tet Me reece teeter eerste a UL Early Animation In the early 1900s, people began experimenting with animated films. These were silent black-and-white films. Since then, there have been many changes to this art form, but some similarities in ideas and techniques have stayed the same. TH Hand-Drawn Animation One of the oldest techniques is hand-drawn animation. Although it has become more sophisticated over the years, many of its basic tools have not changed. Animators use pencils, charcoal, pastels and ink pens. They use light-boxes (boxes or tables with a light source shining from underneath) for tracing, To colour their work, animators use special paints that produce solid colour with no blotches. They paint onto transparent sheets of plastic called cels. Animators can build up detailed pictures by placing cels on top of one another. This w that stay the same from frame to frame. ‘The hand-drawn images that animators create are one-dimensional. Nevertheless the animators must be imaginative and creative. The illusion of movement is achieved by filming sequences of many individual pictures or frames, each frame showing only a slight change from the one before. The frames are run together and viewed at high speed. Because the images are displayed so quickly, they appear to be moving. y they don’t have to redraw elements of the image pee ese yt aed Clear plastic cels enable images to be built up in layers and reduce the number of drawings needed. 20. skill 2: CoMMBEre and Contrast 5 :Making films using hand-drawn animation is an extremely slow process. Hundreds of images must be drawn for each scene, and many animators work on each project. Patience is necessary. teeter yee eT TE Computer-Generated Imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is an animation technique developed in the 1990s. Animators use their creativity and imagination on computers. Consequently, their tools are very different from those used by hand animators. CGI animators use a keyboard, a mouse, a screen and state-of- the-art software. They can also use a drawing tablet. This is a device which enables an animator to draw with a stylus on a specially wired pad, and have the drawings shown on a computer screen. Using CGI, the images appear to be three-dimensional. This means that the animators ~ and eventually the audience — can view the characters from all angles. Sometimes CGI animation looks so real it is difficult to remember that the images are generated by computer. In fact, CGI is often used to create special effects in non-animated films. Movement in CGI is achieved using specialised animation software. This is one reason CGI is less time-consuming than hand-drawn animation. Additionally, computer-generated images can be created more quickly and altered more easily than those that are drawn by hand. CGI’s supporters praise the greater speed and lower production costs of this technique over hand-drawn animation. Even so, for a CGI animator patience is still a requirement. CGI animators build up three-dimensional characters on screen. These animators use a keyboard and a mouse to create their Skills of Animators animated worlds. All animators require talent, expertise, patience and attention to detail. Both CGI and hand-drawn animation can be used to create elaborate settings and interesting characters. These techniques enhance the dramatic and entertaining stories that keep film audiences spellbound.