Stop-motion research - history and explanation

Stop-motion is the creation of an animation using photographed frames of objects or people, moving little by little in each frame, and when sped up to a certain number of frames per second, moves at a real-life speed, giving the illusion of movement without any aid.

Stop-motion animation can contain different types of things to be animated. Some creators use people as their models, others use clay or even household objects to tell their stories.

The four main methods used in stop-motion animation are:

Object Animation:-

Object animation is simply what the title implies. The animator will take everyday household objects and move them frame-by-frame, taking a photo of the scene to act as the individual frames. Objects can be creatively moved around, made to look as if they have a life of their own, and can freely move by themselves. It is the earliest form of stop-motion animation, with the very first dating back to 1898, "The Humpty Dumpty Circus", made by Albert E Smith and J Stuart Blackton.

A very well-known object animation is "The Automatic Moving Company", created by Émile Cohl in 1910. The creator moved objects from the house frame-by-frame, creating the illusion that the objects are moving by themself, hence 'automatic' moving company. It was a pioneering animation that inspired several object animations made today, especially amateur animators doing animations for fun (for example the "Pancake Man" video, animating creation of pancakes without any human interaction shown), and become famous through viral websites such as YouTube and Facebook.

A still from "The Automatic Moving Company".

Claymation:-

Claymation is another form of stop-motion that dates back to 1908, when Edison Manufacturing released an animation entitled "A Sculptor's Welsh Rarebit Dream". This film also introduced the 'stop trick' special effect, where an object would be in the scene in one frame, and then removed between that and the next frame, creating the effect of the object disappearing.

One of the most well-known uses of claymation has to be Morph, the character created for many different programs along with the late Tony Hart. Originally created in 1977 for the BBC by Aardman Animations, Morph has continued to grow as a character and even still appears in more modern programs associated with arts and crafts, usually directed at children.

The original Morph character model.

Pixilation:-

Pixilation is the stop-motion technique that uses people or animals as their models instead of objects. A person or animal would move between frames, doing things that could only usually be done in a short space of time (e.g. jumping in the air) for each frame, then giving the illusion of a person flying when the frames are put together for the final animation. Humans and animals are therefore given the ability to do things not physically possible just by creating a quick movement over and over again in different locations.

The earliest example of pixilation animation is in 1908, when a silent Spanish comedy film named "The Electric Hotel" was created by film pioneer Segundo de Chomón, making actors move while sitting down, and having their hair brush itself, as if my magic.

A popular example of Pixilation is "The Wizard of Speed and Time", where a character dressed as a Wizard is shown to be able to run extremely fast throughout America, picking up other characters and carrying them from location to location as if saving them a lot of time with his superhuman speed.

A scene from "The Wizard of Speed and Time".

Puppet Animation:-

Puppet animation is the use of characters made with a skeletal form known as an armature, with some sort of material wrapped around the armature to create the character shapes and features. This makes the characters easy to position in different ways to keep them flexible in movement for each frame, but at the same time there is a strong base beneath it to ensure parts won't tear off or get squashed, which could happen in claymation (when used as clay only). A highly popular example of this style is the Wallace and Gromit series, with the film "Curse of the Were Rabbit" using very advanced armatures in order to create smooth, fluid movement in the animations.

Another example of this would be Ray Harryhausen's "Jason and the Argonauts" as well as his "Sinbad" film series, the first of which being "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", made in 1958. It used puppet animation to create monsters that the main characters would interact with, usually fighting them dramatically in order to promote the main character as the hero. A particularly memorable scene is the fight between Sinbad and an animated skeleton with a scimitar. Harryhausen created the puppet and made its movements against the main character frame by frame using its armature to move it carefully and precisely without any risk of it falling apart. Harryhausen has had a huge influence on animators of today, as a lot of the modern masters were inspired by such films of his as the Sinbad series, "Jason and the Argonauts" as well as the popular "King Kong" movie.

A scene from "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".

