Fernand Léger

Fernand Léger, photo by Carl Van Vechten

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, 

Van Vechten Collection.

Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker.


In 1924, in collaboration with Dudley Murphy, George Antheil, and Man Ray, Léger produced and directed the iconic and Futurism-influenced film, Ballet Mécanique (Mechanical Ballet). Neither abstract nor narrative, it is a series of images of a woman's lips and teeth, close-up shots of ordinary objects, and repeated images of human activities and machines in rhythmic movement. [Eliel 2001, p. 44.]


Watch Mechanical Ballet on YouTube:





For more of Fernand's artwork visit the Art Institute of Chicago.

Émile Cohl

 

Émile Cohl (January 4, 1857 – January 20, 1938), born Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet, was a French caricaturist of the Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Parisian".

Portrait of young Émile Cohl

Cartoons could help spot Autism

Just when you thought cartoons have done it all, new research is showing that animations can help doctors spot autism as early as the few weeks to months of life. Read the article from the BBC here- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7966770.stm

"This line of research holds promise for development of new therapies based on redirecting visual attention in children with these disorders." - Thomas Insel, US National Institute of Mental Health

Bob Sabiston and Digital Rotoscoping

Screening Room:

Snack and Drink (Bob Sabiston, 1999)



Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)



Background:

-Bob Sabiston's early career is very much in keeping with the tradition of individual innovation not unlike Blackton, Cohl, McCay, The Fleischers, etc.

-He invented software that allowed for simple tracing over existing footage; It was essentially a modern, digital version of the "rotoscoping" technique.

-Along with Tommy Pallotta, he made Roadhead (1999) which premiered at that year's ResFest.

-His software allows even novice animators artistic freedom to create poetic animation works; unlike the often mechanical movement in older rotoscoped films, Sabiston's animation movements are much more fluid and abstract.

-Sabiston and Pallotta team with fellow Austin, Texas resident Richard Linklater to make Waking Life.

-Sabiston was one of the key creative figures responsible for the animation in 2006's A Scanner Darkly.




Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame. Pre-recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator. This projection equipment is called a rotoscope. Today, computers do the work. In the film industry, the term rotoscoping refers to the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.


Rotoscope by Max Fleischer, patent drawing from 1914.

The technique was invented by Max Fleischer, who used it to create his series Out of the Inkwell , with his brother Dave Fleischer performing the live-film shots for the character of Koko the Clown.

Fleischer used rotoscope in a number of short cartoons and in the feature film Gulliver's Travels (1939). The Fleischer studio's most effective use of rotoscoping was in their series of Superman cartoons.

Ralph Bakshi used the technique quite extensively in his animated movies Wizards (1977), The Lord of the Rings (1978), American Pop (1981), and Fire and Ice (1983). Bakshi first turned to rotoscoping after 20th Century Fox refused his request for a budget increase to finish Wizards, prompting him to use the technique to finish the film.

Kanye West's Heartless (2008) directed by Hype Williams uses rotoscoping.

Rotoscoping was also used in Heavy Metal (1981), the a-ha music video "Take on Me" (1985), and Don Bluth's Titan A.E. (2000).

While rotoscoping is generally known to bring a sense of realism to larger budget animated films, the American animation company Filmation, known for its budget-cutting limited TV animation, was also notable for its heavy usage of rotoscope to good effect in series such as Flash Gordon, Blackstar, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Smoking Car Productions invented a digital rotoscoping process in 1994 for the creation of its critically-acclaimed adventure video game, The Last Express. The process was awarded U.S. Patent 6061462: Digital Cartoon and Animation Process. In the mid-1990s, Bob Sabiston, an animator and computer scientist veteran of the MIT Media Lab, developed a computer-assisted interpolated rotoscoping process which the director Richard Linklater later employed in the full-length feature films Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006). Waking Life was the first feature film comprised entirely of digital rotoscoping.

Persepolis

Persepolis (2007)



Key Figures:

Marjane Satrapi - Writer/Director

Vincent Paronnaud - Co-Writer/Co-Director

Voice Actors:

Danielle Darrieux - as Grandmother

Catherine Deneuve - as Mother

Chiara Mastroianni - as Marjane

Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned over 20 Academy Awards and many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements. It is best known for its CGI-animated films created with the industry-standard Renderman software.

Key Figures:

Steve Jobs- Apple Founder, buys Lucasfilms Computer Division from George Lucas to form Pixar.

John Lasseter- Former Disney & Lucas animator, becomes primary Creative Director at Pixar.

Ed Catmull- Ran Lucasfilm's Computer Division, becomes President of Pixar.

Screening List:

Luxo Jr. (J. Lasseter, 1986)



Knick Knack (J. Lasseter, 1989)



Geri's Game (J. Pinkava, 1997)




Toy Story 2 (J. Lasseter, 1999)



For The Birds (R. Eggleston, 2000)



Monsters, Inc. (P. Docter, 2001)





Pixar Timeline:

1979- Graphics Group, a part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm is created.

1984- John Lasseter leaves his job at Disney to work at Lucasfilm Computer Division.

