Stop Motion Video Essay

Persistence of Vision: The definition of

Persistence of vision in a more understandable
way is that you retain the idea that the visual
image is still there for a short period of time after
the removal of the stimulus that produced it. Its
the phenomenon that produced the illusion of
movement when viewing motion picture.
Essentially, Persistence of vision is referring to an
optical illusion whereby multiple blurred images
blend into a single image in the human mind, and
are believed to be the explanation for motion
perception in cinema and animated films and
other illusions of visual perception, it is produced
by certain characteristics of the visual system.

In the image above the idea is that if you were to stare at it for 30 seconds, look
away and blink continuously in the same spot, the image reflects itself on the
wall as the contrasting colours flip when you retain the image, the image turns
into Jesus.

Stop Frame:
Stop frame animation also more commonly known as stop motion animation, is
when an image is captured one frame at a time with a physical object being
moved between frames providing the illusion that its moving when in actual
fact its just a second image. When you play back the sequence of images
captured earlier in a rapid motion it creates the illusion of movement. Similar to
2D drawings used in big time animation sketches such as Disneys, except it uses
physical objects instead of drawings. The basic process of the animation involves
taking a photograph of the object or character, - they have to be moving and

then in the next image theyve moved only slightly, continuously taking images
the object or character appears to be moving on its own.

Earlier stop frame animations were captured with film cameras. Animators
couldnt see how their work looked until it was processed, it was a risky business.
They used surfaces gages that kept track of where their characters were or were
meant to be also how far to move them. If it was not a fluid nicely flowing
animation the hard work would all be lost and the animator would have to start
over again.

Below you can see 4 images, on their own its hard to tell that the images have
moved even slightly, but then when you layer them and put them together. It

looks like this:

As you can see the inanimate object moves from left to right in a fast motion
thus giving the illusion of moving when in actual fact its 4 images moved slightly
more every time.

Frame Rate
The frame rate of something isnt a way of filming or animating its a
measurement that all animators, videogame makers have to take into mind
when creating anything. Frame rate is also known as frame frequency and it is
the rate in which an imaging device displays consecutive images called frames.
The term is applied equally to both film and video cameras and motion capture
systems. Frame rate is expressed in frames per second, or more commonly
known as FPS, not to get confused with Feet per second. FPS is something very
important, it determines the speed of the production and the movement of the
images as well. The higher the fps the more fluid the movements, but if its too
high the movements look glitchy and begin to have a reverse effect. There are
guidelines to what your frame rate should be, The professional frame rate used
for motion pictures is actually 24 frames per second or FPS and for television
30 FPS in the USA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6t99xvu2wI An example
of fps
You can see in the example above that the images on the top row are both
clearer and a move fluid movement, compare the 30 fps clip compared to the
7.5fps, you can see in the 30fps clips that their arms and legs are moving
smoothly and in the 7.5fps, its very jittery and unclear. At 15fps its considered
virtual real time meaning that its at a near speed to reality.

Movement of models
The concept of
movement of models
doesnt literally mean
models. It means making
an inanimate object
move by taking a
consecutive series of
photos remembering to
remain in the same
position when taking
them to give the
appearance that the
object is moving on its own. You can use armatures to make your animation,
armatures were used for major animation productions such as Chicken Run. An
armature generally refers to one of the two electrical components of an electrical
machine. In animation its usually an iron or steel moveable frame that has the
clay character moulded upon it or over it. Below you can see the frame of the
main character used for chicken run. The metal legs keep it steady but also allow
for movement from the hinges.

