Unit 10 - Animation

LO1 - P1 - Write a report on the techniques used in animation

Rotoscoping

Live action animation

Structure

Introduction

Summarise technique

 - What tools/techniques and software are used

 - Find examples of the technique in use and explain them. How effective/relevant are they in 2022

 - Time taken to animate

 - Skill required

 - How much can you earn as an animator in that role

 - Conclusion - which is best for what circumstances and why?

Introduction

In this report ill be looking into two different animation techniques that are used in films, short films and music.

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is one the techniques in animation that is used to make live footage appear as it's inside an animation. It was invented by Max Fleischer in 1915 and was used in making "Out of the Inkwell" and animated series which lasted from (1918-1927) and was know as the "Fleischer process" and was exclusive to Fleischer for several years. It allowed him to make more realistic animations which feel more like real life.

To create your own rotoscoped animation if you're gonna do it digital you'll need a graphics tabled and whatever art program supports animation. 

There are some examples for rotoscoping and one of them is the song "Take on me". Throughout most of the song you'll be able to see this technique being used and it captures the singer and the environment 

around it being turned into an uncolored drawing and sketches and from the rotoscoping the movement from the characters feels real. By looking at the music video you can see that the technique is very effective and it clashes the animation side with real life as in a live action animation.

You can also use rotoscoping to make some effects appear as they are real and one example can be used in the old star wars films. The iconic lightsabers were actually rotoscoped to appear as they are real. But the technique isn't seen as much today and is due to a couple of reasons.

One of the reasons is the amount of time it takes to make a rotoscope animation. This technique is mostly used for making the effects instead of making a full on animation. One rotoscope can take week or even months due to the length or the amount of quality it requires to make it look good. The music video "Take on me" took 16 week to make the rotoscoping appear as well as it does right now. And the other reason is th
e skill required to make something rotoscoped. You'll need to have a couple of years of experience in art and animation. But having a role like this even if its an effect you can get paid at leats a couple of thousand pounds if you make it right.

Live action animation

Live action animation is when real life clashes with cartoon characters appearing as if they are there. This first appeared in 1927 and is a film "Gertie the Dinosaur" by Winsor McCay. Making a live action animation is as difficult as making a rotoscope project since it requires you to make it so that fictional characters appear as they are there and as real life interacts with it. If you were to create your own live action animation you would need a graphics tablet as it's the easiest option for making this technique of animation. For an example i'll be using a film called "Who framed Roger Rabbit" made by Robert Zemeckis based off a character from "Who censored Roger Rabbit" by Garry K. Wolf. Throughout the

movie you already get to see how the cartoon characters interact with the world and it's people. If you were to be included in this type of project you would have to act as if those characters are talking to you and are looking at you. The movie is very well made and makes you feel like they actually exist in the world since they manage to interact with everything around you. But of course this will only happen if you pull it off right. There are two things that you'll need to look into if you were to make this type of film and it is acting and animation. Without good actors you wouldn't be able to convince the audience that the animation is entering real life, and the other criteria is being able to animate the cartoon characters sync in with the real world. This is as difficult as making a rotoscope animation since you also need to aim to make a balance between real life and animation. If that balance is ruined then it wouldn't give the feel of a live action animation. Making one sure is hard and requires a ton of skill, but it is always worth it for the final product. But in my opinion it is worth a while to make a live action animation because of the mashup with animation characters meeting real life people. If you wanted to make your own you would have to have a lot of skill in animation and good script writers so that the balance between real life and cartoon stays the same.

2nd report uses

Structure:

Family Guy

- Target audience / purpose / animation style

Simpsons

- Target audience / purpose / animation style

Comedy

Comedy is a genre of animation that is seen in shows such as Family Guy and the Simpsons. This genre of animation is used to entertain the viewer with different jokes and stupidly made acts for example someone falling down the stairs or drinking from a toilet. But these jokes also depend on the age group to determine if they can be offencive or be suitable for smaller age groups. So for this report i'll be looking into two animations which are family guy and Simpsons. The Simpsons is a comedy animation

made by Matt Groening and it is a show that is famous for its characters, personalities and the comedy inside them. It is also famous for its colour simplicity with the characters either being yellow or brown. The show is suitable for almost everyone as it tries to aim for children as young as 10 years old and above. It is meant to be a family friendly show as all jokes are suitable for all and the animation style is simplistic which would appeal for the lower target audience.

Childrens

Adventure Time

- Target audience / purpose / animation style

Raa Raa

- Target audience / purpose / animation style