Monday 6 January 2014

Gertie the Dinosaur (considering animation with footage)

Gertie the Dinosaur - Winsor McCay - 1914


Gertie the Dinosaur was a key frame, pose to pose animation created by Winsor McCay in 1914, which involved both footage and animation. The animation is inspiring through how well it moves, and functions as a whole, the animation runs well through the consideration of the perspective and arcs within the dinosaurs movement.  In my opinion this animation is timeless and will always inspire other animators, films have been greatly inspired and involved animation such as, Mary Poppins, Cool World, Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.


Mary Poppins - The Penguin Dance - 1964



The Penguin Dance uses animation drawn in the famous Disney style, following the moves of the character Bert as he dances for Mary Poppins. The animation works well with the background and interacts with the footage through the use of the arcs, secondary actions, emphasis on the squash and stretch as the penguins copy what Bert does, and slide towards him. 


Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - 1988



Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a film which references characters from different animation studios, such as Disney and Looney tunes with Max Fleischer's Betty Boop. The film was successful through how well the film was planned and structured, with the actors working well with the animation addition.
In the making of the film, they used a model which Bob Hoskins would use when he was holding the rabbit, to ensure that the angle and height related to the animation. The angle would be measured and eventually Bob Hoskins was able to determine and imagine where Roger Rabbit would be in correlation to himself.
Using mechanical arms helped with bringing realism to the animations, such as when Roger Rabbit smashes plates on his head, the use of a mechanical arm worked well with the animation and for the other actors as they focus on the arm and the animation would be drawn over.
For the car chase scene with the cartoon cab, Bennie, the real driver was behind Bob Hoskins and as they drove through the traffic, and the animation was drawn over the top, so the driver was hidden in the boot.
It was really inspiring and interesting to see the making of Roger Rabbit as it took so much time and doing scenes repeatedly until the scene was right with the animation.





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