Animation- A Brief History Lecture

There was a lot to take in in todays lecture, there is so much in the history of animation that it was difficult to fit it in one lecture  here are some of my notes and the bits I found interesting. I have also watched to vintage animations as i found these interesting. 

Animation is derived from the latin word anymore, meaning- To give life to

Animation create a series of images to create an illusion to fool your brain. 

A persistence of vision. 

Humans have illustrated stories and events for thousands of years on bowls, vases and walls ect. 

The Magic Lantern- Christian Huygens

The Thaumatrope- John Herschel

The thaumatrope is a very simple thing an image on both sides of a piece of paper and when you spin it the image appears to move. I have done this in a previous project back at school and it is a really successful technique. 

The Phenakistoscope 

You look through the Phenakistoscope at a mirror and you see what appears to be a moving image but in fact is stills.

The Zoetrope

I also made one of these while at school with photographs. Its stills and when you spin it it appears to be an moving image. 

The flip book 

Another simple process of stills being flipped in a book to appear to be a moving image. 

The Praxinoscope 

A development of the zoetrope, with the use of mirrors and light. 

Animation is not the art of drawings that move but the art of movement that are drawn. 

Walt Disney

First came about in 1929, with Steam boat animation and The skeleton dance (1929) which could of been classed to be the first music video as the music was made fist and then the animation was created from there. 

In 1937, Walt Disney made Snow white, where 1000 people worked on it and was so expensive that he had to re mortgage his house. 

Walt Disney as an animator and entrepreneur, Disney was particularly noted as a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, for whom Disney himself provided the original voice.

1966 Walt disney died of lung cancer. 

In 1991, Disney brought out Beauty and the Beast, they lived in france for 6 months to get a feel for the atmosphere and lighting. By doing this the lighting is just perfect in the film, he has captured france well. 

In 1984 Pixar came about with Luxo jr. 

Luxo Jr. is a 1986 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The two-minute short film revolves around one larger and one smaller desk lamp. The larger lamp looks on while the smaller, "younger" lamp plays exuberantly with a ball but doesn't pick up the knack of correct handling. "Luxo Jr." was Pixar's first animation after Ed Catmull and John Lasseter left Industrial Light and Magic's computer division. It is the source of the small hopping desk lamp included in Pixar's corporate logo.

1995 John Lasseter- Toy Story 

One of my all time favourite films, a film where toys come alive when humans aren't around. The animation has developed quite a bit from 1995 to the recent third one, you can defiantly see the difference. 

In the exact same year Aardman came out, a british stop motion company, the first film being A Close Shave in 1995. 

Wallace and gromit being a pair of clay characters, moved individually and photos being taken every milli second. This is a very slow process as I have tried it out myself, but when you see the end result it is very effective. 

2013- Dumb ways to die 

This was shown as the most recent animation. A piece of advertising from metro, advertising to be safe around trains. This piece of advertising uses humour to engage the audience, with cute characters.