Animation

Animation

My personal enjoyment with animation has inspired me to write this essay, pertaining to animation. Since I was a child I have been fascinated with cartoons; from when they started out to be black and white, and until now with full colour and computer effects. To better perceive what my personal feelings about animation are, I must first discuss in full detail, a general overview of how animators bring traditional animation alive with motion.

Animation seems like a smooth movement of drawn sequences of artwork, pasted together to form a single sequence of animation. This is the basis of animation, but animation is far simpler than it may seem. "The true meaning of animation is that it is a series of drawings strung together to create the illusion of smooth fluent movement."1 But the process of creating this so- called illusion, is a pain staking process during which artists must spend tremendous hours of agony to produce only seconds of animated film.

Before an animator goes about creating an animation he or she must have the knowledge of several rules of animation, which animators around the world follow. The first rule of animation is that an animator must hold the understanding of the techniques used to produce single cells of animation.

Second rule, and one of the most important ones is that, the animator must have great patience, so that his or her piece of artwork is not rushed, to prevent the animation from looking choppy and not as smooth as it should look. Finally what is required from an animator is "it takes commitment and effort to make the basis of animation come alive with fresh ideas."2 The following is not a rule of animation, but is often taught to animators around the world. "Animators were often taught that animation is only limited by the imagination and skills of its creators."3 Using these rules animation companies hire artists who are familiar with the rules previously discussed, but to create a feature full-length animation you need more than just these rules. Below the process of creating a feature full-length animation will be discussed in further detail.

To create a traditional animation requires a team of cooperative artists and editors. It also demands a collective, c...

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...r generated graphics and animation, I believe that the true admirers of the art of animation will always have a nostalgia for the techniques first used by the pioneers of animation.

Reference

1.Compton's Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, Vol.3, "Cartoons."

2.Randy McCallum, Cinemation (British Columbia: Motion Works Inc., 1992), p. 19.

3.ibid., p. 23.

4.Edward Desmond, "Beyond Mickey Mouse," Time (Nov.1.1993), p. 32.

5.Toolworks Encyclopedia, 1992 edition, CD ROM, "Animation."

6.ibid., CD ROM.

7.Compton's Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, Vol.3, "Cartoons"

8.Toolworks Encyclopedia, 1992 edition, CD ROM, "Animation."

Bibliography

1.Brown, Robert. "Cartoons." Compton's Encyclopedia, (1991), Vol.3, pp. 163-165.

2.Desmond, Edward W. "Beyond Mickey Mouse." Time, Sept.27,1993, pp. 42-47.

3.Elmer, Philip. "Video Game Boom." Time, Nov.1,1993, pp. 16-20.

4.McCallum, Randy. Cinemation. British Columbia: Motion Works Inc., 1992, pp. 1-

-193.

5.Redmond, John R. "Animation." Toolworks Encyclopedia, (1992), CD ROM.

6.Young, Harvill. "3D Imaging Technology." MacWorld, Sept.1,1992, pp. 276-285.