Basically, animation is the recording on film or video of drawings, clay or plasticine figures like Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit or any object one or two frames at a time, with the movement being changed for each frame so that when the complete action is projected or transmitted, it gives the impression of continuous movement.

Animation is still best known through the cartoon films of Walt Disney, and from Tom and Jerry to The Simpsons. Unfortunately, the enormous cost of production caused by the labour intensive nature of the work means that outlets in cinemas are now limited to feature productions like Shrek or Finding Nemo. But animation continues to be popular in a variety of forms in commercials, on television programmes and for video and DVD release (The Wrong Trousers).

PRODUCTION

The production of conventional animation usually starts with a storyboard (see Figure 22 page 122) which is similar to a storyboard used for live action commercials except that the drawings may be done by the artist who is going to do the final artwork.

Unlike live action, the first stage of production is the recording, editing and final mixing of the sound track which is prepared to an exact timing (in the case of commercials, this means down to single frames).

This is carried out using the same techniques as feature films, documentaries and commercials.

The animation studio

The first jobs here are the preparation of bar sheets, dope sheets and layouts (see Figures 23 and Figure 24, pages 124, 125) which are really the equivalent of shooting scripts with the exact information for the artists so that they can follow the action. The animation is drawn on paper punched to register on to pegs so that each successive drawing can be accurately aligned.

The artists who work on all the drawings, which are normally painted on transparent cells also punched with holes to keep each picture exactly in register, are called trace and paint artists.

Different artists will be responsible for the background, middle ground or foreground but all the cells have to remain in register and checkers may be employed to check the progress of the scenes.

Sequences can be tried out on video with print outs and live action video might be recorded and examined in detail before any drawings are done to check the movement of animals for example.

Photographing the action

When all the cells have been completed for a scene or sequence, they are passed to a rostrum cameraman who operates a rostrum camera. The rostrum is usually vertically mounted and has to be built in to rock steady foundations.

Following the bar and dope sheets, the cells are now photographed frame by frame mounted precisely on the register pins similar to the ones on which they were drawn.

This is a time consuming job requiring care, orderliness and patience. Although there are some automated and computerised short cuts it is still pretty labour intensive and it is good going to complete on average 20 – 30 seconds screen time per day.

Whatever the final release of the production, the rushes will be sent to the film laboratory for developing and printing. The print will then be synchronised with the sound track and any cuts made similar to editing a feature film or commercial in a cutting room.

If the final release is on film, the completion process is really similar to feature films with the negative being cut in the laboratory to match the cutting copy (see page 59) with a combined print being produced.

If the release is for television or video, the completion will be similar to television commercials with a clean print being transferred to video for completion in an on-line edit suite.

STARTING POINTS IN ANIMATION

Without art school training, you will have to convince any potential employer of your talent as an artist in the particular style for which the animator you have approached is known. There are cases of people who have started drawing and making their own animation films at home at the age of fourteen, but they are a pretty rare talent.

Graduates from art school could try to get work in an animation studio in any capacity and progress from there. So competitive are the vacancies that art school graduates should even be prepared to start in a company doing office work or as the ubiquitous runner or tea person in order to get experience.

There are a number of film schools where there is an option to do animation and even some where it is possible to obtain a degree in animation. With these qualifications, you at least have a showreel of your work from which it is easy to see your particular style. But if you are considering computer animation, it is essential to do a foundation course in basic animation in order to learn such things as timing.

So once again it is a matter of studying the directories listed in the Appendix and following the advice in Chapter 8, Selling Yourself, with the added advantage that you can produce if required examples of your work if you are called for an interview.

COMPUTERISED ANIMATION

Most animators consider that traditional cell animation still gives the greatest degree of artistic creativity.

Recently, however, there have been so many advances in computer animation that a new breed of animator has been born. For example, effects can now be produced digitally on disc thus making transfer back to film or video possible. The Lord of the Rings trilogy are good examples. So for art students, graphics and computer training is more than ever required to operate a variety of image manipulation systems like Flame or Harry.

Harry

Harry is the manufacturer’s name of a device for creating a mass of original visual effects, either from scratch or by manipulating existing material or a combination of both.

It can be used as a back up to conventional animation, for example, by electronically eliminating strings and supports in puppets or model work thus saving time during the actual shooting.

It can be used for rectifying mistakes in the original material by ‘painting in’ other images, also for obliterating backgrounds and matting in new ones frame by frame, a technique done for many years in films by special effects departments and by film laboratories, but at some length and labour. In machines like Harry, this can be done in a matter of hours but only, it must be remembered, on video or disc for subsequent transfer to film.

