Animation is a kind of motion pictures created by recording a series of still images-of drawings, objects, or people in various positions of incremental movement-that when played back no longer appear individually as static images but combine to produce the illusion of unbroken motion. The term animation applies to creations on film, video, or computers, and even to motion toys, which usually consist of a series of drawings or photographs on paper that are viewed with a mechanical device or by flipping through a hand-held sequence of images.
(41)Techniques
There are many ways to create animation, depending on whether the materials used are flat (such as drawings, paintings, or cut-out pieces of paper)or dimensional(such as clay, puppets, household objects, or even people).
(42)Production Process
After choosing an idea for a film, an animator must think about a concept in terms of individual actions.
(43)History
Animation has been a part of cinema history from the time the first motion pictures were made in the late 1800s.
(44)Walt Disney
The company’s founder, Walt Disney, was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where he met animator Ub 1werks and composer Carl Stalling, who were to be important to his future success.
(45)Japanese Animation
Japanese animation, known as anime, blossomed after World War II(1939-1945)and today is immensely popular both within Japan and worldwide.
Current Trends
Two trends in the animation industry are likely to have a profound influence on its future：a significant increase in production and exhibition opportunities, and the growing importance of new technologies.
[A] Some early live-action films, known as trick films, used the animation technique of stop action, in which the camera is stopped and an object is removed or added to a shot before filming is resumed.
[B] Disney(with his then-partner Iwerks)created a character that was to become the most famous animated figure in history：Mickey Mouse.
[C] Aside from television, perhaps the largest influence on the style of recent animation worldwide has come from computer technologies. Experiments with electronic animation began in the 1930s, but it was not until the late 1970s that computer animation became viable beyond scientific and government applications, particularly for use by the entertainment industry.
[D] In each case, an animator must keep in mind the basic principle of frames per second(the number of images needed to produce one second of film). Because sound film runs at twentyfour frames per second, a film animator must make twenty-four images for each second of animation that he or she wishes to create.
[E] The most important historical figure in Japanese animation, Osamu Tezuka, created the first animated television series in Japan, " Tetsuwan Atom " (Astro Boy).
[F] For instance, if an animator decides on an action that will take 3 seconds of animation to complete, the animator will have to create images to fill 72 frames of film(3 seconds of movement multiplied by a running speed of 24 frames per second).