Animation History Timeline

The Magic Lantern was invented in what year?

The magic-lantern — the first projector and one of the leading antecedents of the movies — was invented in the 1650s, probably by a prominent Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens.

How did this device work?

Lit by a variety of sources from candles and kerosene lamps to limelight and electricity, magic lanterns work like a camera in reverse – they shine light out through a lens and project it onto a screen, with a static or moving slide or slides inside them, between the light and the lens.

Who were the inventors of the devices?

• The phenakistiscope was invented almost simultaneously around December 1832 by the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and the Austrian professor of practical geometry Simon Stampfer.

• The Zoetrope was invented by William George Horner.

• The Praxinoscope was invented in France in 1877 by Charles-Émile Reynaud.

• The zoopraxiscope was invented by British photographer Eadweard Muybridge and was first shown in 1879.

Why do you think these devices were important? The Phenakistiscope demonstrated the illusion of a moving image for the first time. Plateau’s device used the persistence of motion principle to create an illusion of motion.

Emile Cohl was born in what year?

French Cartooonist, Emile Cohl, was born in Paris on the 4th of January 1857. What was Emile before he was an animator? He began his career as a caricaturist, cartoonist, and writer in his 20s, and in 1908 he was hired by the Gaumont film company as a writer.

How did Emile become an animator and what was his first film?

According to Jean-Georges Auriol in a book of 1930, one day Cohl was walking down the street when he spotted a poster advertising a movie obviously stolen from one of his strips. Outraged, he confronted the manager of the offending studio (Gaumont) and was hired on the spot as a scenarist (responsible for one-page story ideas for movies). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Cohl

What year did Emile Cohl create what is considered to be the first animation?

He was working with a vertically mounted camera and a single assistant to operate it. He was inspired by the film “The Haunted Hotel”, released by Vitagraph and directed by J. Stuart Blackton. Considered the first fully animated film ever made, Fantasmagorie was made from February to May or June in 1908.

What process did Emile use to create the animation?

To create the animation, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and traced the next drawing, reflecting the variations necessary to show movement. Once he had completed this process he had roughly 700 drawings. As chalkboard caricaturists were a common vaudeville attraction during this time, Cohl created the illusion that the characters were drawn on a chalkboard. Cohl achieved this by filming black lines on paper and printing them in negative.

George Melies was born in what year?

French Illusionist, George Melies, was born in Paris on the 8th of December 1861.

Melies is referred to as the father of what?

Throughout his carrier, he experimented with many different film editing techniques which would later be known as special effects. As such, he is often referred to as the “father of special effects.”

What process did Melies use to create the 1902 L’oeuf du Sorcier? Describe the techniques and process.

Throughout his career, he experimented with many different film editing techniques which would later be known as special effects. As such, he is often referred to as the “father of special effects.” The French magician Georges Méliès, a pioneer of fantasy cinema, is one of the first to adopt certain magic lantern techniques to the cinema, using, in particular, Trompe-l’œil effects, superimpositions (rewinding the film and recording others). images over the first), fades of opening, closing, chained. He also rediscovers a process used for the first time in a production by Thomas Edison : the camera stop: we stop the camera, and Without moving it, without changing its framing, we modify one or more elements of the scene (appearance, disappearance, or substitution of objects or characters), we resume shooting, the turn is played after a scissors to the negative developed to remove the overexposed images due to the shutdown and restart of the camera, and an acetone weld to assemble the two sections of film. (https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%2527%25C5%2592uf_du_sorcier_ou_l%2527%25C5%2592uf_magique_prolifique&prev=search)

Winsor McCay was born in what year?

26 September 1869
What year did Winsor McCay make Little Nemo?

Zenas Winsor McCay ( c. 1866–71 – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip Little Nemo (1905–14;1924–26) which was animated in 1911.

Why was ‘Little Nemo’ so important?

McCay’s importance in the world of animation is hard to overstate. His seminal comic strip, Little Nemo In Slumberland, pushed the bounds of the medium with its experiments in form and pacing. (https://film.avclub.com/the-little-nemo-movie-is-like-a-dream-scattered-stran-1798283415)

What was Winsor McCay’s process of animation?
McCay approached animation by drawing every frame. His film Gertie the Dinosaur comprised of more than 10,000 drawings and for each of them Winsor drew backgrounds to the inanimate objects in the scene as there wasn’t another method to keep objects stationary.
What process that was used for creating animation on Gertie the Dinosaur was adopted and used by the industry?
Gertie was the first film to use animation techniques such as keyframes, registration marks, tracing paper, the Mutoscope action viewer, and animation loops. It influenced the next generation of animators such as the Fleischer brothers, Otto Messmer, Paul Terry, and Walt Disney. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertie_the_Dinosaur)

 

George Eastman invented what in 1889?

Eastman patented his first flexible, paper-backed roll of film in 1884.

