OUAN405 - Process & Production: Matches: An Appeal

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

With the turn of the 20th century on everyone's watches, animation was at a crucial point in its life and was about to make history (literally...) with the world's earliest surviving piece of stop-motion animation! Matches: An Appeal was created in 1899 by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper as an advertisement for, well, matches! Created for Bryant and May, this sweet little stop-motion contains an appeal to send money to the company so that they in return could then send matches to the British troops who were fighting the Boer War over in South Africa.

The tiny puppets which were intricately made out of matchsticks seem to be writing the appeal rather cleverly on chalkboard or black wall. Every single movement was filmed frame by frame and was a lengthy yet obviously rewarding process. At this moment in time, Britain was well ahead with all things animation in comparison to the U.S, so things were looking bright for Britain and even the flame was burning even brighter for the future of animation (no pun intended). 

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Star Wars

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Created by George Lucas, founder of LucasArts and LucasFilm, Star Wars has to be one of the most famous film franchises in history. I can honestly say that these films are very similar to Disney in terms of popularity and audience (wide audience, huge fame, never forgotten) and will continue making money for a rather long time due to this. The first film was created in 1977 (now retitled Star Wars IV: A New Hope) and is relevant to the way animation was being used as it was one of the first, well the third actually, films to use 3D wireframe animation.

The 3D wireframe animation technique was the height of technology and was used in such scenes (in the first, original Star Wars film) as the Death Star plans, the Millenium Falcon spacecraft and the targeting computers in the X-Wings. The film "Futureworld" was the first to 3D wireframe animation shortly followed by University of Utah graduates who created a short animation of "A Computer Animated Hand" in 1971.

In close relation with the animation industry, LucasFilm was bought out by The Walt Disney Company in 2012 for a whopping $4.05 billion! It was later to announce that they would create three more additions for the Star Wars franchise with Star Wars VII to be released some time in 2015. I wasn't too happy about Disney purchasing LucasFilm personally and I remember there was a huge divide between the people who were all for this and the people, myself, that thought it was a genuine crime against the film and animation industry! I have this bitter opinion as I worry that the style of the Star Wars characters will change completely and be 100% "Disneyfied" if you like thus ruining the seriousness of the franchise.

In popular culture, many video games and merchandise have arisen and enjoyed great success from Star Wars. Angry Birds have recently done some brilliant adaptations of the film by creating short comics, cutscenes and primarily games from the films.

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Considered the first full-length animated feature film, Snow White was definitely a film that in my family, simply everyone had watched. Disney made this a huge success with its release in 1937. It was created by Walt Disney Production and actually released by RKO Radio Pictures and was based on the traditional German fairytale by Brothers Grimm (weren't most of Disney's most popular films based on Grimm fairytales?).

In my humble opinion, whenever I ask children in my family from this generation what they immediately think of when I mention say, Snow White or Cinderella, they always give me the same old comeback: Disney's films. Now, although this annoys me as this is never my immediate reaction, the Grimm Brothers did it first and will always be in my eyes the best versions, Disney obviously did something right to be able to drill this response into the minds of the young generations later. Yes, Snow White appeals to children due to its singing, dancing and usual Disney chirpiness and creates an adaption of an otherwise rather gruesome and terrifying tale into a child-friendly version that is certain to bring in money...

Due to its popularity, it was often re-released in cinemas and theatres on a regular basis as it's just one of those that every child has to have seen in their lifetime whether they like it or not! I remember going to the cinema to see this when I was very little and although I never really was a huge Disney fanatic, I'd been there, seen it, done it... (And luckily never got the T-shirt!)

This to me is a huge milestone in the development of modern animation as we know it, and although I'm not a raging fan of anything Disney, it was a great creation and the height of technology at the time and turned over a whopping $8 million!

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

These hilarious short were created by Warner Bros. from 1930 all the way up until 1969 during the Golden Age of animation and featured popular cartoon characters such as the famous Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and so forth. They were and still are loved by a very wide audience, even so much so that I remember watching and loving these from about the age of three whilst my 60-year-old father found them works of brilliance also!

Looney Tunes worked alongside Merrie Melodies, its sister series if you like whilst being oddly similar to yet again, Disney's Silly Symphonies (of which I can't stand, yet appreciate for all its influential goodness on animations worldwide which has allowed animation to adapt and change throughout the Golden Age and beyond). Looney Tunes focused less on the corny, typically-American musical-type animations such as the aforementioned, and brought more comedy into the mix with even a touch of adult humour in there at times. This allowed it to cater for a more mature audience allowing Warner Bros. in my opinion to be more successful and loved in comparison to Disney.

