2D Animation & Soundtrack

History/ Method of Animation

Zoe Trope 

The Zoe trope is an animated toy that was originally developed in 1834 with the original name Daedatelun. It is a device that produces the illusion of motion from a rapid succession of static pictures. It is a cylinder that has slits cut vertically into the sides and on the inner surface, is a band that contains images from a set of sequenced pictures. The scanning of the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together and instead you see a rapid succession of images that produce the illusion of motion.




Rotoscoping
Max and Dave Fleischer 
Max and Dave Fleisher are well known within animation as they pioneered one of the earliest attempts at blending live action and animation together. They devised a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing over frames of live action creating an extremely lifelike animation which was called rotoscoping. It has often been used as a tool for visual effects in live-action movies by tracing over an object, a silhouette is created which is used to extract an object from a scene for use, on a different background. The rotoscope would project motion picture films through an opening in the easel, covered by a glass pane serving as a drawing service. The image on the projected film was traced onto paper, advancing the film one frame at a time as each drawing would be made.  From using this device the brothers received their first contract within animation in 1919 to produce their own series called Out of the inkwell which featured their first character Koko the Clown. Koko was acted by Dave Fleischer and quickly became very successful, leading the brothers starting their own company which was named Out of the Inkwell films and then changed to Fleischer Studios. The Fleischer brothers were becoming the top producers of animation with clever humour and included the rotograph which was a process for compositing animation with live action backgrounds. With their earlier experience with sound the Fleischer studios made the transition with ease. Later Max and Dave Fleischer were known for creating numerous cartoons such as Betty Boop and Popeye the sailor man.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney started out in animation when working for a film advertisement company making commercials based around cut out animation. He experimented with a camera, doing hand-drawn cel animation and from this he decided to start his own animation business. Walt Disney's first major character was inspired by the  Fleisher brothers, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit however due to having a dispute with his distributor he lost the rights towards the character. Disney simply modified the character by changing its ears and produced the famous character Mickey Mouse. Soon he decided to create a cartoon with the novelty of synchronized sound. Steamboat Willie was created in 1928 which was Mickeys third film and it took the country by storm as viewers were fascinated. Disney had created a new way of showing animation that had the missing element of sound making the illusion of life much more complete automatically becoming more magical. It threw silent animation into obsolescence.



Later Disney added synchronized music ( The Skeleton Dance 1929 ), three-strip Technicolor (Flowers and Trees 1932) and the illusion of depth with his muliplane camera (The Old Mill 1937). Disney was starting to perfect naturalism by creating a technical wizard that seemed fully dimensional. The final step was Snow white and the seven dwarfs 1937 which was Disney's first cartoon that's content wasn't for amusing the audience with talking and singing cows. This production was the first cartoon to use up-to-the-minute techniques. Audiences were stunned by the vitality of the films characters in which Disney had created new equipment with live actors giving him the opportunity of merging fuse technology with hand craftsmanship. Throughout history Disney went from creating the pencil in hand effects to making it through Graphics tablets. Throughout the film Lion King they gave the effect of being hand drawn as they don't want to shock the audience too much into thinking they have changed from their original work, however they do present them with better technology straight away often using the multi-rigging cameras.



Here is an example of rotoscoping taking place during the early stages of rotoscoping. Walt Disney had the actors acting out the characters movements and expressions from the script and later the work would be rotoscoped.

Other Examples 

Lemonade

This video is an example of Roto-scoping used within a video. It involves a simple lemon fight that happened between 2 people. It shows how the content is traced from moving footage using Photoshop. We find out that when tracing over the footage, close lines that are important need to be thicker and more bold unlike background detail that isn't too important. In depth detail does need to be included however not materialistic detail. A positive aspect with using roto-scoping is that you can include exactly what you want within the image and leave out any detail you don't want to be included whether this is a prop or even the location change in the background. However creating work using this technique is very time consuming and you need to take into account the number of layers that it takes to create this type of animation.


This video also shows the making of the video Lemonade. The creator talks about the positive and negative aspects and where the inspiration came from for the making of the video.

 Music Video - A-ha - Take on me

In 1985 Norwegian band A-Ha released a video for their hit song Take on me however the content used within the video wasnt the norm and was typically a never seen before way of representing a song. They still used Narrative compression to tell a 4 minute story where a male pulls a female from her current position into a black and white comic book based world.The use of these techniques help to smooth the transition between realities of both worlds making it easier for the viewer to comprehend the story. Since the majority of the music video used roto-scoping,  the footage was origianlly acted out by the band to create the footage then using pencil-sketch animation of the live footage they traced over the origianl footage creating this new look. The Director Steve Barron used a variety of cuts throughout to quickly show the interactions between the different perspectives and also including different montages and quick cuts to help the story to flow more easily.




Films - A Scanner Darkly

The film was based on the novel A Scanner Darkly which was inspired on the authors personal problems, dealing with drugs and addiction. The film is set in the near future where surveillance is pervasive. Even though the film had a very low budget the film had a large animation department using five teams of ten animators to complete the rotoscoping process. They traced over live footage that the actors acted out before hand. Due to its specific content and the futuristic look the rotoscoping effect helps to encourage this particular feel as its unique comic book feel gives it a very distinctive look.







