Published between 1982 and 1995
Don Bluth of Don Bluth Entertainment, Dublin, Ireland, has presented mini-seminars on animation for the benefit of his staff. The following article is based on a recording of one of these seminars. Shapes: Exercise and Impact. A character, regardless of what he is made out of, is going to stretch and snap to some degree. … Read more
Animation, like any art form, is a medium for presenting ideas. A lot of psychology is concerned with the study of communication, the way we perceive the world around us, how we attend to it, and how we process and react to sensory stimuli. Some understanding of psychology can thus help animators when communicating their … Read more
He reveals his methods Interview by David Jefferson Bernie Kay has written scripts for a number of children’s animated TV series, including Bananaman, Telebugs, and The Pondles. He came over from America quite a few years ago and got a lob in an advertising agency. That is where he got his training as a writer, … Read more
DJ: I suppose that because a line can change its meaning depending on how it is delivered, you have to make sure the artist understands your intention. BK: Yes, but you have to be flexible as well. Sometimes you’ve written a line, recited it aloud – on your own, of course -and you know how … Read more
There are different ways of achieving this and I think some of it is done on a subconscious level. I mean that maybe as a writer, you translate some of your own inadequacies or characteristics and some people see this as a mirror image of themselves. I think that part of the appeal of Bananaman … Read more
1. All the cartoon action was storyboarded to link-in with the live-action. In this scene Roger is hiding in Hoskins’ kitchen sink. He pops up and spits out a mouth-full of water. 2. A metal pipe was rigged for the live action shoot to spray out water. 3. A photostat was made of … Read more
7. The animators also prepared a shadow matte to add shadows to Roger. This is painted with hard edges and softened in the optical printing by throwing it out of focus. 8. Shadow mattes were also used to add a shadow cast by Roger onto the front of Bob Hoskins. 9. An articulate … Read more
Benny the Toon taxi To create the live-action for the cartoon taxi in Who Framed Roger Rabbit a small off-road vehicle was used. The actor, Bob Hoskins, holds a dummy steering wheel while the real driver sits at the back dressed in black. The spare wheel at the back of the cartoon taxi is used … Read more
By George Collin The trouble with ordinary perspective is that it assumes an image fixed on a flat sheet of glass between the viewer and the view, square on to the viewer and with the viewer staring at a single point (see figure 1A). Although this can take in a wide field of view (up … Read more
Chuck Jones reckons that Disney got the idea from Warner Brothers cartoons. I included a similar shot in a recent production, panning down a broken ladder to a figure at the base, figure 3. The point is that you don’t see the whole background at any one time, only part of it. It is all … Read more