Who invented it? - John Ayrton Paris is known to have invented the Thaumatrope after he wrote his book called Philosophy in Sport made science in earnest. The other known inventor was Mark Roget after he used one in the Royal College of physicians to demonstrate persistence of vision.
How does the device work? - It is a toy that has a double sealed disk with a string through the middle. It is then spun and the images on either side look to become one if they are spun quick enough.
The Phenakistoscope started off as a theory by both Euclid of Alexandra and Issac Newton but it wasn't until 10 years later it was turned into an actual object when the Phenakistoscope was created.
The word Phenakistoscope comes from the Greek word phenakizein which translates to 'deceive' or 'cheat'. The Phenakistoscope does exactly this by deceiving you into thinking that the still images are actually in motion.
The Phenakistoscope is simply a disk with multiple images on which progress through stages of an animation. When this disk is spun and viewed through a small slit the animation seems to be in motion. The modern day equivalent would be a .gif
Zoetrope
Like most of these early animation toys the word 'Zoetrope' has a translation from Greek, it means 'The Meaning Of Life'.
The Zoetrope is a progression on the Phenakistoscope and takes the same basic steps but on a slightly more advanced level. It takes a series of pictures which sits inside of a drum and then spun and viewed through the slits on the drum, this movement creates a similar motion to that of the Phenakistoscope.
The Zoetrope was created by Chinese inventor, Ding Huan in around 100BC but the modern version with the drum was created in 1883 by British mathmatician, William George Hunter.
The Zoetrope is very similar to the Phenakistoscope but the Zoetrope can be viewed by more people which is the obvious progression.
Praxinoscope
The Praxinoscope is a series of still images within a metal drum that is spun and reflected in a prism of 12 mirrors. The mirrors are able to flash a clear images of the picture as is goes past. When the drum is spun quickly the images are reflected in the mirrors and the still images look like they are in motion, similar to the previous two contraptions.
The Praxinoscope was created by Charles-Emile Reynard in 1877, he thought of this idea 5 years before it's actual invention and turned this idea into the Praxinoscope which was used for theatrical entertainment. Reynard used to use long hand drawn strips and put these into the Praxinoscope which were then watched by the public.
Kinetoscope
The Kinetoscope was founded in 1891 by Thomas Edison and William Dickson, it was designed for
an individual to view a movie through the top of the Kinetoscope. The animation inside of the contraption is made up of a series of images on a film reel flicking through 46 frames per second with a single bulb to illuminate which gives the illusion that the images are moving.
In 1892 the Kinetoscope was finalised with a minor change which was the horizontal spool changing to a vertical spool. This newly changed Kinetoscope was first introduced to the Brooklyn Institute of arts and sciences one year later. The reason for the small peep hole at the top is due to the amount of light being allowed into the Kinetoscope. If the picture is too light it will become hard to see but the the darkness and single bulb allows for a clear illuminated image.
George Pal
George Pal was a Hungarian animator associated with the science fiction genre. After emigrating from Europe he became an American citizen. Unbelievably he was nominated seven years running for an academy award in the category of cartoon. Some of Pal's films include: The Great Rupert, Destination Moon and War Of The Worlds to name a few. Pal was very well known for his work with puppets and had great success from his work on Puppetoons.
Willis O'Brien
Willis was born in Oakland, California but he left home at the age of 11 to work on the cattle ranches but always had an interest for dinosaurs which did eventually feature in some of his later animations. O'Brien spent his spare time sculpting with marble and illustrating which landed him a draftsman job in an architects office. His marble sculptures kick started his career in stop motion animation due to his film, The Dinosaur And The Missing Link.
O'Brien was hired by Thomas Edison after the release of his debut film and his job was to make more films for him. They decided to go along with the prehistoric theme and created Prehistoric Poultry two years after his first. There were many more short films made by O'Brien before he created The Lost World. O'Brien also created King Kong which was a massive film in the stop animation world as it brought more of an audience to the genre. O'Brien will be best known for his work with Sculptures and his early work with marble.
