Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Popeye the Sailor, Betty Boop, and, later, Superman. However, it was while
they were producing an earlier series of films,
Out of the Inkwell
, featuring
Koko the Clown, that they developed the
rotoscope
. Invented by Max Fleischer
and patented in 1917, the rotoscope was a mechanical device and process
for “capturing” realistic movement through the recording of live action and
then utilizing the live-action footage as a template for making animated
motion. The results were spectacular, with Koko moving across the screen
in a completely naturalistic and realistic manner, something that no other
animated character had done before. But although the work of Fleischer
Studios was remarkable, they were simply not in the same league as the
Disney Studios.
No text on the study of motion for animation would be complete without
mentioning the work of Disney. From its earliest days, this studio did more
than any other to develop and promote animation as an art form. Disney's
approach to action analysis might not have been as in-depth as the scientific
research of Marey or as extensive in its recording of movement as Muybridge,
but Disney Studios were without doubt the most important contributors
in terms of the development of action analysis and the study of motion
specifically for animation. In this regard it could be argued that Disney made a
more valuable contribution to the study of dynamics for animation.
During preparations for the studio's first feature,
Snow White
, audience
demands for more naturalistic movement really began to grow. It was clear
from the results of an earlier production,
The Goddess of Spring
(1934), that the
animators still had some way to go before more naturalistic animation would
become achievable more consistently. Although the
Goddess
film acted as a
vehicle to develop more believable motion of human figures, it was necessary
to go further.
In the early 1930s the studio's animators, led by Disney himself, started to
regularly analyze the results of their pencil tests in meetings that became
known as
sweatbox sessions
. The entire studio went to great lengths to
improve the action and standards of animation, which would soon include
direct observation of action. By 1936 Disney decided to employ the services
of the art teacher Don Graham to improve his animators' drawing standards.
They instigated regular life drawing classes and later would include the first-
hand study of animals.
Disney was also determined that the studio address issues of more believable
animation applied to all elements, not just the character-based work. This
included such things as water, rain, reflections, smoke, and the like. The
studio invested a great deal of time and money in technical developments
and was responsible for advances in technologies that others would later
pick up. One such development was in the area of
multiplane cameras
. In
the ilm
The Old Mill
(1937), many of these technical issues were addressed,
including the development of the multiplane camera, which allowed for more
naturalistic effects, gave depth to a scene, and took animation special effects