My Example 



Here is my quick example of rotoscoping where i took a scene out of the movie Frozen from Olaf. 

Stop motion

Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren believed that Animation should be personal, experimental and diverse in technique and this is what theory he applied to all of his work. He believed that "Its not how the film moved but what was more important was what what moved". He began working directly under the camera and eventually his studios were split into two during the end of the war in 1945. One was English and the other French. McLaren was always fearful of repeating himself so liked to experiennt with different techniques and explore new avenues of ways of making his work different from the rest. His most recognised work was when he started eschewing the use of the camera and working direclty onto the film. He would draw with pen and ink, somethimes even paint and also etched into black emulsion coated films. He was becoming a master of the optical printer creating several films. He made trick films with actors who performed with the freedom of cartoon characters. In the late 1930s he was an important pioneer of electronic music and he began drawing or scratching directly onto the optical soundtrack area of the film. He began developing a system of cards that each had patterns on them which he photographed directly onto the soundtrack area.

McLarens work sets itself apart through its humanism, its sense of humour and its surrealistic overtones. The film Neighbours was shot with variable speed photography in fast motion using stop frame techniques. The stop-motion live actor technique reffered to as pixilation is created by applying
animated cartoon movies to the filming of actors. Instead of making it into a series of drawings, actors are placed into a series of postures infront of the animation camera. The images are then put together to create a short film/story.

McLeans inspiration behind the making of Neighbours:

 I was inspired to make Neighbours by a stay of almost a year in the People's Republic of China. Although I only saw the beginnings of Mao's revolution, my faith in human nature was reinvigorated by it. Then I came back to Quebec and the Korean War began. I decided to make a really strong film about anti-militarism and against war." — Norman McLaren



This stop motion film that McLean had created showed his opinion towards the Vietnam war and how the two men had started off being neighbours and over one object they ended up becoming enemies, turning against each other and even destroying each other's families. The hidden meaning in the video showed that the two men started to fight over the love of this particular flower and to show how much this flower meant to them, they started to get very protective and did everything they could to protect it. In the end the two men even lost sight of what they were fighting over and ended up turning on each other.

 Other Examples

Music Videos ( Bruno Mars - Just the way you are ) 

Bruno Mars used stop motion within this music video for his single. He uses Cassette tape as a visual representation of the lyrics he is singing to his female companion. This shows a lot of creativity and imagination has been put into the though process of the actual video. I think this makes the video automatically become a lot more personal and viewers would find it impressive.



My Example 



Here is a quick example i did myself on stop motion during class when we were asked to act out a quick story using either gangsters, doctors or a shop to be our inspiration. We decided to use a dance off between two gangsters instead of the normal violence seen between them in films.

Digital Animation 

Studio Ghibli 

Studio Ghibli Inc is a Japanese animation film studio based in Tokyo, Japan. The studio is best known for its anime feature films which have been several short films, television commercials and a film. It was founded in 1985 by two Japanese film directors who were well known manga artist Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Throughout their productions they get involved being the scriptwriters, producer and also the illustrator. In 1985 Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that disney would distribute internationally Tokumas Studio Ghibli animated films. Ghibli films are produced primarily using traditional animation techniques which are drawn by hand, even the smallest detail within the background is hand drawn. Ghibli movies have varied stories including many drawing ideas from folklore and mythology. The Japanese films have no life-threatning scenarios leaving viewers on the edge of their seat. The studio released its first film to success Laputa: Castle in the sky.

Howls Moving Castle is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is about a young unconfident woman who is cursed as an old woman and her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure wizard. Throughout the film the complex moving castle changed and rearranges itself several times throughout the movie in response to Howls eccentricity and the various situations.

The film was produced digitally, but the original backgrounds were drawn by hand and painted prior to be digitised. The characters were also drawn by hand prior to scanning them into the computer. the 1400 storyboard cuts for the film were completed and the film was completed on June 26 2004.

Here is a trailer of Studio Ghibli's film Howls moving castle.

Flip book 

A flipbook is a collection of combined pictures intended to be flipped over to give the illusion of movement and create an animated sequence.  The flip book is held in one hand while you flip over the pages with the thumb of the other hand either from front to back or vise versa. The pictures or drawings give the illusion of motion, slower or faster depending on the speed.



Here is an example that i found on Youtube where a fan created a flipbook on their favourite Marvel character Spiderman. Throughout you get the sense of motion and the fast speed of Spiderman travelling through New York using his web. 

Soundtrack 


Diegetic Sound 

Diegetic music is actual sound you hear coming from a scene. This isnt one particular sound but lots of  different ones whether its coming from on screen or even off screen depending on whatever is happening in that particular frame. Whether we can see the music is unimportant as long as we understand the music to be coming from something of the film itself, it qualifies as diegetic music.

