Animation Essay

Persistence of vision:

Persistence of vision is a visual phenomenon where an image is retained in the eye for a short period of time, creating an illusion of continuous motion in film and video.Our eye has ability to persist the detail of the object for a time equal to 1/16th seconds after the removal of the object. This time is known as persistence of vision. Present day film and tv now runs at 24 frames p/s.

Timeline of animation history:
http://www.joshuamosley.com/UPenn/courses/Ani/AnimationHistory.html

1824:	Peter Roget presented his paper 'The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects' to the British Royal Society.
1831:	Dr. Joseph Antoine Plateau (a Belgian scientist) and Dr. Simon Rittrer constructed a machine called a phenakitstoscope. This machine produced an illusion of movement by allowing a viewer to gaze at a rotating disk containing small windows; behind the windows was another disk containing a sequence of images. When the disks were rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows with the images created an animated effect.
1872:	Eadweard Muybridge started his photographic gathering of animals in motion.
1887:	Thomas Edison started his research work into motion pictures.
1889:	Thomas Edison announced his creation of the kinetoscope which projected a 50ft length offilm in approximately 13 seconds.
1889:	George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic film strips using a nitro-cellulose base.
1892:	Emile Renynaud, combining his earlier invention of the praxinoscope with a projector, opens the Theatre Optique in the Musee Grevin. It displays an animation of images painted on long strips of celluloid.
1895:	Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called a cinematograph capable of projecting moving pictures.
1896:	Thomas Armat designed the vitascope which projected the films of Thomas Edison. This machine had a major influence on all sub-sequent projectors.
1906:	J. Stuart Blackton made the first animated film which he called "Humorous phases of funny faces." His method was to draw comical faces on a blackboard and film them. He would stop the film, erase one face to draw another, and then film the newly drawn face. The Ôstop-motionÕ provided a starting effect as the facial expressions changed be fore the viewerÕs eyes.
1908:	In France Emile Cohl produced a film, Phantasmagorie which was the first depicting white figures on a black background.
1910:	Emile Cohl makes En Route the first paper cutout animation. This technique saves time by not having to redraw each new cell, only reposition the paper.
1911:	Winsor McCay produced an animation sequence using his comic strip character "Little Nemo."
1913:	J.R. Bray devised "Colonel Heeza Liar," and Sidney Smith created "Old Doc Yak."
1914:	John R Bray applies for a patent on numerous techniques for animation. One of the most revolutionary being the process of printing the backgrounds of the animation.
1914:	Winsor McCay produced a cartoon called "Gertie, The Trained Dinosaur" which amazingly consisted of 10,000 drawings.
1914:	Earl Hurd applies for a patent for the technique of drawing the animated portion of an animation on a clear celluloid sheet and later photographing it with its matching background. [Cel animation]
1917:	The International Feature Syndicate released many titles including "Silk Hat Harry","Bringing Up Father", and "Krazy Kat".
1919:	Pat Sullivan created an American cartoon "Felix the Cat."
1926:	The first feature-length animated film called "El Apostol" is created in Argentina.
1923:	Walt and Roy Disney found Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
1923:	Walt Disney extended Max Fleischer's technique of combining live action with cartoon characters in the film "Alice's Wonderland".
1927:	Warner Brothers released "The Jazz Singer" which introduced combined sound and images.
1928:	Walt Disney created the first cartoon with synchronized sound called "Steam Boat Willy".
1930:	The King of Jazz is produced by Universal. In it is a short animated sequence done by Walter Lantz. It is the first animation done with the two strip technicolor process
1934:	Urb Irwek creates a multi-plane camera. This camera is capable of filming several separate layers of cels giving the final frame a truly three dimensional look.
1943:	John and James Whitney produced "Five Abstract Film Exercises."
1945:	Harry Smith produced animation by drawing directly onto film.
1957:	John Whitney used 17 Bodine motors, 8 Selsyns, 9 different gear units and 5 ball integrators to create analog computer graphics.
1961:	John Whitney used differential gear mechanisms to create film and television title sequences.
1963:	Ivan Sutherland and SKETCHPAD at MIT/Lincoln Labs
1964:	Ken Knowlton, working at Bell Laboratories, started developing computer techniques for producing animated movies.
1972:	University of Utah, Ed Catmull develops an animation scripting language and creates an animation of a smooth shaded hand. Ref: E. Catmull, "A System for Computer Generated Movies", Proceedings of the ACM National Conference, 1972. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1972:	University of Utah, Fred Parke creates first computer generated facial animation. >Ref: F. Parke, "Computer Generated Animation of Faces", Proceedings of the ACM National Conference, 1972. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1974:	National Research Council of Canada releases Hunger/La Faim directed by Peter Foldes and featuring Burtnyk and Wein interactive keyframing techniques. Ref: N. Burtnyk and M. Wein, "Interactive Skeleton Techniques for Enhancing Motion Dynamics in Key Frame Animation", Communications of the ACM, 19(10), October 1976. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1982:	Tron, MAGI, movie with CG premise
1983:	Bill Reeves at Lucasfilm publishes techniques for modeling particle systems. "Demo" is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. The paper also promotes motion blur. Ref: W. Reeves, "Particle Systems -- A Technique for Modeling a Class of Fuzzy Objects", Computer Graphics, 17(3), July 1983. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1984:	The Last Starfighter, CG is used in place of models
1984:	Porter and Duff at Lucusfilm publish paper on digital compositing using an alpha channel. Ref: T. Porter and T. Duff, "Compositing Digital Images", Computer Graphics, 18(3), July 1984. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1985:	Girard and Maciejewski at OSU publish a paper describing the use of inverse kinematics and dynamics for animation. Their techniques are used in the animation "Eurythmy." Ref: M. Girard and A. A. Maciejewski, "Computational Modeling for the Computer Animation of Legged Figures", Computer Graphics, 19(3), July 1985. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1985:	Ken Perlin at NYU publishes a paper on noise functions for textures. He later applied this technique to add realism to character animations. Ref: K. Perlin, "An Image Synthesizer", Computer Graphics, 19(3), July 1985. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1987:	John Lasseter at Pixar publishes a paper describing traditional animation principles. "Demos" are Andre and Wally B and Luxo Jr. Ref: J. Lasseter, "Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation", Computer Graphics, 21(4), July 1987. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1987:	Craig Reynolds then at Symbolics (now at Dreamworks SKG) publishes a paper on self-organizing behavior for groups. "Demos" are Stanley and Stella and Batman Returns. Ref: C. W. Reynolds, "Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model", Computer Graphics, 21(4), July 1987. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1988:	Willow uses morphing in live action film
1992:	Beier and Neely, at SGI and PDI respectively publish an algorithm where line correspondences guide morphing between 2D images. "Demo" is Michael Jackson videoBlack and White. Ref: T. Beier and S. Neely, "Feature-Based Image Metamorphosis", Computer Graphics, 26(2), July 1992. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.) v
1993:	Chen and Williams at Apple publish a paper on view interpolation for 3D walkthroughs. Ref: S. E. Chen and L. Williams, "View Interpolation for Image Synthesis", Computer Graphics Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, 1993. (In the SIGGRAPH 98 Seminal Graphics collection.)
1993:	Jurassic Park use of CG for realistic living creatures
1995:	Toy Story first full-length 3D CG feature film