Unit 121 - 3D Animation - Research Project Part 3

Textures:



There are different ways of creating textures for 3D objects. One of these is procedural texturing, which uses an algorithm to create a realistic representation of natural elements, e.g. wood, stone, metal and marble. The other, well-known and widely used method is UV mapping. UV mapping is the breakdown of the shape of the object into a 'net', an open, spread out flat surface ready to paint a texture onto. A design can then be drawn onto the UV map using programs such as Photoshop, then re-applied to the shape to create a texture. This adds realism to the object and is very effective in terms of aesthetics when used with lighting.



Mesh Construction:



To create a mesh of a shape there is a variety of tools available on 3D modeling programs which provide an alternative to just specifying vertices and faces. For example, box modeling can be used, which is done by two different tools: 'subdivide' or 'tesselate' can split a face by adding extra vertices and connecting them with lines, therefore making them into smaller shapes (for example, a square could be split into four using lines crossing the centre of the square horizontally and vertically, with new vertices in the centre and around the edges of the square).

The extrude tool can then be used to draw shapes out from the faces of the original vertex shapes.

Extrusion modeling can be used by creating a 2D shape that traces the outline of an image of photograph at one angle, then using a second image at a different angle to extrude the shape into 3D, made to fit the shape of both images. This method is used mostly to create heads and faces.

Another method of mesh construction is the use of common primitives, using tools such as 3D Boolean to either add the shapes together or subtract one from another and leaving the rest as the resulting shape.



3D Development Software:



Software:-



Nowadays there is a wide variety of 3D software that is accessable by almost anyone and is used by both amateur designers and companies and in industry in general. Each program is different in terms of tools, resulting render aesthetic and approaches to object creation.

The most popular programs are Carrara, 3D Studio Max and Maya.

Eovia Carrara is the most basic of the programs, using simplistic approaches to creation and rendering of objects and scenery. This means that the render result quality isn't the highest, but is fairly quick in rendering time compared to the others.



Autodesk Maya is one of the most popular of the programs, used widely in industry and in higher education. It is well-known for its high-quality renders and smooth animation, and uses a polygon-based system as well as NURBS (a type of spline) and Subdivision surfaces to model with. The program even includes a particle system, allowing natural movement to be used to create realistic scenes. The precise and professional quality of the renders means that rendering would take a lot more time than a program such as Carrara, and the file sizes would be a lot larger, which in turn takes up space a lot quicker. To combat this, professional companies have larger servers with higher processors which means renders will be done quicker, and there would be plenty of space on the hard drive for the files.



3D Studio Max (3DS Max), also by Autodesk, is slightly similar to Maya with its high-quality renders, but has additional features such as advanced shaders, particle systems, radiosity, an intuitive and customisable user interface, and even its own scripting language. It is used by film companies for special effects and CGI scenes and characters, as well as in game design. The library of primitive is extensive in comparison to Carrara, which makes modelling from primitives easier, but this wouldn't be a preferred method in this program as polygon-based modeling is the easiest to use.



File Formats:-



File formats are used with different files to indicate the encoding convention of its contents. Most files are linked to a specific program using the file format extension, which automatically opens up the file in that program when double-clicked (or, when right-clicked, can be opened with different porgrams depending on compatibility).


3D file formats will be used when saving whole projects rather than a rendered scene. This allows a user to quickly and efficiently access their work in order to make any changes. This can also include export files, which are file types of the resulting exported files (i.e. Object files)

Types of files associated with 3D graphic production are:

• .car (Carrara)
• .3ds (3DS Max)
• .ma (Maya)
• .lwo (Lightwave Object)
• .obj (Universal 'object' export file type)
• .C4d (Cinema 4D)
• .blend (Blender)

Plug-ins:

A plug-in is a set of software components that allows users to add specific capabilities to a software application. Plug-ins can allow customisation of functions of an application, or allow the use of file types or functions that had not previously been allowed in the original application.
A well-known and widely used example of a plug-in is Java. It is used quite often in accessing videos (e.g. YouTube videos) and online 3D games (e.g. Runescape). It is highly accessible and when a user doesn't have the plug-in installed, there is always an offer to link the user to the website to download the plug-in, or download it directly from the site they are currently using.

