ARTWORK IN MOTION

Year Published: 1950s

Format: 16mm

Description: The educational film "Artwork in Motion" by the Calvin Company, a producer of industrial films, likely dates back to the late 1950s/early 1960s. It was part of a series of "Workshop" films aimed at promoting the company to potential clients, and educating the public. The film provides an overview of animation techniques used in industrial and educational films, including optical effects, pop-up animation, wipe-off animation, cycle animation, and more. It also highlights common presentation mistakes and offers "do's and don'ts" for information delivery. The Calvin Company, founded in 1931 by Forrest and Betty Calvin, was based in Kansas City. For nearly half a century, it was one of the largest and most successful film producers of its type in the USA. (00:21) Title: "Artwork in Motion: A Calvin Workshop Film" (00:35) Man working on animation drawing (00:48) Artist using precision equipment to photograph drawings for animation (01:04) Demonstrating optical effect animation with fading visual material (01:21) Footage of technique preparation (01:25) Animator preparing layered drawing elements (01:35) Close-up of exposing the drawings (02:20) Pop-up animation demonstration, new material emerging over a drawing (02:33) Animator preparing pop-up animation. (02:46) Continuous exposure of drawings in the intended order (03:14) Demonstrating sudden emergence of new material onto a pre-existing drawing (pop-up animation) (03:25) Wipe-off animation demonstration with movement between London, New York, Dakar, and Cuba (03:46) Close-up of technique creation, artist completing the drawing (03:57) Footage of drawing on animation stand, camera exposing the final scene first and then working backwards (04:33) Footage of wipe-off animation showing travel routes (04:44) Another example with a line drawing of a family (05:02) Demonstration of cycle animation showing repeated movement (05:16) Close-up of artist's hands preparing cycle animation of a piston (05:27) Cycle animation exposed on animation stand (05:38) Final result (05:48) Animator drawing a character for straight-ahead animation (05:54) Flip-through of character drawings, each one unique, for straight-ahead animation (06:22) Demonstrating visual illusions through single-frame exposures (06:40) Demonstrating camera pan creating the illusion of movement (07:02) Straight-cutting drawings of short scenes giving the impression of movement, example features stereotypical representations of Native Americans (07:59) Animation of a sailor on a ship using a looking glass (08:34) Footage of a man using an SS Diesel Massey-Harris lawn mower (08:45) Footage of an engine (08:51) Animation of the storage of petroleum gas (09:07) Animation of flower growth (09:14) Animation of chemical action inside a storage battery (09:29) Animation of pulsating circles expanding from Omaha, Nebraska (09:39) Animation of concrete coating for an underwater pipe (10:10) Animation with excessive visual material, a common error (10:20) Another error: material too small (10:28) Another error: excessive lettering (10:42) Another error: pulsation (10:52) Another common error: jump backs (11:03) Footage of three animators working together (11:15) Artists using a storyboard (11:33) Close-up of animation pegs and cell punches (11:40) Footage of an exposure sheet and animation stand

Complete Record:

Transcription

foreign [Music] tomorrow [Music] animation is the art of preparing drawings in exact register and sequence [Music] on Precision equipment so that on the screen they seem to have life and movement like me now there are a number of types of Animation first let's talk about Optical effect animation this type can be used to fade in new material [Music] this method of Animation is comparatively simple the drawings are prepared in exact register the first one with the outline of the main building is the starting drawing then an exposure is made of each individual drawing of course an exact register [Music] [Applause] this then results in the illusion of movement on the screen foreign well so much for optical effect animation now let's look at pop-on animation its name describes it pretty well over a background drawing new material pops on the screen such as these symbols representing livestock of a Midwestern State the animation consists of a background drawing showing the material which is first to be presented on the screen and artwork of the additional material to be popped on then these drawings are exposed in one continuous scene in The order they are to appear on the screen first the background drawing then the first symbol which is to pop on then the second symbol and so on [Music] and this is what we see on the screen now after pop on let's look at another type of Animation called wipe off or chip off here we begin to see some actual movement on the screen wipe off animation is useful in showing roots of travel [Music] it's curves production changes and so forth [Music] first the complete drawing is made when the artist finishes this work the drawing will show the animation as it will be completed on the screen however for wipe off animation the finished artwork is placed on the animation stand just upside down from the normal position in which we have seen previous animation drawings placed of course this results in the camera exposing the animation in Reverse first the end of the scene and then exposure by exposure working back towards what will be the start of the scene foreign [Music] the exposure in Reverse results in the desired forward movement when the exposed and processed film is projected on the screen this same wipe off technique can be used to introduce any type of material with wipe off animation we are still working with individual complete drawings but with cycle animation we begin to get more complicated as we show repeated movements such as the working of a piston if we take a look at this artwork we'd find that all static material is on the background drawing but the action will be portrayed by means of a set of transparent cells Each of which advances the action one stage [Music] foreign this set of cells thus shows the full cycle of the action and when they are exposed in order over and over again this is the screen result [Music] ah straight ahead now we're getting somewhere we're getting back to characters like me I'm a straight ahead guy and my actions are straight ahead animation no two drawings of me are alike that's why straight ahead is harder to do well it takes more time [Music] well that's enough for Straight Ahead animation there are still other types quite a lot of them but we'll take a look at just a few for instance you can make actual objects do tricks with single frame exposures [Music] a simple camera pan creates no real movement but gives some feeling of such movement [Music] straight cutting short scenes of static drawings gives an impression of movement good [Music] ah the combination of camera motion and Optical effects create this same impression that's all animation does anyway creates an illusion [Music] [Applause] [Music] now there are good reasons why we use animation for instance how would you sew what goes on inside an engine of course it could be done with a cutaway or other special working model but they're very costly and seldom available so we do it in animation thank you animation also makes it possible to show things that can't be photographed such as the storage of petroleum gas far Underground [Music] time can be telescoped by animated artwork [Music] animation can portray the invisible such as the chemical action theoretically taking place inside a storage battery [Music] can give visible form to an abstract idea such as a metropolitan newspaper's spread of influence over a wide area [Music] animation makes it possible to dramatize a product such as this concrete coating for underwater pipe and incidentally you can have a little fun in the process but sometimes animation shows up some funny things that aren't humorous their mistakes mistakes made all too often perhaps the most common mistake is that of trying to show too much foreign [Music] too small on the screen make lettering too small or throw in too much lettering contrast can be lost by the wrong choice of colors and Effectiveness lost by putting the action off center sometimes near the frame line pulsation is evidence of action being improperly planned [Music] while confusion in shooting can result in Jump backs discouraging isn't it but it needn't be if you follow the rules for successful animation first get together all necessary information and have a clear understanding of the requirements before you draw a single line second plan carefully you can't afford to do animation over again third lay out the artwork to make the most effective use of the screen area fourth use standard animation pegs and cell punches to keep your work in registration fifth work with an exposure sheet don't guess whether you're shooting cells in correct order [Music] handle the artwork and cells like the delicate little things they are and seventh use animation for a purpose only when it can do the job better than live photography thank you well that's about all I can think of Let's see we talked about the rules for animating successfully some of the common errors [Music] the reasons why we use animation and the various types cycle [Music] pop on or pop off chip off hey [Music]


1 user has this film:
Periscope Film


No related films.