Animation - What is it, really? And why you should care.

Animation. What is animation, really?

It's a valid question because I think as animators, passionate of our craft and usually more than a little nerdy, we tend to forget that we too, at some point in the beginning, weren't really all that clear on what exactly this elusive word even means, what it encompasses.

"what the hell is it?"

We get frustrated by people who innocently ask us "but... isn't that just for kids?" or, for the german speakers among us, sufferingly roll our eyes at those who equate "being an Animator" with being one of those annoying entertainment clowns at all inclusive hotels who pester hotel guests with random activities (they're called animators in German).

yup. These guys. (no disrespect btw, that's a tough-ass job.)
_{image source}

But we really should step off of our high horse of knowledge and experience and remember the days we ourselves started out. No master ever fell from heaven, we all had to learn these things step by step.

This post is meant equally as a celebration of how far I've come in terms of knowledge, as well as an opportunity to pass some of it on, and hopefully, introduce some of you lovely steemians who've always been a little curious a little closer to this modern art form that I love so passionately.

Now strap in, and prepare for a fantabulous ride into the mysterious world of Animation!

Ok, really now, what the hell is it?

Well, at the very basic level, if you google "what is animation?" you get this definition:

The technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the movie is shown as a sequence.

The manipulation of electronic images by means of a computer in order to create moving images.

okay, that's a bit dry, but essentially what it means is this:

Stuff that has the illusion of movement, though it's really just a bunch of still images displayed very fast one after the other. There are different techniques in creating something like that; Including, but definitely not limited to: Drawings (hand drawn animation), puppets or models (stop motion animation) and 3D animation (on the computer).

If you want to know more about the different animation techniques and mediums, have no fear, I have another post planned around that theme. It kinda deserves an article all on its own, because there's a lot more than you might think.

This works only because of a quirk in our brain, which makes persistence of vision possible.

Basically, it's the exploitation of the fact that our brain can't distinguish individual pictures anymore if they flash by fast enough, but instead kind of blurs it all together, which to us then looks like there's movement. This is why, when you look at old-timey analog film rolls, it basically looks like a bunch of un-develloped photographs one after the other on a long strip. That's because that's exactly what it is.

I explained what the all-important persistence of vision is a little more in depth in my post about my traditionally animated 2D student short film Mocafurbs, in case you want to read up on it. it's really quite fascinating.

All of this, if you think about it a little, already kind of hints at the fact that there's probably more things out there that are animation than we might think, doesn't it?

"Mainstream" Animation

Commonly though, when most people speak of "animation", they mean one of 2 (perhaps 3) things:

1 - What we call "Feature Animation" in the Industry, meaning every Disney, Pixar or other big animation film that made it into the cinemas ever, and what is commonly referred to as "family entertainment" (retch - I hate that term).

You know, this awesome stuff:

_{Disney's "The Little Mermaid"}

_{Disney's "Zootopia"}

_{Pixar's "Toy Story"}

_{McGuff's "Despicable Me"}

_{BlueSky's "IceAge"}

2 - Cartoons like these, depending on the generation of viewers. You all know what I mean, but let me indulge with some gifs anyway:

_Thundercats

_{Dragonball Z}

_{Sylvester & Tweety from the Looney Tunes}

_{Ducktales - awhoohoo~ ehem. sry.}

_{I know, I know, I'm hugely dating myself with these. lol

but they're awesome.}

3 - Or, if they've somehow stumbled into the subject a tiny bit more thoroughly, they know perhaps that these type of things in movies are animation too:

_{Michael Bay's Transformers}

_{Disney's The Jungle Book "live action" remake. though the only thing "live action" about this movie is the boy. Literally everything else, including environments, is CG (Computer Generated)
gif source}

_{image source - Blade Runner 2049. Yup. Rachael's Cameo appearance was completely done in CG. Hand Animated too. I highly recommend a readthrough the article if you're interested in VFX (Visual Effects) btw. This was done at my studio and I currently have the enormous good fortune of working under the Animation Supervisor who was responsible for Rachaels animation, and is now nominated for a VFX award because of it. luckyyy~~~!}

Those are pretty well known examples of what is generally considered "animation" in the public's mind. (although some of the VFX animation is maybe a bit less well known)

Here comes the kicker though:

That really is only the tip of the Iceberg. Quite literally, because it's the most "visible" kind of animation, the kind that draws the most attention to itself, the only kind being advertised as animation as well. But guys, allow me to let you in on a little secret...