Constraints:

Polygon Count:-

When creating 3D models, polygon count is highly important when it comes to quality in final renders. The higher the amount of polygons, the smoother the models will be, and the more aesthetically appealing the final scene will be. In game development, having a balanced polygon count is vital, ensuring that gameplay is smooth and doesn't lag, but also looks good in terms of imagery and visual appeal. Once the polygon count goes too high, the game can lag, moving extremely slowly which slows down or completely halts gameplay. An example of this is the 'duplication' cheat on the game Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, by Bethesda Softworks. Once an object or character has been duplicated several times, the polygon count grows too high and the game begins to slow down and stop the user from playing it properly.

File Size:-

File size depends on the resolution of the final rendered scene. The higher the pixel count/resolution of the rendered image, the larger the file. Polygon count will affect the size of the 3D modeling file (such as a .car file), but the render size depends on resolution. This quickly uses up space, so users would need to have a large enough hard drive and internal memory to store all of the files.

Rendering Time:

Once again, rendering time is affected by polygon count. The higher the count in the scene, the longer the render will take, and would need a powerful processor and server to cope with the amount of rendering. This particular problem is where render farms are useful and get the work done more quickly.

Unit 121 - 3D Animation - Research Project Part 2

Geometric Theory:

When forming anything in 3D Geometric Theory is applied to break it down.

To begin with we have to look at the co-ordinates system in 2D and 3D. In 2D, only the x aix (horizontal) and y axis (vertical) are used to plot points (using horizontal first, then vertical), but we can only make a 2D shape as there is no depth to the shape we have made (e.g. 2,1 2,2 1,1 1,2 joined together on a graph could make a square, but not a cube as we only have the height and width of the shape).

To make shapes 3D we need a third axis which creates depth. This axis is known as z, and will be able to plot the depth of the shape which gives it 3D form. The co-ordinates system always works in alphabetical order, with x first, then y, then z.

The very beginning of any shape and form in 3D creation is a vertex. A vertex is a single point in a location with no width, height or length, and is simply used as the base of shape creation. Multiples of a vertex, or vertices, are joined by lines, which begin to make up the formation and physical shape of a 3D object.

Once a whole closed shape is made from lines it becomes a polygon, otherwise known as an ngon (n standing for the number of lines used in the polygon), and if this polygon is filled, it then becomes a face, or surface.

The lines around the shape become edges, and edges can be changed with creasing or smoothing in order to create a different shape.

For example:

With creasing, the first shape is a hexagonal prism, and with smoothing it becomes a cylinder.

The 3D shape as a whole is known as a mesh.

Displaying 3D polygon animations:

API:

An Application Programming Interface, or API, is an interface that a software program enables to allow it to interact with other types of software. It helps and eases any interaction between these different programs not unlike the way a User Interface creates interaction between computers and human users. An API can be enabled by Operating Systems (OS), Applications or Libraries to determine vocabularies and Calling Conventions (schemes for how functions receive parameters and return results to a caller using the scheme) and is used to access the different services they provide. It can include specifications for routines, protocols, data structures and object classes which are used as communications between the implementer of the API and the consumer. Examples of APIs used in 3D display are Open Graphics Library, or OpenGL (a cross-platform graphics API) and Direct3D, an adaptation of DirectX for Microsoft Windows that was created for 3D graphics display. Direct3D is used in consoles such as the Xbox and Xbox 360, and is used to render 3D graphics where performance is key, such as games for the console. OpenGL is mainly used for Computer-Aided Design (CAD), training programs such as flight simulators, and video game graphic design.

The Graphics Pipeline:

The graphics pipeline is a series of stages that go from the original 3D objects as an input, and eventually has an output of a 2D image of the 3D objects on a computer screen.

