Thursday, February 26, 2015

History of Animation Research

Here are some very important people in the history of stop motion. You will be researching each of these people. Create a Google doc, share it with me, and put the following answers in the doc.

For each person, answer the following:

When did they live?
Where were they from, what country did they work in?
What is a movie that they created?
What is a significant contribution to the art of stop motion animation attributed to them?

For each person, find a clip of each their work on youtube and  add the link to your answer.


Edward Muybridge

Emile Cohl

Willis O'Brien

J. Stuart Blackton

Ladislas Starevich

aleksandr ptushko

Joop Geesnik

Art Clokey

Michael Myerberg - Hansel and Gretel, an Opera Fantasy

Ray Harryhausen

Will Vinton

Brothers Quay

Peter Lord

Nick Park

Tim Burton

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Persistence of Vision and the Thaumatrope

Objectives
Today we will explore the phenomena of “persistence of vision”, and make a replica 19th Century toy illustrating the principle. Students should also understand that these devices were precursors to the invention of the movie film camera. 

Concept
Animation has a rich history, dating from prehistoric cave paintings through to today’s high tech 3D animation simulating real life; this is credited to a phenomenon called “persistence of vision”. Animation history begins with a simple mechanical toy called the “Thaumatrope”. This optical toy was in wide circulation in Europe and America in the 19th Century. The toy was very simple - a paper disc attached to two pieces of string. Each side of
the disk had a drawing, a classic being one side a bird, the other a cage. The disk was twirled by twisting the strings between the fingers. This produced an effect of blending the two images together; the bird was in the cage. This perceptual phenomenon is known as the “persistence of vision”. Our eyes hold on to images for slightly longer than they are actually projected. Rather than a blur we perceive the images as a continuous picture. This phenomenon is used to its greatest effect in television and films, where rapid sequences of still images give the illusion of movement.

Tasks
Build a Thaumatrope. Use a piece of heavy cardboard to produce some paper discs. Use a hole punch to make two holes on opposite sides of the disc. Thread some string though the holes and the Thaumatrope is complete. Recreate the bird in a cage effect, or try something else. Experiment with photographs cut out from magazines, on one side of the disc stick the photograph of a celebrity, on the other draw in glasses, a beard, hat or whatever comes to mind. The image on the right shows a
completed Thaumatrope.



For yor next challenge, now try creating a “Phenakistoscope” 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rzwdRqsuVM

Here are a couple of videos illustrating the concept

What color is the ball?

The Zoetrope

Welcome to the Class

Good morning and welcome to 3 Dimensional design. Today we'll go over the syllabus and take a look at some examples of stop-motion animation.

Make sure that you and your parent or guardian read the syllabus and send an email confirmation to me at johncazort@ga.ozark.k12.mo.us


Also, search for examples of sculpture and animation that appeals to you. We'll share next time.