A SHORT HISTORY OF CINEMATOGRAPHY

Grade 7 Visual Arts

Unit 2

EARLIEST FORMS OF ANIMATION

Part One

SHADOW PLAYS

Also known as shadow puppetry,

this is an ancient form of

storytelling that uses flat figures

with articulated (movable) parts.

The performance happens behind

a white screen, with a light

projected behind the puppets,

creating a shadowed silhouette of

the puppet. These have been

made from many different

materials such as leather, paper,

wood, etc.

ASIAN SHADOW PUPPETS

Shadow puppetry originated in ancient China, and

spread to Europe during the 18th century because of

the European’s travels to Asia where some of the

puppets were brought back. They were very popular

in Paris France, especially in the Montmartre district.

Shadow puppet plays are still very popular today in

countries like Indonesia. Even though the audience

usually only sees a black and white design, the

puppets are often very colourful. Artists also make

great use of cut out designs to create visually

stunning puppets.Click image for video

A toy that was very popular during Victorian times, this was a disk or card with a

picture on each side attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled

quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to combine into a single

image.

THAUMATROPE

Popular designs were

combinations of bird and bird

cage, a vase with flowers and

usually had a quote or riddle

printed around the edge, with the

response on the opposing side.

A prehistoric thaumatrope was

discovered in France in 2012!Click image for video

A flip book or flick book is

a book with a series of pictures

that vary gradually from one

page to the next, so that when

the pages are turned rapidly, the

pictures appear to be animated.

These are sometimes included

in books in the corner of the

page.

FLIP BOOKS

The first flip book

appeared in September,

1868, when it was

patented by John Barnes

Linnett.

Click image for video

PHENAKISTOSCOPE

In 1831 Dr. Joseph Antoine Plateau (a Belgian

scientist) and Dr. Simon Rittrer constructed a

machine called a phenakitstoscope. This

machine produced an illusion of movement by

using a rotating disk containing small windows.

Behind that disk was another with a sequence of

pictures, so when the disks were rotated, and the

windows lined up it created an animated effect.

Want to learn to make one? Click hereClick image for video

ENTER THE CAMERA1800 S TO PRESENT

Part 2

SALLIE GARDNER AT A GALLOP

This was one of the earliest silent films and was originally an experiment by

the photographer Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. He took a consecutive series

of 24 shots of a horse galloping, using cameras set up with trip wire that the

horse would activate as she passed the camera. He wanted to know if all of a

horse’s hooves left the ground when they gallop. Shown in succession, this

eventually led to the development of motion pictures.

Click image for video

GEORGE EASTMAN

In 1889, Eastman – who founded the Eastman Kodak

Company - began manufacturing photo graphic film strips,

or rolls of film, using a nitro-cellulose base (flexible and

plastic). This made film more available to the mainstream

photographer, and also became the basis for the invention

of motion picture film. Before this, early motion picture

experiments, such as Muybridge’s galloping horse were

done using fragile paper roll film.

KINETOSCOPE

In 1889 Thomas Edison

created the kinetoscope, a

machine where only one person

at a time could look into to see a

50 foot length of photograph

film in about 13 seconds. The

pictures on the film were taken

in succession, not unlike using

the sports setting on your digital

camera. Click image for video

VITASCOPE

In 1896 Thomas Armat designed the vitascope

which projected Thomas Edison’s films so many

people could view them at once.

“HUMOROUS PHASES OF FUNNY FACES”

In 1906 J. Stuart Blackton

made the very first animated

film. His method was to

draw comical faces on a

blackboard and film them.

He would stop the film,

erase one face to draw

another, and then film the

newly drawn one.

Click image for video

FIRST CUTOUT ANIMATION

Emile Cohl produced the first paper cutout

animation, “En Route” in 1910.

Click image for video

“GERTIE THE TRAINED DINOSAUR”

In 1914 Winsor McCay

produced a cartoon which

amazingly consisted of

10,000 drawings!

Click image for video

ROTOSCOPE

In 1915 Max Fleisher

patented the rotoscope

process which allowed

live action footage to

be traced. This was

one of the first forms

of cell animation.Click image for video

CEL ANIMATION

Each frame is drawn by hand

on a transparent plastic sheet.

Characters could be easily

animated over the same

background by layering multiple

cells with different parts.

This technique was the

dominant form of animation in

cinema until computer

animation was invented.

FELIX

Created in 1920 by Sullivan

Studios, Felix the Cat was the

most popular character and series

from this period; his silent films

were the first popular cartoons,

big enough to draw a crowd at

the local theaters. He starred in

the Feline Follies as Master Tom,

and was later renamed Felix.

Click image for video

DISNEY

In 1923 Walt and Roy

Disney founded Disney

Brothers Cartoon

Studio. In 1928

Steamboat Willie

became the first

successful sound

animated film, making

Mickey Mouse an

international star.

Click image for video

TECHNICOLOR

This two-strip process using red and

green light filters was first developed

in the 1920s, but was perfected to a 3-

strip process by the 1930s and was

widely used in Hollywood. Before

this, any coloured films were entirely

hand painted on black and white film.

Made in 1932, “Flowers and Trees”

was the first animated film to use the

3-strip Technicolor processClick image for video

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

Created in 1937 by

Walt Disney, it was the

first full-length cel

animated feature film,

and the earliest

animated movie in the

Disney Classics.

Animated trailer Click image for video

SKETCHPAD

In 1963 Ivan

Sutherland developed

Sketchpad, the first

computer animation

program, at

MIT/Lincoln Labs.

TOY STORY

Premiering in 1995, This was the

first full-length computer animated

movie. 27 animators worked on the

film using 400 computer models to

animate the characters. Of all the

characters, Woody was the most

complex as he required 723 motion

controls, including 212 for his face

and 58 for his mouth