Research & design

I started the research project by looking for visual similarities in images that displayed movement. This included 19th century chronophotography; film and visual artworks that explore movement in their design; animation construction; laser-cut artworks; diorama’s and the strata-stencil animation technique. The aim was to adhere to a monochrome colour palette in order to play with silhouettes and shadows.

Character creation

The characters were re-appropriated from the shots selected for analysis in the film. My aim for doing this was to draw on the collective values and experiences of my viewers. Using the process of simplification, I reduced the designs to two generic body types, with recognisable features.

Animation

Animation was completed at 12FPS. This was done to keep the project manageable. The original footage was referenced directly in Maya. It was important to remain true to the original source, as an accurate representation of the characters movement design was essential in order to meet the needs of the project. Slight deviations in timing were only implemented to fit the selected music more appropriately.

Vector preparation

Vectorising the two renders was automated using Inkscape. They were then combined and further manipulated in Adobe Illustrator. Each vector was assigned specific RGB values, line thicknesses and fills-each to define a specific laser-cutting task (from processing order to cutting or engraving). The 2D effects, layout, numbering and animation adjustments were also part of this process.

Laser cutting

The laser-cut line and the detailed engravings play a very important role in the aesthetics of the film and the exhibition. Permanent in nature, they are burned into the paper, becoming my tool for creating the images. The materiality of the paper stencils invites the viewer to focus on the tangible product and how my process informs meaning.

lighting

The lighting was created using a single light focused on a reflector board under the camera, that bounced light onto the first frame of the sequence. This provided the soft shadows and natural tonal variation that enhanced the depth of the receding frames. The camera was placed at the front of the filming rig with the focus on the front frame to improve the readability of the images.

titles

The title sequence was created using a replacement method of animation. Each title card consisted of 3 versions, simultaneously captured to create the animation. The transition of the title sequence into the animation was inspired by the Looney Tunes intro/ending sequences where the circle-shape is used between these transitions.

Pre-production

For this I watched many cartoons. I focused on animation from the Golden Age of American Animation – one of the most influential periods in animation history. I am interested in the representation of movement in these cartoons – the squashes and stretches, the ‘smears’ and ‘multiples’ – and how these techniques go unseen by the viewer in standard viewing practice

Rigging

Once the body types were established, two character rigs were built in Autodesk Maya, with a setting to switch between the characters’ meshes, as needed. A third custom rig was built for the Road Runner. The rigs included cartoony functionality like stretchy limbs. Deformation was not a concern as the characters would be rendered in silhouette and could be fixed during the vectorising process.

Rendering

Black and white high-resolution images were rendered. The line information in these images was converted into vectors for the laser-cutting software. The black and white silhouetted images (top) provided the information for the cut-lines. The second pass incorporated the light-fill shader which provided the information for the engraving (bottom).

Paper

Suitable types of paper were tested prior to production for laser-ability, cutting quality, durability, archival and structural stability with a consideration of cost and aesthetic potential. Laser-ability, performance and aesthetics were considered the most important factors for this project. Papers that are suitable for laser-cutting and engraving need to be flat with a low tendency to burn.

tracking

The production of each frame needed to be recorded and measured in order to ensure completion of the massive project. Being a hand-made process (reliant on the creation of the full 1900 frames to complete the film) timing, measurement and planning of each incremental step was essential. This image shows a single part of a sequence being timed during the laser-cutting process.

filming

The filming rig consisted of two fixed suspended rods arranged so that the sequence of frames could be accurately placed in front of the camera. The frames were hung from curtain hooks placed at equal distances which were measured for the filming team. The fragility of the paper and its organic nature resulted in inconsistencies in hanging, which could only be controlled to a certain degree.

credit sequence

The credit sequence was also captured using the replacement method of animation. The design of the credits was inspired by the cartoon-style and type of signage prevalent in many animations from the Golden Age of American animation.

FAQ

Strata-stencil can be either hand-made (each frame created out of paper) or digital (using software like After Effects). My process is ‘hand-made’ in that each frame exists in the real world, but was constructed using laser-cutting techniques.

The total cutting hours for the project was 216 hours, 56 minutes and 44 seconds. This is the equivalent of roughly 27 working days (8 hours per day) or 5,4 full working weeks (40 hours per week).

The digital software offered a lot of advantages and supported the requirements of the laser-cutting process. Renders were easily converted into the vectors needed for laser-cutting, and because of the simplicity of the renders, it was very quick. Because I am a 3D animator, this process was easier for me than traditional 2D techniques. And the clean, consistent and simple silhouettes facilitated the focus on movement.

This was a very important aspect of the project: The aim was to study cartoon movement in the same way the chronophotographers studied physical movement. Where the chronophotographers (like Etienne-Jules Marey) studied professional athletes; I too studied the work of professional animators from the Golden Age. I wanted to stay as true to the original source as possible, given the additional challenges of the medium.

As an artist, I have engaged with different kinds of creative practices that have informed my approach to this study. This project aims to bring the medium of paper, my expertise in digital animation and my enthusiasm for artistic practice and education into a single creative and academic project. Focusing on methods of transforming digital animation into tangible works of art, I explore the aesthetics of the animated frame as a material art object.

The film is made up of 1900 digital frames, but only 1440 frames were created in paper. This is because the title sequence and the credits are created using a replacement method, making up the shortfall of the 460 frames.

The photographs were captured using Dragonframe. Because the animation was predetermined and each frame was labelled during the laser-cutting process, the filming procedure was straight forward and continuous, but labour-intensive. The average time it took to capture a single frame and move all the frames along the rods to prepare the next, was 2 minutes. In one day of shooting, an average of 220 frames could be captured, amounting to 18 seconds of film per day. The filming process was completed over 8 days in total, with a rotating team of six members to complete the task.

Yes. I really wanted to use Perspex (polyvinyl chloride or PVC plastic) for this project to create more sculptural artworks, but the cost and cutting times of this material was not feasible.

No. Once the frames were photographed, I realised that very little editing could take place. The final images contained arbitrary movement which is natural in stop motion animation. However, these slight movements are what make the handmade strata-stencil approach distinctive from the digitised version. It emphasises the frame-by-frame nature of the work and the inherent uncertainty of the medium. Although the filming team worked hard to minimise the movement, it enhanced the film by further establishing the materiality of the process and emphasising the presence of the animator. The only editing that could be completed was slight colour correction, image placement and bringing all the shots together into a seamless sequence.

Through applying a chronophotographic understanding to my assessments of animated movement from short films of the Golden Age, I was able to recognise and appreciate my subject from a completely new angle. Although a frame-by-frame analysis is intrinsic to the animation process, the interpretations and contributions to my knowledge of movement were greatly transformed by the process of applying chronophotographic techniques to a revisioning of animated movement.

As a digital 3D animator the sequential, linear visual analysis of movement informed by chronophotography was new to me. It is not typical to see a full sequence of animation frames next to each other as a chronophotographer would have presented it. For me this process transformed the way in which we analyse movement as animators. Although the multi-exposed aesthetic bears strong visual similarities to the onion-skinning tool (commonly used by many animators, like myself), my understanding of movement was elevated by the realisation of the fluidity and simultaneity which the technique offered, especially when in motion (as in the film).

As animators we are taught to observe movement in a frame-by-frame approach, examining the poses and the changes in the body throughout the sequence – but the two chronophotographic modes of viewing explored in this research offered me a new understanding of movement design.