Planning an Esting

Our idea for an Esting is a live action stop motion animation space invaders game. We would need a wide open space like the college gym and then have students move around up the top as the space invaders for the game. We would then have a student at the bottom for the turret and have it firing out students at the space invaders in which will explode into a piece of clothing. Once all the students are gone the game will be completed. For this project we would need many students to participate as well as a wide open space to film in and also the camera and necessary equipment to ensure the camera is focused at the bird’s eye view of the game. We will also have the students make sounds when they are shot or just add a space invades theme song to the video.

E4 is the sister company of Channel 4 however E4 is more aimed at a larger youthful target audience. Many of the shows which feature on E4 are mainly US imports which consist of big shows featured in America. For example "Scrubs" and "The Cleveland Show". Although having a young audience it still manages to attract an older audience however with such shows as "Desperate Housewives". However the main audience consists mainly of teenagers from around 15 -19. I had based this on the shows which E4 provides which are mainly teen dramas like "Hollyoaks" However its main home-grown teen dramas are that of "Skins", "Inbetweeners" and "Misfits". These shows have been the most popular among teens since E4 had started cranking out such teen dramas. As shown by the ratings these shows although are not brought out very often get the highest ratings of any of their other shows. This occurred mainly in which the ratings showed at least 3.7million tuning in to an episode of inbetweeners. Although these shows are based at a much younger audience I believe that due to the other shows which are some more adult dramas I believe that the target audience is around 15-25. However in terms of gender I believe that E4 targets both genders with their comedy as it appeals both to male and female however some do target them both individually. For example “Glee” attracts mainly more female viewers when “Misfits” would attract more of a male audience.

I think our idea is suitable as it seems that all though E4 cranks out new innovative shows, it has a certain amount of nostalgia about it and appreciated the stylistic appeal of nostalgia as shown by the "street fighter" type Esting. Our esting is also going to be created by college students so we are the age group and understand what the target audience want as it is nostalgic about the old space invaders games as they were part of our childhood. Not only this but the whole concept is stylistically cool and fun to do.

While scouting locations for our Esting we has decided on using the college gym due to its convienience and wide open area. Because of the balcony we can get a good birds eye view and with the open area can fit a farely large amount of people. In order to get access to this location we had to get a release form and have it signed by the owner to ensure we can use it and in doing so will not damage the property. Not only this, but we had to do a risk assesment to assess our safety and well being while ensuring we cannot cause problems for ourselves or others. Not only this we must ensure that in instructing the talent, we do not put them in harms way.

In terms of the location we had to set up camera on the balcony to get a good angle on the space invaders Esting. In doing this we identified that getting a birds eye view was unrealistic as we had to get a angle which gave us more space to work in Making sure we got the angle a bit higher we used a jib to get the camera over the balcony. In doing this we can get a good angle without any obstruction. However it wasn't without its trials. In attaching the jib and tripod the tripod couldn't hold the jib as it tilted sideways. As shown in the picture to the left. However in supporting the tripod we were able to get a beter result. as seen here we managed to keep the image straight while also getting the best angle on the sports hall with the maximum space. Not only this but we managed to get a central look at the hall.

Unfortunately we hit a roadblock as on our second day of shooting there wasn't enough people turning up so we had to change our idea that day and shoot the next as we only had enough pictures from the Wednesday so we could not go forward with our space invaders. Our idea was to have a punch in which a person would fly back against some lockers in which when the person is sliding down the locker from being punched would reveal a smeared E4 logo on the lockers. The reason we went for stop motion over clay mation was the fact that the claymation didn't look very good and all three of us just looked mediocre for us so we decided on this.

Character design

This was my basic character design. This is simply Superman (Clark Kent). I aim to incorporate the cape into the animation by having it flutter while i move it through the video. Not only that it would be able to display certain powers like super strength and flight as with stop motion would look really good.

