What is an animated film? An animation is always constructed frame by frame. When projected these frames create the illusion of movement. This quirk of human perception causes us to create a continuum between the frames. In the past an Imation has been linked to alchemy and magic, though is more closely related to science.
Animation is a craft. Artistic skills are often required as it is a very visual form. However this comes secondary to the process of communication. Celebrated animator, ‘Norman McLaren’, defined animation as the space between the frames.
The history of animation has been shaped by technology, by the demands of the entertainment industry and, above all, the skill and imagination of individual artists.
How was animation created then? Illusionary devices have existed for along time, such as the zoetrope or the phenakiscope. It was Emile Reynauds from France who created the Praxinoscope in the 1880’s. The world was presented with the first sequence of movements. This was a form approaching a cinema performance. The Praxinoscope consisted of a serious of painted slides, mounted on a huge perforated leather belt, held on two large drums. As the belt was wound through the machine, a lamp projected the moving images through a lense onto a screen. The Praxinoscope predates photographic film, therefore reproduction of the images was impossible, which meant the slides had to be made by hand. Although backgrounds could be superimposed during the projection, this production process meant the films were limited to performances at Reynauds own theatre. The ‘Theatre Optique’ opened in Paris, 1892.
Sequences he created include “ Autour d’une cabine”, 1895. Reynauds moving images occurred as cinema was about to be created. Cinema is perhaps the most influential form of communication of the 20th century. Within a decade of the first moving photographic images in Paris, film progressed from, scientific research and novelty performances to the point where a whole series of films could be shown as a programme in theatre. Animation had at first a minor place in this new system of production. British born American James Stewart Blackton used animation routines on film in his own stage performances. Performances such as ‘humorous phases’.
Arthur Melbourne Cooper and Walter Booth used trick film to animate objects for early publicity films. Matches appeal, 1899. At this time this form of film was seen as eccentric. However, now after re evaluating, trick film in the language of cinema it has been recognised as an important part of what is now the dominant form of cinema. This has ensured these pioneers a place in film history. However these works had little effect on the main developments in the production of animated film.
How did animation progress? Animation emerged in its own right through the persistence of two great figures. Emile Cohl and Windsor McCay, French and American. They laid the foundations of animation as an art form and industry. For a short time both had clear visions of the potential of this new medium of the technical needs of production and significantly of the audience. Emile Cohl had already established a film reputation as an illustrator. How first animated film was called ‘Fantasmagorie, 1908. This form of production moved away from trick film. Only 2 minutes long, consisted of a stream of images appearing in a dreamlike way. There was no narrative structure but determined by an inner logic. Cohl continued to produce films into the 1920’s. included the fantosches’ series. Although he died in poverty 1938 he still hold a fascination for animators, who recognise the group he had of the medium to transform and distort figures and objects.Windsor McCay also still had influences on present day filmmakers. He was also a well established graphic artist, with considerable reputation, working for the New York Herald on a popular comic strip series, little nemo.
This comic strip were derived from a European style, but McCay expressive artistic style transformed this into a graphic form which has earned him a place amongst the great graphic artists of the century. Its comic strip appealed massively to the European immigrants that could speak little English. The visual narratives appealed to these audiences as it was a non verbal form, which they recognised, but also had the boldness of the new world. Emile Cohls work was adapted to suit the production conditions of the new medium. He believed the sheer amount of art work needed demanded much simpler drawings. McCay did not make this compromise. His skills as a draftsmen is displayed from the start.
‘Gertie the dinosaur’ 1909, was one of his greatest works, which was effective in demonstrating not only the characters movements, but its weight and mass also. His control over his animators was not equalled again for some time. Also he started developing production techniques still used today such as cycling and repeats. Disney played a big part in refining animation and in particular who its audience was. In 1937 Disney create the animated short, ‘the old mill’. it predates Disney’s first animated feature film, ‘snow white’. it was the first film to use the multi plane camera. Disney noticed that when zooming into a scene on a flat background the whole image would move. In his quest for realism in animation he created a camera that held different layers or ‘planes’. the slides would be mounted onto this creating different layers to the background. This effectively gave the film the depth it needed to created a realistic world for the character to reside. He used these animation shorts, e.g. the ‘silly symphonies’ as experiments for new animation techniques.