Rendering Techniques:

Several different, quite specialised and tailor-made rendering techniques have been created for rendering the final 2D screen image on a computer. Techniques such as wire frame rendering show the basic structure of the objects, which makes it easy for designers to check them over for any problems, but would not be realistic without any sort of surfacing visible. It wouldn;t be suitable for final scene rendering as the objects would not be clearly shown with only wire frames visible.

The ray tracing technique, however, is completely different and uses extremely high quality renders by tracing the path of light through pixels in an image plane and simulating the effects of its encounters with virtual objects. Unfortunately this way or rendering means that file sizes are substantially larger than with a wire frame render due to the high quality, and could also mean a very long rendering time. It is mainly used in still image, film and special effects due to the high quality aesthetics.

Scanline rendering is a typical rendering technique and uses row-by-row rendering rather than polygon-by-polygon or pixel-by-pixel, which could mean faster rendering and smaller file sizes but a sacrifice of quality compared to ray tracing. This method has been used in video game design on several platforms and was even used in the original Quake game.

Radiosity is similar to ray tracing in use of a higher quality render, but also includes more realistic rendering of shadows an diffuse light, allowing light to look softer and more realistic.

Rendering Engines:

Rendering engines are software components that take marked up content (such as image files or HTML) and displays the formatted content on the screen. It takes the specifications of the images and converts them into pixels to display onto a computer screen.

An example of a well-known rendering engine is OGRE (Object-Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine). It is a rendering engine with a main purpose of providing a general solution for graphics rendering. It is scene-oriented and doesn't feature any extra tools such as sound and physics support. This has been seen as a drawback as the engine could be considered limited, but OGRE developers argue that this then allows developers to be as free as they want with adding in physics and sound elsewhere while the delopment team can focus purely on the graphics rather than divide the team over several sections of the program. It is a multi-platform engine with OpenGL and Direct3D support.

Another rendering engine is Irrlicht, a German-made open source 3D engine that is cross-platform, running on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Also, due to its open nature, it can also be used on other systems such as the XBox, PlayStation Portable and iPhone. It is known for its small size, shallow learning curve and large friendly community. Like OGRE, it also supports OpenGL and DirectX. It also supports a wealth of file formats, which, as well as the open source type of engine, makes it better to use than OGRE.

Distributed Rendering Techniques:

Distributed rendering techniques are techniques that developers and 3D designers would use to quickly and efficiently render a large amount of 3D work.

A prime example of this a render farm. This is where a cluster of computers are used to collectively render 3D scenes and/or animation using a queue system. The increase in computers used means render time would be better, but the advance in graphics and aesthetics would counterbalance this, though using a render farm would still be better than using a single or two computers. This is different from a render wall, a networked, tiled display used for real-time rendering.

Lighting:

Lighting is used in rendering to provide either natural or artificial light to a scene. Different types of light can be created and used at different positions and angles to create different types of day, or different types of lighting in a building. Also, different colours can be used to imitate spotlights in theatres or indoor clubs.

Standard Lighting:

This sphere has been rendered using a standard light, positioned above and slightly away from the sphere, but pointed at it using the rotate tool. The light is extremely broad with no softening, and would be used as artificial light that was close to the object.

Distance Lighting:

Distance lighting has basically the same effect as standard lighting, using a broad area of light with little softness on the shadow and shading on the shape.

Lightbulb:

The lightbulb provides a soft light that isn't entirely focused on the object. It can be moved so that the shadow will be transfered to one specific side based on the bulb's position. As the bulb's light is broad it can be used over multiple objects without having to move them too close together.

Spotlight:

A spotlight is a move direct light and is used to focus on one or just a small group of objects. It has no softness and would need to be pulled higher to create a wider area of light.

Coloured Spotlight:

A spotlight but in yellow. This can be used for coloured light such as lamposts and theatre lights, and can be moved around easily to simulate movement of light.