Zoetrope:
A zoetrope is a device that produces the illusion of motion from a rapid succession of static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the Greek words ζωήzoe, "life" and τρόπος tropos, "turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life".

The zoetrope consists of a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides. On the inner surface of the cylinder is a band with images from a set of sequenced pictures. As the cylinder spins, the user looks through the slits at the pictures. The viewing through the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together, and the user sees a rapid succession of images, producing the illusion of motion.

Praxinoscope:

The praxinoscope was the successor to the zoetrope and was invented in France in 1877 by Charles Emiles Raynard. Similar to the zoetrope this contraption uses a strip of images that spin within a cylinder. It improves on the zoetrope by removing the slits and replacing them with mirrors so the images with in the cylinder appeared more or less stationary in position as the wheel turned. Someone looking in to the mirrors therefore would see the rapid succession of images creating the illusion of movement. 

Thaumatrope: 

A thaumatrope was a product developed in the Victorian times. It is essentially a disk or bit of card with two images either side attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled the circular cards flip between the images they appear to be combined in to one.
Examples of common thaumatrope pictures include a bare tree on one side of the disk, and its leaves on the other, or a bird on one side and a cage on the other. They often also included riddles or short poems, with one line on each side.

Stop Animation:

Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation or "clay-mation". Not all stop motion requires figures or models; many stop motion films can involve using humans, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation.

South Park & Trey Parker:
Trey Parker is the animator that I have decided to look at. Parker was born in Denver, Colorado to Randy & Sharon Parker - the two names given to Stans parents in South Park. Parker graduated in Music and Japanese at the University Of Colorado.
In the early years of South Park, Parker came up with the initial concept of a Santa VS Jesus episode based around 4 young boys in the Colorado town. This film became a smash hit and went viral around LA and NYC. Being passed around and copied over and over by some of the biggest names in the industry before ultimately landing in the hands of Comedy Central Exec's. In a 2006 interview those same exec's said that "it was the funniest thing we had ever seen! We told them to make a show. They went off and made the first 13 episodes, which turned in to South Park Season 1". Parker has been widely accepted to be the main man behind South Park. He is well known to have written and directed the majority of episodes as well as being the predominant voice actor across the entire show.
Since South Park's success Parker has written and starred in a number of feature length films as well as writing entire broadway musicals.