George Eastman was an inventor who brought photographic film to the typical household. His invention of the film roll set the stage for easily portable cameras and brought the idea of motion pictures to other inventors. (https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1821.html)

Thomas Edison and Laurie Dickson patented what device in 1891?
By the late 1880s, numerous scientists and inventors from around the world were working to develop the camera that could record motion. In 1891 American inventor Thomas A. Edison (1847–1931) applied for a patent for a motion picture system developed primarily by his laboratory assistant, William Kennedy Laurie. The system featured a camera called the Kinetograph (from the Greek for “motion recorder”) and a viewer called the Kinetoscope (from the Greek for “motion viewer”).  (http://tpsconnect.org/2010/08/31/thomas-edison-patents-his-movie-camera-the-kinetograph-1891/)
How was the creation of the device an influence on the film industry?
The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector but introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic projection before the advent of video, by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter.
What could you do with a Kinetograph?
The kinetograph was used to record motion which could then be viewed on the kinetoscope.
What could you do with a Kinetoscope?
It allowed a person to view a short loop of film through a peephole viewing cabinet.
Emile Reynaud was born in what year?
8 December 1844
What device was Reynaud Famous for inventing?
praxinoscope
Why was this device different from the Kinetoscope?
The Praxinoscope uses a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder and the image can be viewed from the central piece. This differs from the Kinetoscope as the Kinetoscope can only be viewed by 1 person at a time and uses celluloid film.
What is the English translation for the 1895 film La Sortie des Usines?
Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory
Who were the directors of the film?
Direction, production, and cinematography were done by Louis Lumière.
What was the name of the device used to project the film?
A three-in-one device that could record, develop and project motion pictures, the Cinématographe would go down in history as the first viable film camera. Using it, the Lumière brothers shot footage of workers at their factory leaving at the end of the day.
On what date was the first paid for public display of the film La Sortie des Usines?
The Lumières gave their first paid public screening on 28 December 1895, at Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. This history-making presentation featured 10 short films, including their first film, Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory).
Why did the directors give credit to Etienne-Jules-Marey?
The Lumière Brothers were not the only ones to claim the title of the first cinematographers. The scientific chronophotography devices developed by Eadweard Muybridge, Étienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschütz in the 1880s were able to produce moving photographs. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_and_Louis_Lumi%C3%A8re)
J. Stuart Blackton was born in what year?
James Stuart Blackton was born in Sheffield on 5 January 1875, but while a child left England for America.
What famous film did Blackton make in 1900?
The Enchanted Drawing is a 1900 silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton.
This film was famous for its use of what animation technique?
 It is best known for containing the first animated sequences recorded on standard picture film, which has led Blackton to be considered the father of American animation.
Emile Cohl was born in what year?

4 January 1857

Emile Cohl made what film in 1908?

Fantasmagorie

He was working with a vertically mounted camera and a single assistant to operate it. He was inspired by the film “The Haunted Hotel”, released by Vitagraph and directed by J. Stuart Blackton. Considered the first fully animated film ever made, Fantasmagorie was made from February to May or June in 1908.

Why was this film so important to animation?

On August 17, 1908, the Gaumont company in Paris released Fantasmagorie, the world’s first fully animated cartoon created by Emile Cohl in the traditional hand-drawn animation style. The film depicting crazy images morphing fluidly from one to the next is a tribute to the Incoherent Art Movement of France which had been almost forgotten by that time. This later gave birth to many of the techniques used in avant-garde art later on.

How did Emile Cohl achieve this accomplishment?

Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced what famous cat in 1919?

Feline Folly is an animated short film released on November 9, 1919. It is the first appearance of the character that would soon be christened Felix the Cat, here referred to as “Master Tom.”

Why was this character different from previous animations?

What famous studio was founded in 1923?

It was founded as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923 and incorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. The studio was exclusively dedicated to producing short films until it expanded into feature production in 1934. In 1983, Walt Disney Productions named its live-action film studio Walt Disney Pictures.

In 1928 Walt Disney showed Steamboat Willie featuring what now famous character?

However, Mickey’s third animated appearance, in Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928, had sound—and the rest is history. Steamboat Willie propelled Mickey Mouse to stardom, becoming Walt Disney’s most popular character and one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world. Steamboat Willie was praised for what other success relating to film?

Steamboat Willie is especially notable for being the first Disney cartoon with synchronized sound, including character sounds and a musical score.

What famous full feature animation was released in 1937 and adapted what animation method?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

How does cell animation work?
Each drawing is then inked and coloured onto transparent sheets or cels – from which the technique gets its name. The transparencies are then photographed, in sequence, on top of a painted background. Sometimes numerous sheets are layered on top of each other as more than one character or object is moving.
How have the methods of cell animation been adapted for use within modern systems?
Animators working in 2D still use all of these techniques now, though they can be simulated for ease and speed in a computer program. However, many animators will at least start the process on paper, either for development or to create a particular ‘look’.
What impact have current digital technologies had on the animation industry?

More recently, technology tools facilitating computer animation include for example the digital pen, tablet, and digital sculpting tools. In addition, high-end 3D animation software enables most of what one would see in a conventional animated movie such as modeling, rendering, animation, and lightning. And for certain animated sequences requiring an extra edge, there is always the opportunity to develop custom-made proprietary software to add that extra element to the final product.

But be it video games, movies or television — all of them carry the tell-tale signs of modern animation techniques facilitated by the use of technology. Yet long before the invention of computers, animators made use of hand drawings to create their animated characters which brought with it the tedious task of keeping track of each and every physical drawing making up the animation sequence.

The advent of the computer and graphics processing hardware has fundamentally changed this process. However, whereas the length of time it takes to make an animated movie has remained relatively the same, it is the quality of the end result which has significantly improved as a result of this technology.

Traditional animation remains a prominent form of animation to this day and continues to grow with new animators joining the industry each year. Computer animation is not meant as a replacement for traditional hand-drawn characters but rather viewed as another tool in an animator’s box of tricks. Just because one owns a drill, it does not make a screwdriver obsolete! Each has an important role to play, together with their unique pros and cons. After all, a tool is only as good as the person who is trained to use it and the same holds true for computer animation. In order for this technology to reach its full potential, a key starting point still needs to be the animator’s natural creative ability and learned skill.

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