The History Of Animation PT1

THE HISTORY OF ANIMATION, PART 1

Animation is a genre which we have grown up with and know and love. But as with every genre or style of film making it all began somewhere. In this post I am going to cover key forms and elements of animation which gave us what we know today.

Persistence Of Vision

The persistence of vision is the term used when the retina in your eye can see an image and retain that same image for a brief split second after it is taken away. I like to think of it as a way you see the image as a trail as its moved. The diagram to the right explains what I am talking about in a visual way.

A famous image to the right of this text is a optical illusion that contains the same idea. 

The image appears to just be a bearded man. But if you look at the three dots in the center for a minute and look at another clear surface you can still see the image for a while. 

This is the same premise as the persistence of vision but for a more extended length of time.

Thumatrope

a Thumatrope was invented by Sir John Herchel but a Doctor John A Paris made the idea a toy for the masses. Being known as the "turning marvel" or "wonder turner" It uses the persistence of vision that I have talked about earlier but rotating two images repetitively to give the illusion of one image.

In the example to the right you see one side being a cage and another being a bird. As you spin the image the two merge and become one. And the bird is in fact in the cage.

I created a Thumatrope myself which can be seen to the left. As I span the image using the string it gave the illusion of the little man on the right being constant throughout rather than the man punching the air.

Here is a video of another example of a Thumatrope

Phenakistoscope

The Phenakistoscope uses the persistence of motion from a series of images that create movement. There are twelve images that are all slightly different but create a moving image all the time ending with the first image. As you spin it around it gives the illusion that they are moving. The movement is only small actions like a spin or a arm raise but the technicality is brilliant.

In 1832 a Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and his sons introduced the idea also Simon Von Stampfer came up with the idea in the same year independently and called it the Stroboscope.

Here is an example of a Phenakistoscope 

I made one with great difficulty however that can be seen on the right, my idea was having water being poured. But because of my fantastic artist skills It did not work how I wanted. But the understanding was there.

Zoetrope

The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 in England by William Horner. He called it the "Daedalum" ( the wheel of the devil ) However it didn't kick off, probability due to the name. But in the 1960's by a american developer called William F Lincoln who named it the "Wheel Of Life" 

The Zoetrope worked on the same principle as the  

Phenakistoscope but the pictures were drawn on a strip. and spun around in drum like device. You look into one of the slits and focus one eye which looks inside. Inside you see the movement much like the Phenakistoscope earlier.

The actual device of the Zoetrope is much larger than the Phenakistoscope but bares the same sort of results.

Example Of a Zoetrope

I made a Zoetrope and my idea was a ball that bounced up and down depending on the speed the drum was spun.

Praxinoscope

Emile Reynaud was a inventor that devised the Praxinoscope which is a optical toy.

The Praxinoscope is a circular device much like the Zoetrope which allows the element of motion through lots of smaller ones.

The difference is the Praxinoscope uses mirrors as a way to reflect the image which is unique in itself. The mirrors reflect the drawn images that you look into which gives the illusion of movement. The size is somewhere between the Zoetrope and the Phenakistoscope

here is example of a praxinoscope

Kinetiscope

The Kinetiscope is a device made by Thomas Edision and was designed for one person to view a moving image made from a bunch of still images.

The device was large and had complex machinery inside for its time era. Eadweard Muybridge spurred Edison into making the Kinetiscope.

The size Kinetiscope is much larger than any of previous ones mentioned. It is like clockwork and it the most complex of all the devices. It essentially a large box to which you look though a looking hole. and see the animation.

Here is an example of a Kinetiscope