Ray Harryhausen
Ray was born in California, USA to very supportive parents, similar to Willis O'Brien he had a passion for dinosaurs and his favourite activities to partake in as a child were visiting museums and movie houses. Harryhausen was inspired by King Kong and tried to recreate what he was seeing with puppets. Harryhausen didn't know how King Kong looked alive in the movies and then realised that that it was due to stop motion animation, this was the start of something special for Harryhausen as he knew what he wanted to do with his career now. Harryhausen had a set back early on in his career when he set out on his most ambitious project called Evolution Of The World in which he visualised the planet at the end of the dinosaurs but when he saw one of the sequences in Disney's Fantasia he knew that what he wanted to create was far too ambitious. Harryhausen was confident in himself but when he met up with Willis O'Brien he was told that his creations were not great and was told to go away and work on them, that's what he done and eventually landed a job with Geroge Pal. harryhausen was best known for his work with Dynamation which allowed real life and animation to be combined and this led to Jason And The Argonauts which arguably was his best picture. Harryhausen will be remembered for his work with Dynamation and was respected for his sculptures which can now be seen in his foundation that his kids set up.
Phil Tippett
Phil Tippett specialises in stop motion and visual effects - he is most famous for the chess models in Star Wars IV
As well as his well known work in Star Wars Tippett specialises in creature and character animation. He was approached in 1977 to work on the film, Piranha and to create the fish for it. From here Tippett was never without work and has worked on numerous films including the recent Twilight Saga. Tippett is best known for his work for character creation on films and his transition to computer generated animation.
Otmar Gutmann
Gutmann was a Swiss animator that was born in 1937. Gutmann was the man that created the well known show, Pingu which was shown on TV from 1986 to 2000 and also aired on BBC from 1995 to 2006. Pingu was not written by Gutmann but animated by him using clay animation.
Gutmann will be remembered for his work with clay and his legendary show that was Pingu. He identified himself with Pingu to such an extent that by means of the fresh and childlike gestures and movements of the cartoon figures he succeeded in portraying the characters in a credible way. Gutmann developed a mixing technique for his Pingu films, combining the use of doll-like figures with 'claymation' (a technique employing the making and manipulation of plasticine models).
Tim Burton and Henry Selick
Tim Burton and Henry Selick are best known for their creepy, abstract and unique animation style which carries a certain aspect of comedy as well.
Tim Burton is an American film director known best for his work on The Nightmare Before Christmas where he uses puppetry and detailed models.
Henry Selick works alongside Burton and helped him create the alternative styling that has proven so popular, he is also best known for his work on Nightmare Before Christmas and James And The Giant Peach.
Adam Shaheen
Adam Shaheen is the founder of Cuppa Coffee studios where he develops and produces all of his original programming. Shaheen has produced over 200 adverts and won over 100 awards from around the world, these adverts have been made for numerous big companies including the likes of Disney, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. Shaheen also produced Celebrity Death Match which was a big hit in the claymation world. It engaged a younger audience and was incredibly funny. He's incredibly respected for his work with stop motion animation and usually uses clay to sculpt his figures.
Quay Brothers
The Quay brothers were born in 1947 in England. They formed Konnick Studios which are an animation house producing dark, moody animations. Quay Brothers are very unique in what they do as they form their characters from doll parts and inorganic materials that are often dissembled. The Quay Brothers rely heavily on music scores and they are influenced by obscure Polish animators and music composers. Their animations very rarely have any meaninful dialogue and rarely have a narrative either.
Nick Park
Nick Park is an English director, writer and animator that has worked alongside the Aardman company on many projects. He has won multiple awards and is a vital part of Aardman's success.
Aardman studios is a British based animation studio which is best known for using stop motion animation using Plasticine characters. They started off making experimental computer animated short films during the late 1990's before moving to the animation market in 2006 with Flushed Away. In December 1997 Aardman and Dream Works announced they would be teaming up to make Chicken Run which would be Aardman's first feature film. They also signed a £250 million deal to make 4 more films including bigger projects such as a Wallace and Gromit film which would cement themselves as a animation company.
Nick Park will be best known for his comedic clay animation which has proved hugely popular and enjoyed by millions.
Examples of stop motion animation in:
TV Programmes
Wallace and Gromit is an example of a stop motion TV programme that also has elements of computer generated animation. It is aimed at a younger audience due to the simple storyline and likeable almost cute characters. Wallace is a likeable character who's language is easy to understand and children will like the way the character goes about his day to day business, he's kind and funny. You also have Gromit who is a cute dog and is a character that children will like due to his mischievous ways and cheekiness. The soundtrack to the show is also very upbeat and compliments the light tone well.