However this was harder than I had expected. However i did make a flexible man and had him in as close to super man as I could in terms of colours however the things i could do with him were limited as  the model was quite heavy so attempting to do some actions ended in the model breaking. However I did manage to replicate it by having him stuck to the white board. I think the way I was able to get around these issues was quite well done as it did not appear that he was stuck to the board. Not only this but the way he moved like a flexible man was quite cool despite the mediocrity of the model.

When doing the Estings I think that instead of doing claymation I will do live stop motion animation as although bringing inanimate objects to life through stop motion is fun, I think that making the live animation and making people do the impossible is incredibly fun and interesting. Especially coming up with the ideas within the framework of the location and the limited resources makes coming up with a story even more challenging to do.

In terms of location cause my character is a fun little flexible man who was jumping around the whiteboard, the location for this would be a simple classroom where he was created as I think that part of the fun of having a inanimate object as a character is having real objects around that character to make the video seem even more surreal and incredible.

A history of animation

History of animation
In Victorian time thaumatropes were toys consisting of a bit of card and string. On both sides there were two pictures for example, on one side a bird, the other a cage. When spun quickly the two images would appear as one. Though unassuming the thaumotrope was the basis for the first animations. This was down to the persistence of vision. Persistence of vision is the idea that the idea of seeing both images as one was down to the eyes. The idea is that the eyes leave a afterimage for a split second while the other image is shown so they appear as one. This however was disproved as being instead of a trick of the eyes, more to do with the brain. A more plausible explanation is that the brain phi phenomenon and beta movement however none are actively proven. In order for this to work there must be a significantly high frame rate.

 One of the early animation devices which supported this theory is the Phenakitoscope. Invented by Joseph Plateau, this device showed one of the first pioneering developments in animation technology. Like most of these early devices this worked on the persistence of vision. These two discs on a axis replicated animation by looking through the slits and watching the images rotate as if they were moving. Although the image isn't moving the changes from image to image replicate the illusion of moving.

Following this there was the invention of the Zoetrope which used the same concept however in this case there was the image on the inside of a can which had slits. This provided the user to look through and see a moving image. The concept of creating a 'moving image' would also apply to the zoetrope, as the images were seen to be moving.

 Next was the praxinoscope. Similar to the Zoetrope the praxinoscope however the slits were replaced with mirrors. This was invented by  Charles-Émile Reynaud who had used the praxinoscope to make the first motion cartoon in 1887 in public. The images from the Praxinoscope were then allowed to be seen through projecting the images. This was the  Théâtre Optique. This was a improvement on the zoetrope as the viewer would simply look into the mirrors to see the images. Not only this the device was projected for multiple people to view.

 The concept of the persistence of vision which underlines all of these inventions was further looked into by Eadward Muybridge who started looking into animation using photographs and how the images can appear to be in motion if used in succession of each other. The idea that the eyes left a after image while we then saw the next picture. This would mean that the images on screen would be moving. In identifying the horses feet leaving the round all at one time the realisation was that photographs played together replicated moving images.

 In 1892 a device was invented by Thomas Edison which would show motion using photographs. This was the Kinetoscope in which one person at a time could view through a peephole at the top. This set off the motion picture in America.Then there was the kinetophone this was the same basic principle as the kinetoscope except in this case it would have ear phones in order to play music. Although the first kinetescope was meant for each individual viewer, Edison then created the projecting kinetiscope which was intended for multiple viewers.

Stop motion animation is the means of playing certain similar images to replicate the illusion of the image moving when in reality are a series of static images.In terms of stop motion animation the frame rate must be at 12 frames a second as the frames work in 2's thus providing the illusion of movement. Most real time television in 24 frames per second.

The Lumiere brother set off the industry. They developed a tool to actually record motion. This cinematograph was not only the first recording device, but was also a projector as well. They first started showing films of workers leaving the Lumiere factory. There advances in the industry had inspired the world of cinema today. Their first motion pictures were small as they were 17 metres and handcranked projections. Not only were they regarded as the ones who set off world cinema, but also they had used many techniques during filming which granted them recognition as early cinematographers as well.