Pioneers

Lumiere Brothers
The Lumiere brothers, Louis Lumire and Auguste
Lumire were the inventors of the
Cinematograph motion picture camera. Louis
Lumire worked with his brother to create
a motion-picture camera superior
to the kinetograph and the Cinematograph
eventually became its successor, the kinetograph
which did not have a projector and this is where
the lumiere brothers would make their change to
the motion picture world. They developed a
machine with both sharper images and
better illumination. The brothers worked through
the winter of 1894 to create their first
experiments, their aim was to overcome previous
limitations and problems previous pioneers had
come across. Such as Edisons kinetograph. They
identified two main problems with the device,
firstly the size of it it was big and it was heavy,
you couldnt move it secondly the nature of the kinetograph the
viewing system meant that only one person could view this film at a time,
this is where the concept of projection was brought in.
By early 1895 the brothers had invented their own device that combined
camera with printer and projector it was called the Cinematograph, it
was much smaller than the Kinetograph and was lightweight. It was hand
cranked as well, the Lumieres used a film speed of 16 fps, it was much
slower compared to the previous Kinetographs 48 fps it meant that less
film was used and also the clatter and grinding associated with the
previous device was reduced.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+Cin

%c3%a9matographe+example&&view=detail&mid=DA8CBD329DB1D43273F0D
A8CBD329DB1D43273F0&FORM=VRDGAR
You can see here that the use of the cinematograph projection makes it seem as
if the train is coming towards this person through a wall, it seems surprising but
back then that would have actually been quite scary, some people may have
even thought it was real.

Eadward Muybridge

Edward James Muggeridge was an English

photographer important for his pioneering work in
photographic studies of motion, and early work in
motion-picture projection. Muybridge is known for
his pioneering work on animal locomotion in 1877
and 1878, which used multiple cameras to
capture motion in stop-motion photographs, and
his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion
pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film
strip used in cinematography. At age 20 he moved
to America, first to New York and he worked as a
bookseller, then he moved to San Francisco. He
returned to England in 1861 and took up
photography professionally.
The zoopraxinoscope is an early device, the
physical idea is that it projected images from
rotating glass disks in a rapid motion that gave the impression of whatever it
was displaying moving. Initially the images were painted onto the glass as
silhouettes and a second series of discs outlined the drawings these were

printed onto the discs photographically then coloured by hand. Some of the
animated images were very complex and featured multiple combinations of
sequences. The zoopraxinoscope mainly focused on the movement of
animals. It was the first commercial film exhibition system and the original
images are now in The Kingston Museum Bequest.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=examples+of+the+zoopraxiscope&&view=detail&mid=42986CDD34A372
76295A42986CDD34A37276295A&FORM=VRDGAR In this, we can see that
the horse looks like hes moving when in actual fact its a layer of painted
images printed onto multiple layers of thin glass. When moved rapidly they
give the illusion that the horse is moving.
Emile Reynaud

Charles-mile Reynaud born 8 December 1844

was a French inventor, responsible for the first
projected animated cartoons. Reynaud created
the Praxinoscope in 1877. 28 October 1892 he
projected the first animated film in public, Pauvre
Pierrot, at the Muse Grvin in Paris. This is also
notable as the first known instance of film
perforations being used.
Ryanaud's late years were tragic after 1910
when, his creations outmoded by
the Cinematograph, dejected and penniless, he
threw the greater part of his irreplaceable work and unique equipment
into the Seine. The public had forgotten his "Thtre Optique" shows,
which had been a celebrated attraction at the Muse Grevin between
1892 and 1900. He died in a hospice on the banks of the Seine where he
had been cared for since 29 March 1917.

The praxinoscope was an animation device and the successor to the

zoetrope, it used a strip of images placed around the inner surface of a
spinning cylinder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez_UJAafRMs
In this clip you can see that due to the turning mirror effect, it looks like the
little girl is jumping rope.
Developers