Mixing Coloured Spotlights:

A combination of two coloured spotlights creates a mixed central colour where the two overlap. This would be handy in situations where spots would cross, or when a colour mix is quickly needed for a light. The light would need to be softer, though, to create the feel of a real spotlight.

Unit 5 - New Media 2

The Internet:

The Kingdom hearts website appeals to its audience in terms of aesthetics and interactivity. It uses flash to allow users to scroll over the images and pick the game from the series that they want to look at. The creation of Adobe (once Macromedia) Flash has helped to create so many different forms of media, such as animations and website design.

After scrolling over one of the sections, the others are pushed back to reveal information about the game - it allows to user to discover the information through experimentation with the site. The smooth transtition of the separate sections is appealing to the site's visitors, as well as the aesthetics of the art style.

Unit 5 - New Media 1

Nowadays, most art seems to revolve around the digital world, introducing 3-Dimensional art and video games to the 20th and 21st Century. Digital art constantly improves with the advancement of technology, and in the current market of design, fresh, crisp new ideas are vital to good design business.

Video Games:

Kingdom Hearts, created in 2002, was a combination of the art of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series and Disney, bringing their styles together for a highly influencial game series. Almost 10 years old, these graphics and textures were highly advanced for their time, despite not being completely smooth and well-shaped. The ground textures were flat, with an image displayed on the floor to create a somewhat realistic-seeming ground for the time.

Kingdom Hearts 2, created 3 years later, was a huge improvement in terms of both gameplay and graphics. Textures were smoother and more realistic, shapes of the characters and scenery were improved, and the overall aesthetic was improved, making the second game of the series a lot more appealing to the public. Considering this game was released only 3 years after the first, there has been a vast improvement, which meant that technology had already advanced to make the game better.

The newest release of the Kingdom Hearts series, Birth by Sleep, was created in 2010, 5 years after the second game. In this time, once again, game engines and modeling programs have advanced even further, allowing the creators to be as creative as physically possible with little constraints in terms of texture, shape and ability for movement and interactivity.

Researching Art & Design - the 19th Century

The 19th century saw the birth of a hugely influencial series of art movements that were inspired by and were in response to previous art movements, as well as events that happened throughout the 19th century itself. The movements and styles ranged from the highly accurate actuality of realism, to the hugely imaginative and spiritual symbolism. Almost every movement of this era could be related to a previous movement, either in reponse or inspired by this movement, or as rebellion against its ideals and meaning. The class system was quite a important part of these movements, and art was created from the perspective of both ends of the classes.

Neoclassicism:


Inspired by western classical art and culture, particularly of Ancient Greece and Rome.


















"The Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques Louid David, 1805

Oil on Canvas

The artist has used precision brush strokes for soft textures and aesthetic, with slow linear brush strokes to add in plenty of detail. Base colours may have been added into the image first, with finer details added on top with a thinner brush.

David created this piece after becoming the official court painter to the new Royal regime of France after Napoleon Bonaparte came to power at the end of the French Revolution (1789-1799). This Revolution will have greatly influenced this piece due to Emporer Napoleon's new reign, and David will have painted this piece to glorify him and his exploits in a radically democratic republic.

The image uses warm colours to express a positive mood of the painting, helping to show viewers that this event was a good decision for France. It was during this point in his life that his work primarily used warm tones.

The artist has used complimentary colours such as reds and golds, and has created texture with the paint to simulate the textures of the fabrics in the clothing, as well as the walls and pillars, giving each its appropriate texture by changing brush strokes and application of paint. His use of light (the direction of which is shown by the shadow of the upper left balcony) is shown in every person and also in the scenery, and David uses simply the variety of tones to give his work shape, instead of creating outlines to depict every detail of the scene. The space of the image is carefully and painstakingly filled which each and every person present at the scene at the time, and Davis has even created depth within the image by fading out the people further away using darker tones of their colours. This gives the impression of the building going further back to reveal more people sat observing the Coronation.