Another example of a stop motion animation TV programme is Angry Kid. This is a programme that is aimed at an older audience than Wallace and Gromit due to the more aggressive characters and the adult humour that is a theme throughout the show. The show was produced by Aardman Studios who created Wallace And Gromit but Angry Kid is completely different to their usual creations and it is evident that they wanted to target a different audience. Everything that makes Wallace And Gromit targeted at a younger audience is different in Angry Kids, the protagonist is a naughty almost unlikable character that can be related to by late teens and older people who can look back at their childhood in a nostalgic manner. Angry Kid was also created differently to Aardman's normal productions with the mix of clay animation and pixelation making up the characters, this creation method gives a bit more maturity to the characters and therefore attracts an older audience to that of Wallace and Gromit.
MUSIC
This music video is aimed at the aspirer. The lady and man in the video seem like they care about their image and take pride in the way they look. The fact they are looking so fresh and clean straight out of bed solidifies this point for me. Not only that but some of the props used on this stop motion music video relate to that of an aspirer, the book on the floor and cello that crosses the bed in one segment for example. The man who is in this video also looks quote materialistic with his black dress code and looks rather sophisticated. Not only that but the music genre is quite mainstream and one that would typically be listened to by that of an aspirer.
The second music video I have found appeals to the reformer. This video is a lot more raw than the first video I found and is more anti-materialstic than the first. This video really does embrace natural simplicity and the music genre is more suited to to the curious and enquiring who is looking to support upcoming ventures. Another factor of this music video is the final section with the guitar solo and the very unique characters that are used, something that would appeal to reformers due to their tolerance for complexity and underlying messages that are sent.
ADVERT
This McCoys advert is aimed at the lower sections in the socio-economic structure. I can see that this is the case because of the language that is used in the advert. McCoys is a snack that is consumed predominately by the lower classes typically in the work place during manual labour. The langauge that is is used can be related to by the lower sections in the socio-economic structure. The stop motion animation is really well done in this advert which gives the crisp packets human like movements and allow a fairly basic storyline and plot to the advert, there is no underlying meaning which means it is easy for everyone to understand. McCoys is repeated throughout the short advert which means the brand name sticks in your head.
This Target advert is aimed at the upper classes in the socio-economic structure. The song that is used in the advert is very sophisticated and the language used in the song is well spoken and proper. Not only that but the stop motion is one of profession and very sterile, something that you would not associate with the lower sections of the socio-economic structure. It is very different to the McCoys advert but still carries the same way of creation; stop-motion.
FEATURE FILMS
Both of these feature films are aimed at the same audience. I have chosen to go with 2 Aardman films that have both been very successful, Flushed Away and Wallace And Gromit. Both of these films are fun, upbeat films with simple characters that everyone can relate to. These are very much family films that everyone can watch and enjoy. The humour is light hearted and easy to connect with which adds to the family element that the film is based on. As well as this the storyline isn't too complicated which means children don't have to battle with complex storylines. Polar opposites of these family films would be the likes of the original King Kong which showed a lot of aggression and violence, the use of animation can be used to create any emotion you want and King Kong was consumed by a much older audience than that of Wallace and Gromit or Flushed Away due to the darker, gloomy plot .
IDENT
Above is an advert funded by Stabilo ahead of the 2015 womens world cup. This advert aims at women mainly. This advert takes a look at the womens game that is sometimes overlooked and gives it the credit that it deserves. By comparing women to men in this advert but giving the women the upper hand it praises them to the hilt and will get women on board and maybe invest in some Stabilo brand. Not only this but the stop motion creation adds an organic feel which women like. As I said the advert is aimed at women but it doesn't discount men from their audience. The mens game is included and also praised and it may encourage them to watch the womens game, Stabilo have been clever here to include both which doesn't leave anyone leftout.
Above is an ident that E4 used that was used between programmes to reinforce brand awareness. The ident is set in a living room that of course everyone has, it's relatable and doesn't discount anyone from connecting with their brand. They have tried to target a target audience but been subtle with this. They have filled the room with trees and animals near the end which is very unique, E4 is a channel that is predominately watched by the younger generation and they will like this, it's fresh and different from other channels. The use of purple means that this colour will stick in peoples heads and is also associated with being a luxury colour which means the upper classes will be able to relate with the advert as well. By including a mix of all the above it allows E4 to have their brand image and remain different but not discount anyone, they keep their identity but remain a channel for the explores.
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