Context of Practice 3 - Notes 2 (A Century Of Model Animation from Melies to Aardman, Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton)

These are the notes that I have gathered from A Century of Model Animation; From Melies to Aardman.

A Century of Model Animation; from Melies to Aardman

‘Animation is to evoke life’ Eadweard Muybridge pg 13

‘an-i-ma-tion (n): The act, process or result of imparting life, interest, motion, or activity’ Dictionary.com pg 13

‘If 24 frames amounts to only one second of screen time, it follows that a minute requires 1440 frames and an hour 86,400 frames. ‘ pg 18

‘When the animation pioneer Willis O’Brien (‘Obie’) began his early experiments he constructed his models from cloth, rubber and clay over simple, jointed wooden skeletons.’ pg 21

‘But as his expertise matured he developed steel skeletons, or internal armatures, articulated with steel ball-and-socket joints and, late, hinge joints. The armatures were then covered with layers of latex rubber shaped t5o provide the models with a muscular structure.’ pg 21

‘Internal armatures are the starting point for building any model and they can be either very simple or extremely complex.’ pg 22

‘A ball-and-socket joint consists of a metal ball which fits into curved recesses in two rectangular pieces of metal which are clamped on either side so that the whole arrangement can be tightened or loosened by turning one or two screws.’ pg 22

‘The hinge joint is just that, two or more pieces of metal attached to its neighbours by a hinge. It is stronger and less prone to wear, hence its use for bigger models to bear the weight.’ pg 25

‘... models may be moved hundreds of time, sometimes leading to wear and tear which causes joints to become loosened, necessitating a quick maintenance job, either on the spot or more usually overnight.’ pg 26

‘Once the armature or skelton has been designed and constructed it had to be given ‘flesh’. There were two methods of doing this. The first was the ‘build-up’ method and the second the ‘casting’ method.’ pg 26

‘The build-up method used layers of sponge rubber fixed in position around the metal armature with glue and then trimmed into shape with scissors. Additional layers of muscle could be added using cotton wool and more sponge rubber.’ pg 26

‘The potentially quicker ‘casting’ method began with a wax or clay model from which a plaster mould was cast. The metal armature was then wrapped with tape and/or rubber dam (a very thin rubber sheet) which held it in more or less central position in the mould and also prevented the liquid latex from sticking to the metal and causing rust. Following that a solution of liquid latex would be whipped up to create an aerated foam latex and then poured into the mould.@ pg 26

This is a brief history of Stop motion animation;

• Arthur Melbourne-Cooper; Dreams of Toyland (1908)
• James Stuart Blackton; The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1898)
• James Stuart Blackton ; The Enchanted Drawing (1900)
• Edwin stanton Porter; The ‘Teddy’ Bears (1907)
• Blackton; Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906)
• Segundo De Chomons; Hotel Electrico (1908)
• Howard S. Moss; Mary and Gretel (1917)
• Herbert Dawley; Along the Moonbeam Trail (1920)
• Charley Bowers; There It Is (1928)
• Roop and Willis O’Brien; Tom and Jerry (1922)
• O’Brien; The Lost World (1925)
• O’Brien; Mighty Joe Young (1949)
• O’Brien and Pete Peterson; The Black Scorpion (1957)
• Harryhausen; Hansel and Gretel (1951)
• Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh; The Story of the Tortoise and the Hare (2002)
• George Pal; Mr Strauss Takes a Walk (1943)
• Jiri Trnka; Ruka (The Hand) (1965)
• Pojar; Velyrba-Abyrlev (Elahw the Whale) (1977)
• Jim Danforth; When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1971)
• David Allen; Robot Jax (1989)
• Alle; Batteries Not Included (1987)
• Allen; Puppet Master II (1991)
• Mura; E.T (1982)
• Beswick; Gremlins 2: The new Batch (1990)
• Beswick; Beetlejuice (1988)
• Randal dutra and Phil Tippet; Dinosaur! (1985)
• Nick Park and Peter Lord; Chicken Run (2000)
• Tim Burton; Corpse Bride (2005)
• Peter Lord; Adam (1991)
• Nick Park; Wallace and Gromit (1989)
• Henry Selick; Coraline
• Tim Burton; Frankiweenie
• Peter Lord; Mary and Max
• ParaNorman
• Boxtrolls