 Another pioneering developer was George Pal. George pal set up the main animation techniques we use today. However not only that, his breakthroughs in stop motion animation are still regarded as being good for the time today. The methods used in all his films for animation are the basis for creating animation today. Although regarded for his role as a producers it was his animation methods used in the puppetoons which really set up the main techniques used today.

Willis O'Brien is most famous for his stop motion animation style. These titles include that of "Lost World" and "King Kong. As a animator, Willis started using clay figures however after started using wire frames around rubber type bodies. He first started developing these early style in the 1915 where he animated 'the missing link' which was a animation with a prehistoric theme. His style of animation has often been credited to be rubber type skin with metal armatures supporting it. He later went on to do more feature films using his own animation style in which he perfected.

Ray Harryhausen was a animator who had wanted to do animation due to the influence of Willis O'Briens work on 'King kong'. With this he started developing animation styles by doing short films at home. While doing this his work was criticised by Willis O'Brien due to the models. This spurred Harryhausen on to do graphic arts and sculpting to hone his skills. In 1947 he was hired as assistant animator in the film 'the mighty Joe Young' in which he worked with his inspiration Willis O'Brien. Harryhausens most credited work was his skeleton fight scene in Jason and the Argonauts in 1962. With 'Jason and the argonauts' Harryhausen raised the bar for stop motion animation because of the complexity of the animation in which the skeleton scene took 4 months to create.

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech film maker which specialises in the surreal. In his films his stop motion animation makes the impossible, possible in such a way it makes the visuals look surreal. In regard to the surreal this is best shown in his film "Faust" which details the twisted surreal which inspired his stop motion animation. In Faust you can clearly see that it is Jan Svanmajers work.

The Brothers Quay were inspired by Jan Svankmajers, their work is also bordering on the surreal. Their animation was based mainly on the set design. The brother quay also prefer the idea of the something tangible. They explain in this the significance of having something that you can touch and animate.

Tim Burton is renowned not only for his twisted dark style, but also for his stop motion animation. As shown most critically in "Sleepy Hollow" with the scene where the horseman finds his head. Not only this but Tim Burton has also done other stop motion animations. For example Nightmare before christmas was pinnacle in stop motion animation. This was a key stop motion animated film mainly for its design of not only characters but the set as well. In this its intricut design also makes it look like computer graphics.

Aardman animations is a company which is most famous for its 'clay-mation' animation style in which had made such a impact on the industry. Being most famous for their show "Wallace and Gromit" Aardman make a point similar to what what the brother Quay had made about the significance of having something real to play around with and something you can touch. Not only this but Nick Park had made a point about how with he plastacine they didn't have to refine the models too much. In this they keep the character "funny and thumby". In making their first feature film as Chicken run Nick Park had commented about how they had focused too much on refining the characters even though part of the fun of having such characters was how they looked hand made. They do these animations by using a metal frame and molding the plastacine round it. They then would move the frame slightly and take a picture and repeat this for every shot.

Over the years animation has evolved dramatically. The first animation film was in 1937 which was "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". This set off the motion picture industry from its wide spread success. There began the emegence of different forms of animation as the technology and advances in animations had improved. For example there began the emergence of "Clay-mation" which was animation with the use of plastacine. This gave it a stylised effect. Not only that but these days the advances of computer graphics are getting better and better. From what started with "Gertie the dinosaur" , the media industry had a knock on effect. Now animation is recognised as being appropriate for television for children. Such shows as Mickey mouse and other such disney characters. Not only have the ways in which they have been shown changed. But in terms of the target audience. What was originally meant for children can now be enjoyable for adults. Such Tv shows as Family Guy and South Park have made it so animation is appropriate for adults.

However this doesn't stop at the entertainment industry but also is included in advertising. Such things as the "Milky Way" advert is shown to have stop motion animation. As well as this there is also channel idents which are the small sequences shown before the show. This is like the E4 estings. Not only this but these idents are becoming much more creative in their development.

Furthermore certain stop motion animation is employed in other aspects like video games in which uses drawn characters or even models. Though not usually big games they have been developed to video game standards. This game "Cletus Clay" uses clay-mation. Also animation can be used in website design by including moving images or even characters.