Romanticism:

This movement was partially a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of what was known as the 'Age of Enlightenment'. Beginning in the 18th century, it was known as a set of ideas and philosophy that started in Europe which valued science and fact and rationality over traditional customs and morals. This movement used emotion translated into aesthetics, introducing emotions such as terror and awe in confrontation of the unknown. This art style harnessed imagination as escapism from current problems such as population growth and industrialism (where the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th century plays its part).




















"Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix

Oil on Canvas

The artist has used a thick brush to apply the media to the canvas background scenery, with a thinner brush creating the figures in the foreground. The shading has been applied smoothly, which suggests that the paint has either gradually been applied in stages or has been watered down to wash out the colour slightly.

The first noticeable thing about this image is the use of very dark, dismal colours in the background of the image with much brighter colours in the centre, especially the two figures with the flag and guns in the light. This piece was inspired by the Parisians marching for liberty, peace and equality, with the positive imagery of a woman and child lit in a golden glow, while climbing over the dark, dingy bodies in the background to obtain their goal of achieving freedom. The space is effectively used to draw attention to the two central figures, and the change in tone helps viewers to percive them in a positive light.

The use of light and shadow provides shape to the people and scenery without the use for outline. Also, the brightness of the blue, white and red of the flag draw attention to it, helping the viewer to understand a little more about the image.

This image also inspired the band Coldplay in creation of the video and song, 'Viva la Vida', using the image as background for their video and cover for the single track.

Realism:

The realist style is fairly self-explanitory, being known as a style based on what a person can physically see, without any idealisation or falseness to portray figures and scenes in a more positive and idealistic light. The idea has appeared in as early as ancient Egyptian times, using realistic proportions for animals in their art, though the human figures were still unrealistic in porportion.

"A Burial at Ornans" by Gustave Courbet, 1850

Oil on canvas

Similar to the previous techniques, smooth textures have been created in this work using precise linear brush strokes with the paint, looking carefully at the figures he was painting to ensure the colour and textures were as accurate as possible. Base colour could have been applied first, with detail applied on top in a thinner brush.

This painting was created in rememberance of the death of Courbet's great uncle, and was painted in unflattering and accurate realism. It was painted on a very large canvas traditionally used for heroic, glorifying or religious paintings held in higher regard.

The artist has used quite deep colours to show the negative mood of the image, using what little light was present in the image for lighting and shade to help outline the figures in the scene. Due to what's going on in this scene, there isn't much of a range of tone in clothing and scenery, and the background helps to use the upper space of the canvas where the figures in the foreground use the majority of the lower space.

Symbolism:

Symbolism was mostly known as the more 'gothic' side of Romanticism, most inspired by the works of writer Edgar Allen Poe. It veered towards abstraction and was a response to the Realism movement. Symbolist art was known as static and hieratic (related to religion). The movement was more in favour of spirituality and imagination over harsh reality and anti-idealistic views.





















"The Death of the Grave Digger" by Carlos Schwabe, 1895

Paint on canvas

Once again the techniques used here will be varying thickness of brushes and linear strokes to ensure smooth texture, with finer brushes for details and shaping of the image.

This image is a huge change from Realism. The use of contrasting colours such as the black of the angel against the white snow, and the brown and grey earth beside the green light in the angel's hands is quite complimentary and imaginative. There is not much use of light and shadow here, using the background instead as a background light on which the foreground characters stand out. The painted characters themselves are created without outline, and the space is used very well with the graveyard fading into the distance behind the dying weeping willow. Everything about this image suggests death, showing that it is a very emotive piece that will have caused controversy in the current time.

Impressionism:

This movements was a huge change from the previous movements of the century. This was a very open art style, with visible workings like brush strokes and application of media, and the emphasis of ever-changing light, showing passage of time in a single still frame. This style used ordinary subjects as points for art, as well as the inclusion of movement and original angles to start the work from.

