Persistence of vision is the theory that animation consists of showing the viewer a sequence of images quick enough (at a high enough frame rate for example), so the brain interprets the still images as a moving image. An example of this could be flip book drawings; a series of still images when moving fast enough appear to be one moving image. Below are some examples of where this is shown.
Thaumatrope - John Aryton Paris invented the thaumatrope in England, 1825. It is a disk with a picture either side, with two pieces of string attached. When you spin the pieces of string fast the disk spins, merging the two images together as though they appear to be one. This occurs due to the persistence of vision and is one of the first steps towards creating, in modern terminology, an animation.
Phenakiscope - The phenakisticope was invented by a Belgian physisist Joseph Plateau and an Austrian professor, Simon Stampfer in 1832. This device works by the viewer looking through a hole in the middle, by doing this you are looking into a mirror. The device would then be spun, and because of how quickly the disk rotates it appears as if the string of images are "living". The creation of the phenakiscope pushes the boundaries of what animation so far was (only two images).
Zoetrope - The zoetrope was invented by William George Horner in 1834. It is "the wheel of life" and was based on Joseph Plateau's invention. A zoetrope works by having a strip of images inside a wheel, as shown on the right. The device is spun, creating a motion out of the moving images. This invention uses the idea of persistence of vision, and works much like a modern day flipbook.
Praxinoscope The praxinoscope was invented in France 1877 by Charles'Émile Reynaud. A strip of pictures is placed in the rim around the mirrors so that they are perfectly reflected. There is the same number of mirrors as there are pictures. This invention was created to improve the zoetrope. The mirrors and lack of material obstructing the viewer's eye allows for a smoother animation, which is easier to use in the sense you don't have to position your eye between a slit.
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George Pal was born in Cegléd, Hungary, on February 1st 1908.
Pal's work with puppets and time lapses ("Puppetoon" animations) is what he is most well known for. For his puppets Pal liked to worth with more resitant materials such as woods and metals. While these were strong and stable creations, as the word resistant suggests they do not allow the same movement that something made from clay would. Some of his works include the films 'The War of the Worlds' and 'The Time Machine'. George Pal can be considered a pioneer of motion animation, as his work inspired the directors George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and many more.
Willis O'Brien was born in Oakland, California, US on March 2nd 1886.
O'Brien as a teenager was a cartoonist and boxer. Some of his most famous works include "The Lost World (1925)" and "King Kong (1933)",Later in life introduced the idea of using a blue screen for rear projection behind the actors to allow them to be "part of" the existing footage. This technique, alongside miniature projection improved the appearance of animation and were used until the 1990's. It is also said that what started his career was him and his colleagues creating clay boxers to have "mini fights". While O'Brien enjoyed using clay for his animations, when creating "King Kong" he used more durable materials such as metal for the skeleton, rubber and foam for the muscles.
Ray Harryhausen was born in LA, California, US on June 29th 1920.
One of Harryhausen's most famous works would be 'Jason and the Argonauts', which was created using early stop motion animation and clay models. Harryhausen says that the film "King Kong (1933)" is what inspired him to enter the career of animation, so he was inspire by none other than Willis O'Brien. In the early stages of his career, Harryhausen worked alongside George Pal on his "Puppetoons".
Otmar Gurmann was born in Schwarzwald, Germany on April 24th 1937.
Gurmann was a television producer, animator and director. One of his best known creations is the stop-motion children's series Pingu. Gurmann mainly worked with clay to produce this well known animation.
Tim Burton was born in California, US on August 25th 1958.
Henry Selick was born in New Jersey, US on November 30th 1952.
Tim Burton and Henry Selick are known for creating detailed claymations. Tim Burton especially, being the more well known of the two, also has a reputation of creating abstract or "creepy" films. Tim Burton's first creation was the short film "Frankenweenie", which in 2012 he recreated into a full length film. Their most famous works would include "James and the Giant Peach" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". As I said earlier, Selick and Burton specialise in creating puppets out of clay
Adam Shaheen was born in London, England on October 13th 1964.
Shaheen is the founder of Cuppa Coffee Studios. He has worked on shows and movies like JoJo's Circus, Celebrity Deathmatch and Little People as well as many others. The material he uses to create these animations is clay.
The Brothers Quay were born in Philadelhpia, US in 1947.
The brothers Quay created their films using items such as dolls or screws. They produce very abstract films, with little dialogue, creating a seemingly dark style of animation.
Nick Park was born in Lancashire, England on December 6th 1958.
He is most famous as the creator of "Wallace and Gromit" and "Chicken Run", which is the highest-grossing stop motion animated film. His specialty is in clay animation and his characters are easily recognisable.
Part 3
Examples of a feature film:
These are two fun films, suitable for children like the majority of animations. However there is also a lot of adult humour. As someone who grew up with "Chicken Run" as a child I was quite shocked at how many jokes I was ignorant to when I rewatched the film at a later age (I still enjoy them now as much as I did when I was a child). You can tell that the LEGO movie is suitable for children as it consists of bright colours and is based around a child friendly toy.
Examples of a TV series:
These, like the film examples, are also suitable for children, entertaining and in some places humorous. The animation is very simple and easy to understand for young children, as it is important that the main target audience understands what is going on and doesn't lose interest. Animations such as "Paddington Bear" could feel quite nostalgic for some people, which creates a secondary audience of adults who grew up the the cute bear.
Example of an ident:
This is a very clever and smooth ident for the channel E4, it uses stop-motion claymation. While there is no obvious narrative, it is rather satisfying to watch the pieces of the cake move so smoothly.
Example of an music video:
This music video is rather unconventional as it uses stop motion (1:30) animation to represent the singer and the songs meaning. Something that makes this music video quite impressive is how the artist manages to lip sync accurately, despite using stop-motion techniques. Seeing how the song is about heartbreak, it is safe to assume that it is target at young adults. This supports the idea that animation isn't just for children and can be appreciated by everyone, when done well.
Part 4
In todays time of technology and high quality cinematic feature length films or TV series I think that stop motion animation has lost a large number of people interested in the genre. People that enjoy classic films now a days are the most likely to enjoy these kinds of creations as well as young children, as the characters created often look very cartoon like.
I believe nothing can truly disappear and be completely replaced, such as computer animation over stop motion animation. There will always be people who prefer older methods and see stop motion as something with more charm than something done by a computer. However I don't think it will ever be as big as computer animation.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_of_vision
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864138/
I viewed the other types of animations wikipedia and the animators on IMDb/wikipedia.
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