 RMIT University, Center for Animation and Interactive Media – Animation History
(Part I-II) (n.d.). Retrieved on April 17, 2017 at
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_history_01.html.
 RMIT University, Center for Animation and Interactive Media – Disney’s Principles of
Animation (n.d.). Retrieved on April 17, 2017 at
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_principles.html.

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