Artists from this era drew inspiration from artists such as Delacroix. The style really broke the rules of art, allowing the bare raw media to easily be seen by viewers of the art. Also, this era of art saw painters working outdoors, as opposed to the traditional indoor work, which could limit the amount of light artists could get.






















"Impression, Sunrise" by Claude Monet, 1872

Oil on canvas

The artist used very large brush strokes with watered down paint for the background colours, with thicker paint and a thinner brush over the base coat to apply the foreground imagery and silhouettes. The application of the sun and its reflection adds the final finish to the image, using watered down paint for the reflection, and thicker paint for the sun itself.

The focal point of this calm, gentle-feeling painting is the bright sun hanging over the scenery. The artist mostly uses cool colours for this water-based scene, with just the sun seeming to shed light over the area. When measured with a photometer, however, it has been discovered that the sun is no brighter than the sky above, and seems to disappear in a grey-scaled version of the image. This is because of the surrounding blues of the sky that helps the bright orange to stand out, whereas the sky is shown in the same colour scheme together across the top of the painting. The darker silhouette in the foreground gives the paler background one depth within the image, suggesting that the painting contains distance within the scenery. Line is very clear in this work, as the brush strokes have been freely applied with no intention of hiding the work of the media and techniques.

Post-Impressionism:

A continuation of Impressionism but without limits, this era of art saw bright, vivid surreal colours used in work, as well as more of a focus on geometric form, expressive distortion of form, as well as the wild use of colour.






















"The Centenary of Independence" by Henri Rousseau, 1892

Paint on canvas

The artist mainly used block colours of thick paint on a large brush to create non-realistic figures, and uses a dark colour as a base to make the foreground stand out. A colour wash (with watered down paint) has been applied for the sky, with a fine brush used with thicker paint to overlay the tree onto the sky.

This highly colourful piece has a highly positive mood, showing people in idealised, non-realistic form enjoying a dance together. It shows a celebration of life and culture with the bright flags in the edges of the painting, and clearly lacks any sign of realism in the style. Little light is used to create shadow, and the characters are almost completely block colour figures, shown well in movement, making the painting feel more 'alive'.

Art Nouveau

This art movement, once again, is very different to any previous movements. It was an international style of art and architecture, and brought down the barriers between fine and applied art. It was a focus on new and modern techniques and practises, and helped people to see art in any object without overlooking its meaning and values. This was a completely new approach to art, hence the name Art Nouveau (New Art).




















"Aperitif Mugnier" by Jules Cheret, 1894

Paint and lithographic plate print

The artist has used lithography, a metal plate used for early print-making, to create the consistent style of the lettering in the poster. Lithography could also have been used on the character, or ink with watercolours, using thin, linear lines for the curved figure.

This piece takes elements from Post-Impressionism with moving figures and bright, bold colours, and shows an early style of Graphic Design, using typography and even 3D lettering to advertise the purpose of the poster (earning the artist the title 'father of the modern poster'). The figure is stylised and idealistic rather than realist, and would attract attention easily, especially from a male audience, due to the aesthetics of the woman in the poster. The artist has mainly used reds, white and blues for this image, making it stand out easily, especially with the blue used as sky, helping the woman to stand out as a foreground image. Outlines have been used, which is rare compared to the other movements of this century, which used the colour itself to create the form. The space is used creatively with the lettering and human form to fill most of the space without the image looking too busy.




Early Film and Photography:

In the 1860s, people began to create and use devices such as the zoetrope and mutoscope to create motion from 2-Dimensional drawings. This became the very foundation of film and animation, but each image was stored on a separate camera. By the 1880s the motion picture camera was created, allowing several images to be stored on one reel of film, which made the animating process quicker and easier.
Originally motion pictures contained no sound, and instead music was played alongside the showing of the film. This was the birth of the the film industry, that really began to take off from World War I, eventually introducing a track containing music, sound effects and speech together to really bring film to life.