Praxinoscope

Praxinoscope

The praxinoscope is created through the use of a strip of images placed in the inner circle of a spinning cylinder surrounding an inner circle of mirrors. As the spinner turned, the view of the images would be progressing as well as being brighter and less distorted, giving viewers a much clearer and steady view of the images shown in the mirror. 

Charles Reynaud invented the praxinoscope in 1877. Reynaud was born in France in 1844 and passed away in 1918. He was a science teacher and an inventor who was well known for improving on the zoetrope, as well as The Theature Optique and the stereo-cinema. 

The praxinoscope is a more advanced version of the zoetrope as instead of having slits to view the images, the viewer will only have to look at the inner mirror to see the action. This provides a less distorted view of the images.  

The Theatre Optique was an animated moving picture system which was considered "the birth of film", 300-700 pictures of moving figures with black backgrounds had to be hand painted, later being attached to a turning wheel. As the wheel was spun, the film was guided further in front of a lantern projecting each image onto a reflecting mirror on screen. The speed of the film would be manipulated by Emile Reynaud - the inventor - which would then produce a story that could last longer than 10 minutes. The projection then became visible to the audience. 

Zoetrope

Zoetrope

Viewing slits are made above a paper strip of images (that could easily be replaced with another set of images) which would then sit on a paper or card disc base. The cylinder will then spin to a range of images that provide the viewer with the illusion of moving images. Once spun fast enough, the zoetrope is created to enable more than one person to see the illusions. 

William Horner invented the zoetrope in 1834. 
William Horner was born in England in 1786 and passed away in 1837. Horner was a headmaster and a mathematician, creating The Zoetrope with the intention of teaching his students with it, making it more convenient for more than one person to view it at a time. 

The zoetrope is a more updated and improved version of the phenakistoscope as it does not require a mirror to view the images as well as it enabling more than one person to view it at a time. 

Phenakistoscope

Phenkistoscope

A phenakistoscope is a disk with figures shown around the center, there are slits near the edges so that the figures are then viewed by a mirror. There are two different sized circles, one being the bigger for the slits, and the second being smaller for the animation drawings. Once you spin the wheel you will be able to see a progressing animation through the slits. 

Joseph Plateau was the first person to demonstrate the illusion of moving image when he invented the phenakistoscope in 1832, the phenakistoscope was produced to create an illusion of motion. Joseph Plateau was a physicist who was born in Brussels in 1801 and passed away in 1883. Plateau researched into the effect of colours in his doctoral thesis which included the observation of the distortion of moving images as well as the reconstruction of distorted images through counter revolving discs. This then lead to Plateau's invention of The Phenakistoscope. 

The phenakistoscope with two discs included; one disk with slots around the edges and another disc containing drawings of action. The discs would both then spin together in the same direction. You could also view it in a mirror through the first disc's slits which would give you the illusion of the pictures on the second disc moving.

Stop Motion Animation

Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion animation is where an animation is created through the movement of physical objects such as clay figures and puppets. The illusion of movement is created through taking a sequence of images and moving the objects slightly per frame. Once the images are played back quickly the viewer will have the illusion of the objects moving on their own.

James and The Giant Peach is a stop motion animation film with live segments shown frequently throughout; right at the very beginning of the film and during the film. Even though there are live action scenes within the film, some figures of characters still remain the same in those scenes.

In the Nightmare Before Christmas, another stop motion animation film, there were over 120 workers working on 20 different sound stages for the stop motion animation. Overall, there were 109,440 frames taken to complete the film. Different heads were created for the puppets to portray every different emotion, facial expression and mouth movement. 

Pingu and the other characters and objects in the show are made of clay. In order to film an episode, each object and character figure would have to be moved slightly and then captured. The same is for Postman Pat where the characters are puppet figures and are moved around slightly per frame as they can be handled and re-figured rather easily. 

Red Bull Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTo-c7bR7wI

Persistence of Vision

Persistence of Vision

Persistence of vision refers to the optical illusion of a moving image that really is not moving. This how most animation works as it is to show fluent movement of characters and objects. By showing us a range of different images in a short and quick space of time, we will have the illusion of movement. 

The thaumatrope and roller both work as you have to move both images relatively quickly before you can begin to have the illusion that they are moving by themselves. This is due to both images being moved quickly enough so that it allows our eyes to see two images moving by themselves. 

Frame Rates

Frame Rates

1 second	24 frames
10 seconds	240
A 30 second animated advert (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56kgP2-4_A                                                 )	720
1 minute	1,440
A 10 minute children’s animated TV programme (               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexoJu3TMWM                  )	14,400
A 30 minute animated TV programme (                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgbCeTrIjmk&list=PLFqE9CmeXFUysR3qRT8KEWh2XQhtEJTUq                                  )	43,200
A 90 minute animated feature film  (     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyJ-H34KAH0                                                   )	129,600

On traditional film, the frame rates are often around 24 fps, whereas digital frame rates are 30 fps. We can see a moving image from as little as 16 fps however the higher the frame rate, the more frames would be required therefore making it more costly for filmmakers.

Peter Jackson, who directed The Hobbit, shot the film at 48 fps which is twice the normal speed (24 fps). Although this made it more costly, the film came out in a much more clearer and detailed picture as opposed to containing motion blur. 

Roller

Roller 1 

Roller 2