These could include:

• Voices from characters 
• Sounds made by objects within the story ( Sound effects SFX ) 
• Music represented as coming from instruments in the story space  

The film drive uses diegetic sound throughout the majority of the film due to its lack of dialogue. During the first 10 minutes of the introduction very minimal dialogue is used and instead is replaced with sound effects and music. Automatically the audience is introduced to the tension of the storyline and i think the silence used helps to create more suspicion and it makes the viewer more curious as it isn't the norm for films especially during the introduction. 

Throughout the opening sequence the music creates the sense of a faint heartbeat which is a sign of adrenaline and automatically it is signifying the use of speed that will be used within the film. This type of beat helps to create more of a buildup of sound also adding to the tension that the audience will already feel due to the lack of dialogue. The radio helps to keep the audience informed into what is happening on screen. The use of sound effects including the car doors, the helicopter, the building alarm help to engage the viewer into the action taking place during the scene. 

 

Non - diegetic Sound 

Non-diegetic sound is known as the commentary sound from the frame as it is the sound represented as coming from a source outside of the story. 

These could include: 

• Background music 
• Narration

 I used this ending clip from The Green Mile as i thought this was a very good example of non-diegetic sound. I think the whole scene was created to cause emotion and to be able to automatically end the film wanting to effect the audience. Throughout the clip we hear background music that is very mellow and fits very well with the conversation that is being discussed. It is very low without any lyrics so the audience isn't concentrating on the music but it is helping to carry the conversation along and makes the conversation automatically seem much more emotional. Also with narration involved this is also non-diegetic due to the sound coming from outside the frame speaking to the audience acting as part of the voice inside your head. 

Parallel Sound 

Parallel sounds are sounds that match a scene. They allow the viewer to be able to watch a scene and take in a visual account on what is happening however it is also used to create more tension especially in a scene where it is needed.

I choose to use the film Pshyco to describe parallel sound as i think this particular scene helps to show exactly how sounds are used to match a scene. During the famous shower scene the actions of the attack with the knife are joined with very sinister and sharp music, using high pitched string instruments which is almost unbearable to watch. This helped to create a lot of tension of a scene and even though, unlike more recent films you don't actually see any violence, you get the sense of realisation that the lady is being stabbed and it effects the audience more by the unconscious mind telling us what is happening from previous films we have seen before. 

 

Contrapuntal 

Contrapuntal sounds are scenes that have music that do not match the scene. For example a happy scene will have sinister music giving the audience an indication that something bad is about to happen.

I found this video from Youtube as i think it grasps the concept of contrapuntal in relation to causing emotion. As you see the clip shows us what the scene would look like without the music and it doesn't really stand out. It is just showing a general birds eye view of a landscape and the audience wouldn't really understand why this was being shown. The opening scene would probably not even get acknowledged. However when the music is added it automatically creates more of a sinister feel and straight away you automatically get that feeling of isolation and loneliness and you get an instant change in emotion when you hear the background music. This automatically changes the mood towards the film and the viewers initial perception. 

Foley Sound

Foley effects are sound effects added to a film during post production as they are sounds that sound recordists tried to avoid during shooting. These include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, utensil sounds, paper folding, doors opening and slamming etc. Foley is usually performed by foley artists who will see a screen which displays he footage they are to add sound to and they perform their sound effects while watching the screen for timing. The actions they perform can include walking, running, rubbing clothing, handling props and breaking objects while they closely observing the screen to ensure their sound effects are appropriate to the vision.

Here is an example of the way foley sounds are put together. This shows the film that the foley actors are watching and exactly how they perform the sound effects and how they add them to the film. 

Nightmare on Elm Street use foley sounds to create emotional responses towards the character Freddie Kruger. The brutal way he kills people automatically becomes much more emotional is where they add the sound effects to add more of a dramatic effect. If the sound effects were not used then the scene wouldn't be as scary because sounds help to create the emotional responses we get especially when watching horror films. Watching Freddie kill and hearing the sound effects automatically adds more disgust, irritation, fear and helplessness during the scene as the sounds are so harsh to the ear they become almost unbearable to an audience. 

During the making of the film Gary Hecker used special Foley effects to create more adrenaline noised and here are some: 

1. Freddie Krugers hand - Using a series of slicing, razor-sharp metallic shings. Using a creaky leather ammo belt for the glove and then two types of blades: a machete to give that ringing blade sound and a surgical steel blades to give the sound of sharpness. 
2. Splattering blood - Soaking leather car chamois in a bucket of water then squeezing it to create spraying and squishing sounds. 
3. Stabbing - Use a chicken carcass is the old way however they decided to stab different cabbages to create the crunching stabbing sound. 
4. Eerie wind - Using voices with acoustical tricks and a sound processor to create different pitches.
5. Cracking bones - A big stalk of celery, wrap a chamois around it and crack it in half. Then for the gooey stuff layer it in wet chamois and a voice so it sounds like bones cracking and blood spraying. 
6. Creaking stairs - Using an old creaky chair was used on different kind of creaky steps and floorboards. Then adjust the type of creak using audio gear.