The project started with us all meeting
in the basement lounge, for a cup of tea and so that Jill could introduce the
project.
After filling in photo consent and
Learning Plan forms, and discussing the group agreement, everyone moved
upstairs to the studio.
By this time several participants,
especially Callum, were raring to get started.
Rozi introduced animation as a
sequence of still images, by starting with looking at flip books. Animation is
the illusion of movement and the flipbooks show a large number of drawings
viewed in quick succession. It is the speed that you view the still drawings
at, that creates the illusion that the drawings move.
We then looked at how to cut down on
the amount of drawing, by using cycles of action or loops. The optical toy, the
Zoetrope, is a good way of demonstrating this.
Some participants built a zoetrope,
and others drew sequences on the zoetrope strips.
It was great how varied these all
were, from abstract shapes, to full story sequences(- Kenny from South Park getting shot!)
The abstract shapes always animated in
a way that changed the image completely, sometimes so they didn’t look anything
like the still drawn image.
There was still time to try some pixilation, which is a technique of animation that makes objects appear to be possessed… or ‘led by the pixies’!
Ian set up the camera on a tripod to
hold it steady, pointing at a chair against the wall.
Everyone took it in turns to sit in
the chair and be photographed.
Some chose to wear a mask which was
drawn onto, and more drawings added each time the mask was used. The photos
were played back in rapid succession so that the images appeared to animate.
The session ended on a screening of
animations created by Ian G and Howard. These are an impressive mixture of
poetry, painting, and model animations combining composited backgrounds. An
inspiration for the project.
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