Over the many years that these shorts have been going, many forms of merchandise and other media can be associated with the Looney Tunes short such as comic books, audio CDs, clothing, video games, feature films, advertisements, toys and even theme park rides! With the progression and success of Warner Bros., I can't think of a single child or adult for that matter (to some extent) that hasn't heard of or even enjoys the works of Warner Bros.

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Momotaro: Umi no Shinpei

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Momotaro: Umi no Shinpei, or Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors when translated, was the very first Japanese animated feature-length film. Directed by Mitsuyo Seo, a Japanese animator directed by the Naval Ministry to make a propaganda film in relation to WWII, this beautiful animation oozes appeal in my opinion and tells a story of an array of adorable animals (bear cub, pheasant, monkey and a puppy) who leave their families in order to have adventurous lives.

The animals beforehand had enrolled in and successfully completed naval training and along their travels face many difficulties along the way in which their naval skills come in handy in order to help their survival. This, I suppose is where the propaganda part kicks in as it almost gives off a "survival of the fittest" kind of approach by encouraging Japanese naval recruits to try their hardest for their country as their lives are indeed at stake. The use of cute and appealing characters to represent what ultimately would be war troops seems to be a successful way of engaging many audiences and almost giving them an interesting yet informative (to a point) way of looking at the war from Japan's perspective.

Seo was inspired by the 1940's film Fantasia, of which was created by Disney. He was shown this by the Japanese Naval Ministry in order to stem his ideas and give him a base for thinking. Momotaro: Umi no Shinpei also had a prequel, Momotaro's Sea Eagles or Momotaro no Umiwashi to be precise. This was a mere 37 minutes long, and didn't quite make feature-length status.

I do adore this style of animation as many people may already know. It does conform very much to Japanese animation whether it be through sound, music, style, detail, line, mark and so forth. I think Japanese animation/anime of this day and age has somewhat been influenced by this beautiful piece of art as I still see many elements of this in popular anime today.

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Fleischer Studios

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

In the 1930's, a company by the name of Fleischer Studios created a hit sensation of characters that to their surprise would live on way into the 21st century and quite possibly beyond. Betty Boop and Popeye were extremely popular and came into this world when Max and Dave Fleischer invented the rotoscope which started their business back in 1919. They then got a contract with Bray Studios and created their first series named "Out of The Inkwell" which became so popular that their company was then known as Out of The Inkwell incorporated, now known as Fleischer Studios as they inventually changed their name.

Fleischer Studios attempted to emulate Disney's ever-so-popular style after the success of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves and later created Gulliver's Travels. Fleischer even did an adaptation of Disney's Silly Symphonies by creating their Colour Classics series, which was pretty much a parody of Disney's work.

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Felix The Cat

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Felix The Cat has been with me from the age of three when my father brought home my coveted NES games console. I remember Felix was one of the very first games I had ever played in my lifetime and it helped inspire me to want to become an animator and cartoonist. Without Felix however, the animation industry, from my point of view, would be a missing a fairly important chunk of history as Felix was one of those great characters that simply stick with you.

Felix, with his tonnes of appeal, was created in the silent era of film and was one of the first characters to attain a rather large and loving audience. Felix The Cat was a series of animated shorts and he often featured in many comic strips created by his designer, Pat Sullivan. Much dispute was made over who the original creator of Felix really was, as although we believe Sullivan to be the true creator, credit was often given to Otto Messmer, Sullivan's lead animator who worked on the shorts with Sullivan. Felix's first appearance was in "Feline Follies" in 1919.

Soon after the introduction of Disney's shorts and the popularity of Mickey Mouse, Felix's fame soon began to head south as the silent era was coming to a close. Music and sound effects were all the rage so Sullivan decided (although very much against it) to make the switch and give Felix a new lease of life... However this only made matters worse. Sullivan then died in 1933 and although a few resurrections were made of Felix, none of them really took off.

In October 1992 however, Felix The Cat soon made a revival! One that was very much crucial to me as my love of Felix sprung purely from this wonderful event: Felix The Cat the video game! Brought out for NES and Gameboy, the game has very simple mechanics and follows a plot very similar to that of Super Mario (save the girlfriend from the evil boss and adventure through 9 worlds type of thing). I really appreciate the creation of this awesome little guy, and think he's played a big part in my love of animation.