Outrageous effects and colours, and metamorphosing (‘morphing’), that is changing the shapes of people or objects, manipulation of colour to turn spring into autumn, in fact virtually any form of special effect is possible.

Harry can be used for marrying conventional animation with electronically created 3D animation and adding more visual effects. For example, a conventional cell animation sequence of a boy walking down a street which has been created electronically, could be mixed together. A space ship roars down the street (again created electronically) and snatches up the boy. The whole scene is then enhanced by the Harry operator by adding smoke coming up from a manhole in the street and flames belching from the back of the space ship.

And all this could have been done equally by marrying live action shots or a combination of live action and animation.

Working on Harry

Harry operators sometimes have an assistant to back them up in what can be a drawn out and tiring process and tape operators are on hand to record the finished product and make copies of the master, just as in an online edit suite.

As this whole process is a mixture of editing and original creation of effects, some experience of video editing is an advantage and knowledge of graphic design helpful.

Although the manufacturers of Harry run training courses for operators, they would be unlikely to give places to outsiders not working for facilities companies owning their equipment. But if you are working in any capacity as a tape operator, a runner or receptionist in a video post-production company, you might well persuade your employers to release you for a course.

The expense and constant modification of equipment like Harry means that recognised training establishments may not have the resources to own such a facility.

GRAPHICS

An extension or alternative to animation is the field of graphics but with the common advisability of acquiring training and qualifications at art college or courses in graphic design.

As with all areas of film and television, getting a job is highly competitive and, in graphics, possibly more so on account of the large numbers qualifying each year from the great many colleges and Universities.

What does graphics cover?

Graphics is basically the design and production of main (front) and end credit titles of films and TV programmes of every Type.

The cheapest or most specialised sponsored film or corporate video may call merely for computer generated titles from the choice of fonts available in the on-line edit suite.

The other end of the scale might be the design of a completely new lettering style incorporated into complete sequences of animation or live action for a major international feature film. The design of the main title, that is the actual title of the film, may be used also in advertising and promotion and thus become the logo for the film. Who does not recognise instantly the 007 insignia?

As has been said previously, features are still largely made on 35mm film, so all the design and photography of titles is really similar to animation. The incorporation of the titles with the background therefore becomes a job done optically either in a laboratory or by companies that specialise in the complete production of titles.

The design and making of trailers is another specialised form of production incorporating graphics.

These title companies who may also do animation, are listed in directories in the Appendix.

Graphics for commercials

A vast amount of graphics is featured in commercials and here the graphics designer has to liaise closely with the advertising agency for lettering style may have to echo that of advertising in other media.

Graphics for television

Every Type of programme plus trailers and ‘promos’ call for graphics of some sort again, as with films, varying from the simplest main and end credit titles to elaborate mini-productions using the most sophisticated computer generated animation and special visual effects.

In the body of the programme, there may be elaborate diagrams and explanatory graphics which may have been carried out by conventional animation or be computer generated and either pre-recorded or live, in the case of news Type programmes.

Starting points in graphics

Whatever area of film or television graphics interests you most, it is unlikely that you could be considered for the most junior job of Graphic Design Assistant without some qualification from art college or University which included graphics and that means a thorough knowledge of all lettering styles, contemporary and historical.

Increasingly in video, some experience of computerised graphics and visual effects is an advantage and some experience in a graphic design company may be advisable.

Nevertheless, some ITV companies who have their own graphics departments and specialised independent companies may prefer to take people straight from college and train them ‘in house’ or arrange for them to go on courses.

Graphics is such a specialised area of production, that it is unlikely that the tea person/runner route could lead to working in graphics without training, in fact the opposite could be the case: a really dedicated and determined graduate might well be prepared to take a very lowly job in order to get the feel of the whole production process and get to know the people involved.

So consult the directories listed in the Appendix and follow the advice in Chapter 8, Selling Yourself. One distinct advantage in both animation and graphics is that you can offer to produce a portfolio of your work which provides instant evidence of your style and talent.

With the enormous growth in digitally produced graphics, animation and special effects, computer knowledge and experience is essential as well.

DVD

This stands for digital video disc and it is where the long-term future of all Types of film production probably lies. When professional cameras can use sufficiently high quality DVD, then there will be no need to transfer to any other material for editing and subsequent release. The completed master DVD would then be transmitted via satellite and stored, ready for screening in the cinema or wherever, thus doing away with the cumbersome transport of film in containers.

But one thing is sure: whether the future sounds the death knell of film stock and processing and is replaced by small and convenient DVD or its equivalent, there will always be the need for talented and skilled technicians at every stage of any production.