Animation is everywhere.

And you don't even realise it. don't believe me? weheheelll, what if I told you that this is animation as well?

_{source YouTube - video entitled "After Effects Template - Broadcast News Package - News Intro", uploaded to YouTube by a user named EFEKTStudio. (who is clearly a professional motion graphics artist - which is a specific form of animation usually pertaining to moving text and graphics)}

And this of course:

_{source YouTube - "DEADLINE post-it stop motion" by user bunliu}

This even has a shit-ton of different kinds of animation in it:

_{source YouTube - "Meet iPhone X - Apple" by user Apple}

This as well of course:

_{source Youtube - "A New History for Humanity - The Human Era" by user Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell
ok,ok. that one is pretty obvious. But I love these guy's work and I highly recommend you watch literally ALL of their videos. They are not only highly informative but also gorgeous and super fun. sneaky advertisement attack.}

Oh, and did I mention, pretty much everything that happens when you interact with this thing:

Or any of your apps for that matter. Or any game, be it triple AAA games on a computer, a console, your gameboy, or any mobile app games, would not exist without animation.

Wait, what? How is a button click on my smartphone animation?

well, put simply: because it moves.

It follows the same rules and principles of timing and spacing, squash and stretch (and all the other good stuff that I will explain in a later post about the 12 principles of animation) and takes advantage of the persistence of vision to give you the illusion of movement.

And of course, some poor sod had to actually animate it so that it does what it does on your screen.

Cartoons, animated films like the Disney Pixar stuff, pretty much any film that has VFX in it, every kind of games you play on a monitor, advertisement not only on TV but on those screens they have near public transport stations almost everywhere now too, motion graphics, info graphics, web site banners that move, those (often horrible) safety videos on planes, the scrolling bar and text at the bottom of the screen during the news, a lot of movie title cards, every button press on your phone, every app ever made, even when you press the little heart to like something on Instagram, and that thing that happens when you swipe left or right on Tinder, all of that and more is Animation.

So, you're saying animation is...

Basically, in a nutshell:

Everything you see on a screen, really anything, that isn't "live action" footage, and moves in some way, shape or form, is considered a form of Animation.

I KNOW RIGHT?!

And this is also why you should care.
Or at least, be a little more aware of it than you were, perhaps, before reading this.

Animation is everywhere.
It's in your day to day lives, not only on the cinema screen, but right there in your hand, on your computer, on your tv, at the subway station, even inside of McDonalds, and it's most definitely not "only for kids". It's a very versatile career choice and one of the most modern and exciting art forms in existence.

And I haven't even talked much about the many different kinds of animation mediums and techniques that are out there. Technological advancements in animation happen at a frighteningly fast pace, and we've barely scratched the surface of what we are capable of with this incredible craft. Just think of VR and Augmented Reality, and what might be in store for us there. Animators will have to adapt a completeley different way of thinking to work for this new exciting viewing form.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Another reason it would be awesome if more people knew about all the different kinds of animation (and art, really) out there is because, sadly, as with most artforms, animators and graphic artists are often underappretiated, underpaid and overworked.

We, as consumers, take all the awesome moving stuff around us for granted, never thinking about the fact that there are a ton of highly specialised and educated creatives (and techs of course) who spent years and years learning their craft and worked their butts off to bring us all the beautiful, multifacetted media that surrounds us every day, every minute of our lives.

If you take anything away from this, then I hope it is a new appreciation for the millions of artists and programmers around the world who make our lives so much more colourful, exciting and entertaining.

Maybe you'll even look at your new favourite app next time, and take a second to marvel at it's gorgeous design and all those smooth animations that make it so much mor fun to use ;)

I hope you enjoyed this beast of an article, and check back from time to time to learn even more about this awesome artform, that is my life's blood.

Lots of love, and I hope you're having a lovely day!
Until the next time lovely Steemians,

Jill

All gifs from Giphy.com unless otherwise stated underneath

Check out some of my recent posts, if you fancy:

More cool animation and drawing related stuff coming up soon. ;D