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Astroboy

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Astroboy, more commonly known as Tetsuwan Atom in Japan (Mighty Atom), was originally debuted as a Manga series, written and illustrated by the almighty Osamu Tezuka - "The God of Manga" from 1952 - 1968. The already popular manga was then successfully adapted into an Anime series in Japan. Astroboy was then remade in the 1980s and then once again in 2003! A computer animated 3D film was the created in America in 2009 based on the Manga series.

In relation to the 1963 animated TV series (Anime), Astroboy became so popular after its debut on Fuji TV on New Year's Day that it later became the beacon for a whole new genre of animated film - Anime. Astroboy was the start of a brilliant new era, an era that celebrated Japan (and still celebrates!) for all its Anime and Manga glory, its imaginative plots, beautiful artwork and mind blowing animation techniques. Talk of an animated movie began to circulate soon after Tezuka met Disney in 1964 but there was no collaboration between the two in terms of Astroboy.

The original series was indeed made with the traditional technique of cel shading. There was often a top cel sheet where the lineart resided. This was inked with marker and was then followed by the background cel sheet which slid underneath and was coloured again, with marker with some additions in watercolour done on a separate cel sheet. This took a painstakingly long time to do and required a lot of effort and dedication!

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Gertie The Dinosaur

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

Gertie The Dinosaur was created in 1914 by a popular American cartoonist and animator of the time called Winsor McCay. Gertie was considered to be the first ever animation to ever feature a dinosaur, so therefore probably played a small part in influencing how we thought cartoon dinosaurs looked. Winsor had previously made two animated films before Gertie, "Little Nemo" and "The Story of a Mosquito".

The idea of bringing a dinosaur to life, essentially, was amazing at this time and was the height of animation technology. When McCay debuted Gertie in Chicago, he appeared to interact with Gertie by offering her an apple and "tossing" it onto the screen. This was an incredible performance and showed the audience how an animator could interact with his creations and affect what was happening on screen - or so it appeared.

In the process of creating Gertie, McCay required the help of one of his neighbours, John Fitzsimmons, who assisted McCay in tracing the backgrounds of a whopping ten thousand images onto rice paper and then mounted them onto cardboard to be processed.

Gertie The Dinosaur was indeed a huge milestone in the way animation was created. Winsor then went on to create many other animations and was one of the first animators to use cels!

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Keyframe by Keyframe VS Motion Path

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

In order to give my Revel planets a smooth orbit, Mat suggested that not only did I try my traditional method of keyframe by keyframe to get a precise and accurate movement of the planets around their orbit rings, but I could also try out using a motion path for a few of the planets to see which one worked best.

I found that it was a good piece of feedback as if by chance the motion paths looked better and worked just as efficiently, it would save me a lot of time and therefore give me a spare few precious hours to work on something else. According to my work schedule, I have only a week or so to go before the final animation needs to be finished. I really to crack on and find methods that save me time and effort!

In the end, I discovered that the motion paths worked much, much better. However, to give a more varied look and style (some jerky planets and some smooth ones would give more variation and look more appealing) I decided to use both methods.

I am really, really happy with how the orbits are turning out. Now, to get the rest of my animation done!

OUAN405 - Process & Production: Motion Tween VS The Pen Tool

OUAN405 - Process & Production:

After struggling for many days to get the first scene of my animation working, we finally fixed the problem and got my scene working smoothly at last! The struggle to find the equilibrium between a smooth motion path yet keeping the reliability and easiness of a motion tween was a little bothersome. At first, I had planned on using a motion tween in order o get my spaceship from A to B. However, this method made my spaceship move in a jerky and uneasy fashion. I needed to find a way that allowed me to have smooth movement.

Mat suggested I use a motion path using the pen tool, though this was tough to master as the pen tool required a whole new level of skill and as time was running out, I decided to give it a go anyway. Albeit a fun method to use, the pen tool just wasn't doing it for me as the motion path made my spaceship run backwards! Instead of moving into God's ear, the ship flew out! Not exactly the result I was looking for...

After scouring Google for some quick tutorials on motion paths, I discovered that I was indeed doing the correct thing and still couldn't work out why it was running backwards. After talking once again to Mat, he showed me that the pencil tool was a much quicker and simpler way of creating a path. Indeed it was and only by chance he notice that it was possible to reverse the keyframes of my animation so that my ship would finally move in the right direction! Huzzah!

Now, my ship is fixed and I can finally move on with my animation. Motion paths are indeed a smoother and easier way of getting nice arcs, precise curves and a good way of saving time when I needed it most!