13 Chapter 13: Animation
Animation is the illusion of movement created by a series of sequential images–such as drawings, models, or puppets–that are displayed at a rapid rate.[1] We are familiar with animation in film or television, yet we know that animation can be created in other devices, such as flipbooks and optical toys like the zoetrope. In film animation, frame rate refers to how many frames are projected per second. Frame rate is key to animation; if the frame rate is too slow, the illusion of movement is destroyed.
Motion Theory
What creates this illusion of motion that we see demonstrated in animation? English-Swiss physicist Peter Mark Roget first named a theory of perception called persistence of vision. He described it as a phenomenon in which an object that was moving at a particular speed would appear to be static. The term later became identified with a theory put forward by Joseph Plateau, the inventor of the optical toy the phenakistiscope Plateau hypothesized that successive images stayed on the retina of the eye, combining them, creating the illusion of motion. This theory was accepted into the 20th century when psychologist Max Wertheimer conducted experiments that led him to believe that the brain was involved in processing the information in this phenomenon, not merely the retina. In 1915, Hugo Munsterberg postulated that the apparent motion we perceive involves the brain. Subsequent research has shown that the properties of vision, such as color, motion, and depth, are transmitted to the brain from the retina and are joined together in the visual cortex.
The phenakitoscope (phenakistiscope) by Iconauta
The film below explains the theory of how we perceive motion in a set of sequential images and how it has evolved over time.
Ted-Ed, Animation Basics: The Optical Illusion of Motion
Whisper of the Heart (1995), for example, includes many shots that mirror standard camera techniques in cinema. Hayao Miyazaki has shots of various surroundings from high up or far away, gradual closeups of characters’ faces, and he echoes Akira Kurosawa’s use of closer objects to obscure and build suspense. While it is true that CGI has essentially turned some live-action films into quasi-animations, the converse is true as well – animation has started to employ techniques seen in live-action films. Whisper of the Heart is infused with cinematographic elements seen in more recent movies, adding a component of depth and directorial vision that creates a unique opportunity for comparison with its recent live-action remake.
Whisper of the Heart
Unlike live-action films, which are constrained by the realism of their special effects, animation offers a boundless canvas.[2]
When considering animation, it is befitting to consider the concepts introduced by Lev Manovich. He writes, “Cinema can no longer be clearly distinguished from animation. It is no longer an indexical media technology but, rather, a subgenre of painting” (22). Manovich believes that cinema has come full circle – “born from animation, cinema pushed animation to its boundary, only to become one particular case of animation in the end” (22).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
2D Animation
There are several standard techniques that have been used to create animation since the origin of cinema. In 2D animation, sequential drawings are created and photographed to be played back at a specific frame rate. During the animation process, artists place transparencies over one another so that the background remains stable and they can then add in movement. Because of the labor involved, 2D animation is necessarily more stylized than 3D animation, although it can nevertheless still range from extremely generalized to intricately detailed. 2D animation typically uses a more consistent perspective than 3D animation, and objects and characters in 2D lack the depth and volume of most 3D animation.
StopBranko at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Originally, 2D animation involved the creation of a series of hand-drawn cels, which were then run in a sequence to give the illusion of movement. The following film, which merges live action and animation, required more than 5000 drawings (Barsam and Monahan 111):
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
Winsor McCay’s Gertie proved quite influential. During the 1920s, a set of conventions stemming from McCay that animation historian Maureen Furniss terms the “rubber-hose” style began to dominate. Walt Disney employed this style both before and after he started his own studio.
Felix the Cat (1919) using the rubber-hose style of animation
How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made (1938)
Cel from Snow White (1937)
Snow White
The success of Disney’s studio, which paralleled the rise of the Hollywood studio system, helped standardize animation principles. Two of Disney’s original animators later codified these principles:
-
- Squash and stretch
- Anticipation
- Staging
- Straight-ahead action and pose-to-pose
- Follow through and overlapping action
- Slow in and slow out
- Arc
- Secondary action
- Timing
- Exaggeration
- Solid drawing
- Appeal
Alan Becker describes the 12 Disney principles of animation
Since seven-ten-minute animated films appeared before the main features, such principles helped churn out product in an efficient and predictable way even as they may have stifled creativity (Furniss 90). Another effect of Disney’s success was the transformation of animated films from a series of semi-connected gags and visuals into a coherent, character-driven narrative. This format would come to dominate Hollywood animation (101).
