The Floating Horizon and Animated Disorientation
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Alla Gadassik
1M ago
The horizon line is a key visual principle of the Western world-view, binding together histories of navigation, spatial representation, and philosophical inquiry. Ancient mariners valued the horizon as an orienting boundary between the earthly and the celestial, scanning perpendicularly across an open field of vision to locate points of danger or solid ground. Renaissance architects projected that boundary onto the visual field of a canvas, drafting a straight horizon line to anchor an observer in pictorial space by coordinating converging planes around vanishing points, rendering a “here” and ..read more
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Animating the surface of the screen and the body
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Sharon Young
1M ago
Animation goes, in all its superficiality, deeply into the substance of being, the hidden realms, the crevices beneath usual exposure, the constructions and reconstructions. […] Film is the unknowing suspension of disbelief in stand-­ins, doppelgangers, avatars, things that only pretend to be real, full-­ blooded, breathing, but are in fact chemical confections, celluloid compositions. Esther Leslie, 2014, p. 27-28. Watch Your Lip! originated as a text performed to self At home In lockdown In isolation I set up my camera on a tripod Got nice and close and spoke into the surface of the lens A ..read more
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Review: Figure and Force in Animation Aesthetics (2019), Ryan Pierson
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Colin Wheeler
1M ago
Writing about the way elements move in animation proves to be a formidable challenge for any book on the medium, but Ryan Pierson’s Figure and Force in Animation Aesthetics (2019) manages to explore philosophical theories related to change while providing a rich description of two-dimensional films from the mid-twentieth century.  Pierson acknowledges this difficulty by providing a companion website, which features videos that analyze key sequences explored in each chapter. One can also access the first chapter as an audiobook read by the author. If following the descriptions proves a c ..read more
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Unstable surfaces in home is where the heart is (2023)
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Karen Bosy
1M ago
I work within a tradition of documentary practice. Whilst a documentary can follow a narrative structure, this video complicates any notion of narrative to present a section of path in a wetland forest. This is an essential watershed area where the fine upwards reach of tall eastern white pines is supported by an earthly ‘ground’ that is unstable. My video progresses from a definition of space from cultural geographer Doreen Massey (2015). She theorized space as ‘space/time’, whereby space is made up of ‘embedded material practices’ (p. 9). home is where the heart is (2023) documents my path o ..read more
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Surface Effects in Frame-by-Frame Filmmaking
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Nicky Hamlyn
1M ago
I have been working frame by frame for several years in both 16mm film and video. Although I do not consider myself to be an animator, I use single frame shooting to elaborate and control what are sometimes very complex multi-layer works, made both in-camera, using a 16mm Bolex, or by using Premiere to generate very short loops from single jpegs that are cropped and re-framed according to an overlapping pattern. The most complex piece so far is Risoni (2005).  The work consists of a double 16mm celluloid film loop, in which near-identical layered images generate unstable surface effects ..read more
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Visual Alchemy: Transcending the Frame in Phenakistiscope Animation
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Guido Devadder
2M ago
In an effort to prove his theory on persistence of vision to a wider, non-scientific audience, Joseph Plateau developed his first phenakistiscope (1832) depicting a dancer who performs a pirouette in 16 distinct steps, each of them separated by a slot in the disc. Although his theory of visual latency as the cornerstone of moving image perception has since been refuted (Anderson & Anderson, 1993), the concept of the frame was born. Ironically, in the perception of the phenakistiscope, the viewer has an ‘omniscient’ perspective on the animation as a whole, thus problematizing the notion of ..read more
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The Grace of Vision: A Bergsonian take on Persistence of Vision
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Jack Parry
2M ago
The phenomenon of persistence of vision (POV) is central to the conceptualisation and pedagogy of animation.  There exists however controversy between film/animation theories and empirical science as to the parameters of this phenomenon.  POV is classically seen as the phenomenon where the illusion of motion is experienced by rapidly displaying a sequence of slightly different images. Figure 1 Classic POV This term, however, has been criticised as an oversimplification, with voices in scientific circles arguing that other more likely explanations such as the Phi (Φ) Phenomenon (PP ..read more
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Beyond Persistence: Debunking the Myth and the Science of Animated Motion
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Philippe Vaucher
2M ago
One of the reasons for the popularity and resilience of what is today referred to as the “persistence of vision” theory is that it mistakenly provides a simple explanation for two distinct perceptual phenomena. The first is flicker fusion, which is the impression that an intermittent light source is continuous (Colman, 2015). This occurs when a light source’s frequency exceeds the critical fusion threshold rate which is between 55 and 60 Hz (Woo & Rieucau, 2011). The second phenomenon is the illusion of cinematic motion, which scientists call: “apparent movement” or “apparent motion” (Colm ..read more
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A Rugrats Passover: A Personal Reminiscence
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Jonathan Greenberg
3M ago
In 1992, I was a recent college graduate who had moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of making a career as a screenwriter. A few happy accidents landed me work as a writer for a new series on Nickelodeon, Rugrats. Rugrats was one of three shows launched under the banner of Nicktoons that would dramatically change the nature of animation programming. In the early ‘90s, children’s animation was dominated by “Saturday morning cartoons” that aired on the major broadcast networks; the networks favored hastily written, cheaply animated series based on popular toys, existing entertainment properties ..read more
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Review: French Animation History (2011), by Richard Neupert
AnimationStudies 2.0
by Adriana Navarro Álvarez
4M ago
Figure 1. Book cover. French Animation History (2011) by Richard Neupert delivers an essential academic exploration of Francophone animated cinema, a topic of great interest according to Neupert, due to its artistic potential and worldwide influence since its origins. Across six chapters, the author offers a detailed vision of French animation using a chronological approach to describe how the pioneers’ artistic, thematic and technical influence and heritage impacted future generations’ savoir-faire. This book spans from the origins of animation, including Émile Cohl’s artisanal legacy in ..read more
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