1986- Lucasfilm's GG is purchased by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for $10 million. Ed Catmull quits his job as head of Lucasfilm's Computer Division to co-found PIXAR. Luxo Jr. premieres.

1988- The short Tin Toy premieres.



1989- Tin Toy wins 1989 Academy Award for Best Short and becomes the 1st computer animated film to win an Oscar.

1991- Pixar and Disney team up to produce 3 feature animated films. Pixar makes the films and Disney distributes them.

1995- Toy Story is released, the 1st fully computer animated film.

1996- John Lasseter wins Special Achievement Academy Award for Leadership on Toy Story.

1997- Pixar and Disney sign a new agreement, superceding the old one, to jointly produce 5 animated features.

1998- A Bug's Life is released.



1999- Toy Story 2 is released. The first film to be entirely created mastered and exhibited digitally. It is also the first sequel to gross more than the original.

2001- Monsters, Inc. is released. Co-founder Ed Catmull named President. John Lasseter signs a 10 year exclusive contract.

2003- Finding Nemo released. It is the highest grossing animated film worldwide.



2004- The Incredibles is released. The 1st Pixar film to feature human characters in main roles, Little Nemo becomes the highest selling DVD of all-time.



2006- The Walt Disney Company purchases Pixar for $7.4 billion. Lasseter announces he will revive Disney's 2-D animation. Cars is released in June.

Cars (2006)

TV Animation: Hanna-Barbera & Cartoon Network

Suggested Reading:

"Moody Toons: The king of the Cartoon Network" by Alec Wilkinson | Listen | Read

"Makin' Toons" by Allan Neuwirth

Cost-cutting techniques in TV animation:

-Cels and sequences of cels were used over and over again: for example Fred Flinstone only needs to be fully animated walking once.

-Only portions of a character, such as a mouth or arm, would be animated on static cel.

-Visuals took a backseat to audio elements so verbal humor and voice talent became more important than the animation (sitcom modelfollowed, e.g. laughtracks).

Hanna Barbera

-Studio formed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera after MGM animation department closed in 1957.
(The team created Tom and Jerry series in 1940)

-It was the first studio to successfully produce animation for TV.

-Criticized for contributing to the general decline in the quality of TV animation.

-Practiced "Limited Animation" for cost cutting rather than artistic purposes (true of many studios, not just H-B... Filmation, others).

-The company eventually evolved into the Cartoon Network Studios.

Cartoon Network

-With the growth of CN in the mid 1990's the network wanted to produce original shows instead of simply re-running old cartoons.

-Cable can serve a more refined audience... cartoons didn't have to have the broad appeal they did on network TV.

Genndy Tartakovsky

-Born in Russia, moved to USA at the age of 7 in 1978.

-Lived in Columbus, Ohio until he was 10.

-Graduated in Chicago; went to CalArts for 2 years where he met Craig McCracken.

-Drew for Batman in Spain.

-Pitched Dexter to H-B before it became the Cartoon Network.

-Tartakovsky's Dexter's Laboratory (1995) became one of the first shows produced for the network.

-Craig McCracken, a fellow student at CalArts served as art director on Dexter's Lab.

-Tartakovsky served as producer and coordinator on McCracken's Powerpuff Girls.

Screening Room:

The Huckleberry Hound Show: "Spud Dud"
Airdate: Sept. 11,1960

Search YouTube for Huckleberry Hound Show Cartoons


The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958-1962)

-The Series began in 1958.

-It was the first Hanna-Barbera program that they owned outright.

-Released in syndication: Ruff & Ready was the studio's 1st production, part of a cartoon program with a live host. The show also featured Pixie & Dixie and Yogi Bear.

-Huckleberry Hound was performed by prolific voice actor Daws Butler.
Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1916, his career spanned over 50 years.
Visit the Daws Butler page at IMDB



Jonny Quest: "The Robot Spy"
Airdate: Nov. 6, 1964

Search YouTube for Jonny Quest Cartoons

-1st animated TV series to portal "real" people vs. cartoon creatures.

-26 episodes aired during the 1964-65 season.

-Doug Wildey - longtime comic book & strip artist was known for bold use of shadow, realistically drawn figures, exotic locales.

-Wildey designed main Quest character models; produced many of the stories; developed atmosphere & style associated with the show.

-Production team studied the current scientific journals to immerse themselves in state-of-the-art technology

Samurai Jack: "Jack & the Scotsman"
Airdate: Oct. 29, 2001

Search YouTube for Samurai Jack Cartoons

-Content reflects TV's interest in action in cartoons

-The show's many different settings from episode to episode allows great artistic experimentation, especially by background artists (different times, locales).

-Style is lush and painterly but flat; characters drawn without black outline common to most cartoon characters.

-Focus on eyes - expressiveness.

-Little dialogue, simple stories, lots of action and fight scenes.

-Dan Krall - linedrawings and backgrounds.

-Scott Wills - color, lighting and shading of backgrounds.

Influences:

Film: Little Prince and Eight Headed Dragon (1963) written by Takashi Iijima and Ichirô Ikeda

Directors: Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa