NATION ANIMATION

A dive into the sprawling universe of animation, terminologies, and how it has changed the face of cinema

- ANISHA GAKHAR

When the first animated movie hit the screen in early nineties, it was just the coolest thing to have ever happened to movies. Whether it was a Disney movie or a 3D cartoon that blew your mind as a kid, there has always been something utterly fascinating about seeing fantasies coming to life—when imaginary non-real characters moved, talk, sing and dance like emulating living people.

Animation is a method in which pictures are manipulated by means of technology and tools, to appear as moving images. Because our eyes can only retain an image for 1/16 th of a second, when multiple images appear in fast succession, the brain blends them into a single moving image. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted manually on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film (cel animation). Today, most animations are made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth or faster real-time renderings. The effect of animation is—more often than not—achieved by a rapid succession of sequential images that differ from each other by a miniscule amount. Animation is more pervasive than it may seem. Apart from short films, feature films, television series, animated GIF’s and other media dedicated to the display of moving images, animation is also prevalent in video games, motion graphics, user interfaces and visual effects (VFX).

The technique of animation has been used and improvised upon, over the years, only to make it more refined and real. It’s an effective tool for visual communication—it offers a whole new medium for expression and creativity on a more practical level—who wants to see static images when you can see movement, right?

HISTORY