South Park is an American cartoon/animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language and dark, surreal humor that makes a mockery of a wide range of topics. The long running narrative revolves around four boys—Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick—and their crazy adventures in and around the Colorado town.

Parker and Stone developed the show from two animated shorts they created in 1992 and 1995. The latter became one of the first Internet viral videos, which ultimately led to its production as a series.
South Park first aired in August 1997 with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any basic cable program through out the shows entire career.. Subsequent ratings have remained high although fluxuating through out a few seasons. but it remains one of Comedy Central's highest rated shows, and is said to run through at least 2016.
The pilot episode was produced using cutout animation. All episodes there afrer  were created with software that emulates the cutout technique. Parker and Stone perform most of the voice acting. Since 2000, each episode is typically written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast, with Parker serving as the primary writer and director. Then the pair go in to the recording studio and do all the voices together.

In terms of animation, a lot of video games use animations to enhance the experience of the user. For example in the game FIFA they call in a number of players and have them wear sensor suits. Then a camera tracks the exact movement of the certain player in order to have the movements of the animated characters exactly tuned to the identical movements the player would make in real life. This is true of a number of video games. They use said suits to track life like movements of people and have the characters immitate those movements with in the game. For example the way the torso, shoulders, arms and legs move while, hypothetically  Cristiano Ronaldo takes his free kicks.
Personally I think this is a fantstic way to input real life movements in to animated video games. I would imagine we will only to continue to move animation closer and closer to real life.

Idents:
An ident is a graphic created by a company in order to be the most associative thing with their company and ideals. It works essentially like a call sign for the company on air. Previously idents were spoken by word during the interval of shows.
Some interesting idents ive identified would be Channel 4's recent ident campaign in which different things in every day life come together to briefly form a "4" on screen. This has become synonymous with Channel 4.
Another one would be BBC1. The use of a complete circle in which to encompass everything they want to say is a really intuitive in terms of a fairly subtle ident.

Music Video:
There is a massive benefit to having a music video animated. As with all other facets of animation it increases the scope of creativity and reduces the cost of the project. I think this is extremely useful with regards to music videos especially. One of the key things with music videos is to be relatable to the song. This is something that cannot be necessarily achieved with real life actors and locations. With animation you dont have any of these problems. You control every facet of the video and can quite literally control everything from the weather and lighting of the film to the emotion and reactions of you characters within it.
In a world where music videos are being increasingly used as advertisement tools it is ideal to try and keep production costs as low as possible. Animation can make this, often difficult, task an achievable reality.
It can also set the tone for an artists style of video. For example The Gorillaz - the became extremely well known for the recurring characters in their videos. As well as the obvious representation of the band members within the videos. This set a theme for them that they can be associated with and people can come to expect a similar style. It attaches a very staunch image to not only the bands image but to their music as well.

Advertising:
Animation is being increasingly used within an overly competitive advertising world. The benefits of using animation with in your advertising campaign comes with the realms of creativity. For example "Wonga" were to use real life actors and studios within their advertising campaigns it would have been far more expensive and time consuming. Opposed to using animation which gives the director a lot more freedom of creativity. The realms of possibility are greatly increased with animation. Taking in to account the amount of advertising we see every day its the creative ones that stand out. Animation give you that possibility.
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Some of the things that make advertising with animation a lot easier and economical are:

• Save Money - Contrary to popular belief, it is actually cheaper to create an animation commercial than it would cost to create a live production. If you want your advert to be memorable you would probably need a recognizable face to go with the product. Hiring a celebrity will cost you a lot of money not even talking about the salaries of the entire team. Even casting for your commercial is an expense you can spare by creating your character online.
• Dream Big - Even though the shooting of the commercial will only take a few days that is only the beginning. Post-production takes a lot of time and another set of hands to help with the editing and voice overs, you name it. Instead of struggling to direct your cast, you can choose what your animated character will say, and even how and with what emotions they will say it.
• Create Lasting Characters - The character that you are creating in your animation film or commercial will be the face of your brand. This character will become recognisable and people will link it with your brand. You don’t have to worry about that actor or actress not being available for your next television commercial, your character creation will be available for you to use until the end of time.