Introduction
One of the greatest ingredients to the entertainment industry is animation. It is the rapid display of images in two or three-dimensional artwork that achieves the creation of the illusion of object movement. Animation forms the success factor behind giant entertainment houses such as Disney and Warner Brothers. The history of animation dates the back to early 1800s and has evolved, adopting technology to give rise to some of the best-animated movies in the entertainment industry.
History of Animation
The discovery of the persistence of vision took place in the early 1800s which stated that human eyes can retain visual impression for approximately 1/30 of a second. This discovery is illustrated by Brigman (1992) in stating that “this persistence of vision denies us the opportunity to discover that motion picture screen is dark in approximately ½ of the time and that pictures projected by television screens are single bright and very fast, discrete dots moving across the screen”. According to Brigman (1992), “motion pictures show one new frame every 1/24th of a second and the same frame is shown three times during this period while the eye retains the image of each frame long enough, giving an illusion of smooth, continuous motion”. “This same principle of eye persistence is used by animation in the rendering of the idea of motion” (Brigman, 1992). The knowledge in the understanding of the movement of the human eye led to the creation of the devices such as Zoetrope that was composed of a cylinder with long slits meticulously cut in between each of the images.
Whereas these devices were popular in the 1800s, they never moved beyond the level of simple curiosity. “The ability to make lifeless things appear to move was first achieved in 1890 by Meleis through the application of simple sticks” (Brigman, 1992). According to Owens (2008) the earliest pioneers in film animation were Emile Cohl, a Frenchman who produced several vignettes, J. Stuart lack to, an American, who animated smoke in a scene in 1900 and who is credited with the first animated cartoon in 1906, and the first celebrated animator, Winsor McCay, an American best known for his works Little Nemo and Gertie the Dinosaur.
Winsor McCay is recorded in the history books to have been the first person to produce an animated character on the screen. The application of technology in the production of the animated character was pioneered by John Bray who worked with translucent cells. According to Griffin (2001), “developments by Bray and others enhanced the overlay idea to include multiple translucent pieces of celluloid (cels), added a peg system for registration, and the drawing of the background on long sheets of paper so that panning could be performed more easily”
In 1915, Fleischer introduced rotoscoping in a period in which animation as an aspect of art was still in its struggling stages. Just a year later, Earl Hurd introduced cel animation that made the work of the cartoonists simple. This drastically reduced the number of times a picture had to be redrawn because this technology enabled the laying of clear cels over one image. The evolution was carried further by the famous Walter Elias Disney who used the combination of cel animation and placed audio with a rodent. This ushered the new era in cinema cartoons. According to Owens (2008), “working with animator Ub Iwerks, he created the most famous character in drawn animation history – Mickey Mouse.”
The third film that was developed for Mickey in 1928 contained a musical score written by musical composer Carl Stalling. This propelled Mickey to become the most famous animated character in the history of animation. In this period, the evolution of animation had begun to adopt technology as its most driving factor. Walt Disney Company influenced the entertainment world to a greater proportion than any other in the history of animation entertainment. According to Owens (2008), “the Walt Disney Company influenced the whole world and is largely responsible for making cel animation the industry standard.”
The competition among big studios gave birth to the rise in animated characters that had very strong screen personalities. The acquisition of Brunswick Records by Warner Brothers in 1930 led to the creation of Warner’s first film star, Bosko. Bosko became famous for the “short Sinkin’ in the Bathtub in 1930” (Owens, 2008). Looney Tunes by Warner Brothers and Silly Symphonies by Disney became the biggest names in animated movies in the mid-1900s. This period gave birth to Mel Blanc to become the famous voice behind the original Bunny Bugs created by Ben Bugs in 1939. The latter part of the 1900s has seen the growth of animated movies through the eyes of technological advancement and computer graphics.
Technological Aspects of Animation
The two-dimensional classic animation has not been adapted to a larger scale by artistically expressive and experimental animators. This is because” the success of animation is exclusively tied to the story and character development of animated movie which is best given by three-dimensional classic animations” (Swanson, 2003). Based on the fact that quality animation of three-dimensional was not economically sustainable, there was the need to develop cheaper and at the same time maintain the standards of movie qualities. According to Swanson (2003), “CAPS and animation systems such as Softimage Toonz and Animo, while still relatively expensive, are making it possible for small animation groups to put together films that can compete in quality with animation produced by larger studios.”
The merit of these small animation systems is that they are less manipulated by the dynamics of the movie market. The technology behind Animo is well illustrated by Griffin (2001) in stating that “it allows users to import or scan in animation sketches and backgrounds, manipulate and clean images, create color model sheets, paint, construct scenes, render final frames, edit, add sound and break down voice recordings.” It has been noted that it achieves all aspects of movie production right from the preproduction stages.
The development of sophisticated and technologically savvy computer soft-wares has taken the animation industry to greater heights. Griffin (2001) elucidates that “many strongly art-oriented animators prefer working single-handedly and computers allow them to do this.” Finch (1995) on the other hand buttresses this fact by stating “in the past, people without animation experience could not be in the industry, whereas now, if they’re competent with a computer, and have interesting personalities, they can find a place in the industry.”
The digital arts and graphics programs such as PaintShop, Photoshop, and Microsoft Image Composer have been adequately put to the best use in putting the pieces together in the development of animated characters. The application of Flash technology in animation has been considered the biggest breakthrough in the development of animated characters. According to Swanson (2003), “flash is perhaps one of the biggest success stories in amateur experimentation by taking a tool and using it in a way not intended by its creators.” It also comes along with other advantages such as its cheaper market price in comparison to other available systems.
Social and economic aspects of Animation
Animation has been used in a variety of ways within our society to promote social change. This is because animation forms a powerful tool for a demonstration that enables learners to memorize important aspects of a lesson. Promotions of healthy living lifestyles and lessons on social problems within the society such as drug abuse have been done best by the application of animation. In addition to the above, animation forms a major contributor to the entertainment industry and provides employment opportunities to thousands of people in the entire world.
Conclusion
Whereas it can be confidently stated based on the above discussion that the evolution of animation has been a long historical journey, digital technology is still expected to contribute significantly to the further evolution of animation. This is because computers are increasingly allowing people to express their feelings and artistic expressions in better ways.
References
- Brigman, C. 1992. Looking Inside Cartoon Animation. Santa Fe, New Mexico: John Muir.
- Finch, C. 1995. The Art of Walt Disney. New York: H.N. Abrams.
- Griffin, H. 2001. The Animator’s Guide to 2d Computer Animation. Oxford: Focal Press.
- Owens, A. 2008. the evolution of animation & an animator.
- Swanson, A. 2003. How Digital Technologies are Changing Animation.