When it comes to developers, someone we

might know well depending on how much we
love the classics would be artists such as
Willis Obrien, He was born in Oakland
California, leaving home at eleven to start his
business carrier. During his time working on
farms etc he developed a passion for
dinosaurs and started working as a guide and
paleontologist. This is where the idea of the
lost world surely began. He later became a
sculptor and assistant of architectures.
During this time he made models including
dinosaurs and cavemen which he animated
with the assistance of a local newsreel
cameraman. Herman wobber saw a 90 second test footage and it was
commisioned by Willis OBrien to make his first film The Dinosaur and
the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy, its budget was $5,000. This was a
lot more back then though. The future saw Willis OBrien making ground
breaking work on King Kong, 16 years later in 1949. OBrien was awarded
an Oscar for Best Visual effects.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+lost+world+animation+willis+o
%27brien&&view=detail&mid=906AB82C45CF57852A6E906AB82C45CF5785
2A6E&FORM=VRDGAR
Ray Harryhausen born June 29th 192- was an American visual
effects creator, writer and producer, he created a form of
stop-motion model animation, or as he called it
Dynamation.
He worked alongside Willis OBrien in productions such as
The Mighty Joe Young made in 1949, Willis OBrien was his
mentor and advisor, he taught Ray a lot of what he knew. He
won an academy award for best visual effects in The Mighty
Joe Young. Ray Harryhausen moved to the UK and lived in
London from 1960 until he died in 2013. During his life he gave a lot back
to the visual effects world and innovated style of special effects in film, he
inspired numerous filmmakers including some we know very well today;
Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton etc.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=the+mighty+joe+young&&view=detail&mid=078B43549DF3F50B78EC07
8B43549DF3F50B78EC&FORM=VRDGAR
In the clip shown we can see the amazing visual effects created in The
Mighty Joe Young, you can see how the Gorilla almost looks like, and in some
cases it was actually a real gorilla, other times it was animatronic.

Contemporary Work
When it comes to
contemporary developers
of animation, The Brothers
Quay is a perfect example
of using new technology
to do rather bizarre things.
The Quay Brothers lived
and worked in England
having moved there in
1969 to study at the Royal
College of Art. Their
animation films feature
puppets made of doll
parts and other organic/inorganic materials. Their often dark and moody
aura was portrayed in their productions. The films have no meaningful
spoken dialogue and some have no spoken content at all leaving it
completely up to the viewer what they gain from the production.
Steven and Timothy Quay were American identical twin brothers and they
had a large influence on stop motion animations. They are also recipients
of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for outstanding Set Design for their work
on the play The Chairs. They formed Konick Studios and continued to
produce dark moody animations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWeRnpMgbj8
You can see in this production that the characters are dolls, there is no
spoken word and its also really hard to tell whats going on. Thats the clever
thing about The Quay Brothers. They leave it up to you to interpret what you
would like from the production.
Tim Burton
Tim Burton, an American film director and producer, hes known for his dark,
gothic and slightly quirky fantasy films, some animation some not, Films
like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. He then continued to make
animated productions such as the Nightmare Before Christmas, the horror
fantasy Sleepy Hollow and his later efforts include The Corpse Bride. The
common reoccurrence that we notice is that Tim Burton likes to make
animations and productions about death and love, but they seem to occur
always at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9boDkpEyvc
In his production the corpse bride we can see its obviously animated, the
characters have this very bizarre gangly look about themselves and seem to

be very oddly shaped. Living in a bizarre grey and depressing world, they find
love and make happiness out of it. Its oddly satisfying to watch although it
can be quite depressing at times.
How the genre has changed over time
(TV Animations channel idents cinema advertising music videos.)
The genre has changed dramatically over time, as well as the evolution of
technology, the style of animation has changed as well. During the time of
the lumiere brothers, animations were very simple, either drawn and printed
on or filmed and projected. It was simple and usually in the control of the
viewer having to turn a handle to make the device work, or having to move
around the production to view it yourself. These days, productions are made
out of Clay and are moved centimetre by centimetre rather than layers of
printed sheet on top of each other.
Along with the animations changing, the animators have changed as well,
From Thomas Edison to Tim Burton the style of the animations has changed
as well. Animations back in the day were short, sweet and simple they were
often something that could be repeated such as a horse running a long a
track, or a little girl jumping rope, this was to save money, time and effort
since back then you didnt have the technology we have today. Today we
have ever changing background and effects, we can create a whole set for a
scene, smash it down a build another one for a different scene the next day.