Outside of Hollywood, particularly in Europe, filmmakers experimented with alternatives to these principles, and some avant-garde animators saw the potential for animation to function as a type of visual music (76).
Excerpt from Oskar Fischinger’s Kreise (1933-1934)
In the late 1940s, some non-Hollywood, non-avant-garde animators began to critique Disney-style practices and update them with alternative design principles, both modern and traditional. Influential studios included Changchun (China) and Zagreb (Croatia, under the domain of Yugoslavia).
Where Is Mama? (1960)
Ersatz (1961)
Furniss observes that more streamlined, design-focused animation initially impacted Hollywood animation “at the margins,” mainly background art, which at the time was viewed as minimally important (201). Eventually, though, these new approaches, particularly graphically oriented characters and stylized movement, made their way into all elements of animation, especially when widescreen formats expanded the animated canvas and placed more premium on depth and space (Furniss 203). Xerography technology also hastened the change as it replaced more labor-intensive animation practices. United Productions of America was an early leader.
Flight Safety Landing Accidents (1946)
In addition to changes in design, animation also broadened its themes to include serious subjects aimed at the teen and adult markets.
Fantastic Planet (1973)
Stop Motion Animation
Stop motion has also been used since the early days of cinema. Objects are moved or adjusted a small amount, and each adjustment is photographed. More recent methods include computer-generated imagery (CGI), using hardware and software to create animation using computers for 3D animation and visual effects.
Japon de fantaisie (1909)
Stop motion in Coraline (2009)
Computer Animation (CGI/3D)
Interestingly, animators experimented with computer design as early as the 1940s. The tipping point, though, may have been Tron (1982), which had significant mainstream success and focused on the burgeoning video game scene. From the 1990s and onward, many animators used computers to generate their images. Computer 3D animation allows artists to alter the central and background images in a less labor-intensive way than 2D, which would require an illustrator to hand draw any changes to the original configuration. Since artists do not need to draw every detail by hand, films using 3D animation will generally be far more realistic than those using 2D. In addition to including more variation in background and physical characteristics, 3D animators can design more nuanced shadow and lighting effects, and their characters and objects can reveal far more dynamism in their movements. Indeed, motion-capture technology can help animators create characters that move and speak with real-life precision.
Brief history of early computer animation
Tron (1982)
The following video from MotionPlex describes some differences between 2D and 3D animation:
Differences between 2D and 3D animation
As with traditional 2D animation, 3D animation has heavily impacted live-action films since it achieved economic and technological viability. From early films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) to the latest Marvel movie, CGI animated effects have steadily replaced practical special effects and prosthetics to create what Furniss describes as “authentic reality” (369). De-aging technology can even recapture the youthful appearance of older actors, as it did in The Irishman (2019).
Liquid metal scenes in Terminator 2
De-Aging in The Irishman
Anime
Anime is an umbrella term in Japanese that means all animated works regardless of sub-style.[3] Outside of Japan, “anime” refers specifically to animation produced in Japan or inspired by Japanese animation style. The oldest anime films are from the earliest decades of the twentieth century. There are some very early examples (dating back to 1907 or 1912), but the universally accepted year of the first anime, The Dull Sword, is 1917. There were three key people working in anime at the time: Ōten Shimokawa, Seitarou Kitayama, and Junichi Kouchi. We’re still not sure which one of them created the first animated film because there are conflicting sources about which premiered first. Whatever happened in the following years, we are not sure, probably because so much was lost in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923.
Katsudō Shashin (1907)
The Dull Sword
Trailer for Magic Boy (1959)
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Voice Acting
While the earliest animated films were silent, from 1926 (My Old Kentucky Home) onward they started using sound to enhance their visuals. As with narrative films, the advent of sound helped animated films provide character depth, but sound effects also added comedic impact, pathos, and narrative clarity. Disney’s Steamboat Willie (1928) is widely regarded as the first fully synchronized animated film.[4]
Steamboat Willie
Walt Disney himself provided the voice for Mickey Mouse, but voice acting quickly became professionalized, although voice actors such as Bea Benaderet were not always credited. Some versatile voice actors such as Mel Blanc, Mae Questel, and Daws Butler did achieve a level of fame, but starting in the 1980s more celebrities started taking over key voice acting roles, especially in feature-length films such as Aladdin (1992), Toy Story (1995) and Shrek (2001). This development has led to multiple controversies over vocal stereotypes, accuracy of representation, and the elimination of jobs for working-class voice actors.
Coco (2017)