How
did these techniques and early Pioneers impact on the future of stop motion?
If
it were not for these techniques and pioneers, animation today would not look
the same as their knowledge helped us understand more and develop our skills,
to get to where we are today.
The
Persistence of Vision – this is the theory that when there are slightly different
images shown to the human eye in quick succession, it appears to have the illusion
of movement. Whenever light reaches the retina of the eye, the brain
remembers that light for a brief period (roughly between 1/25 and 1/30 of a
second). Once the brain remembers the previous image, the next one is displayed
which makes it look like it is moving. A very good example of the persistence
of vision is the Thaumatrope
which was invented in 1825. This is a device consisting of two images stuck
back to back and when spun fast, the brain puts both images into one, making it
appear to be on image. This was the start of animation as it is just a few
images that appear to be moving, which then gave creators the idea of stop
frame animation.
Frame Rates (FPS) – short for “Frames Per Second”, this is the
measurement of speed that frames are displayed on a screen. There are many
different speeds and they all look different to each other. How fast these
images appear on screen decides the quality of cinema that you see. Common
frame rates consist of 24, 30 and 60fps. Frame rates originated by Eadweard
Muybridge who decided that if pictures were taken in quick succession of each
other, then it would appear to be a clear moving image. To achieve this he set
up a contraption where he used 100
cameras in one straight line with wires running across a race
track that, when triggered, would take a photo. He then used a horse to run
down this track to trigger the cameras. Once he had the images he put them
together and it created the illusion of movement. This had an enormous impact
on film today as early cinema was shown in roughly 24fps, however now
technology has advanced, Avengers: Infinity War was displayed at 60fps which
had better fluidity. Comparison between frame rates.
Stop
Frame – similar to the persistence of vision, this is where inanimate
objects are photographed but are mover very slightly between images. When the
images are played after each other, it gives the illusion that the inanimate
objects are moving. This process would not have been possible without the discovery of The Persistence of Vision as it is used to display motion. The very first example where stop frame animation was used
was in 1899 by Albert Smith and Stuart Blackton in the animated short “The
Humpty Dumpty Circus”. Emil
Cohl was a French cartoonist who brought stop frame to America, he
photographed 700 of his drawings and put them together to give the illusion of
movement. This was then used to create extremely well known films with much
more advanced technology like “Wallace and Gromit” by Ardman
Studios.