Writing about the way elements move in animation proves to be a formidable challenge for any book on the medium, but Ryan Pierson’s Figure and Force in Animation Aesthetics (2019) manages to explore philosophical theories related to change while providing…
Implying the Surface in Animation
Unstable surfaces in home is where the heart is (2023)
by Karen Bosy • February 13, 2024 • 1 Comment
I work within a tradition of documentary practice. Whilst a documentary can follow a narrative structure, this video complicates any notion of narrative to present a section of path in a wetland forest. This is an essential watershed area where…
Implying the Surface in Animation
Surface Effects in Frame-by-Frame Filmmaking
by Nicky Hamlyn • February 6, 2024 • 0 Comments
I have been working frame by frame for several years in both 16mm film and video. Although I do not consider myself to be an animator, I use single frame shooting to elaborate and control what are sometimes very complex…
Sight and Vision
Visual Alchemy: Transcending the Frame in Phenakistiscope Animation
by Guido Devadder • January 22, 2024 • 0 Comments
In an effort to prove his theory on persistence of vision to a wider, non-scientific audience, Joseph Plateau developed his first phenakistiscope (1832) depicting a dancer who performs a pirouette in 16 distinct steps, each of them separated by a…
Sight and Vision
The Grace of Vision: A Bergsonian take on Persistence of Vision
by Jack Parry • January 16, 2024 • 0 Comments
The phenomenon of persistence of vision (POV) is central to the conceptualisation and pedagogy of animation. There exists however controversy between film/animation theories and empirical science as to the parameters of this phenomenon. POV is classically seen as the phenomenon…
Sight and Vision
Beyond Persistence: Debunking the Myth and the Science of Animated Motion
by Philippe Vaucher • January 9, 2024 • 0 Comments
One of the reasons for the popularity and resilience of what is today referred to as the “persistence of vision” theory is that it mistakenly provides a simple explanation for two distinct perceptual phenomena. The first is flicker fusion, which…
Animation and Holiday Traditions
A Rugrats Passover: A Personal Reminiscence
by Jonathan Greenberg • December 11, 2023 • 0 Comments
In 1992, I was a recent college graduate who had moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of making a career as a screenwriter. A few happy accidents landed me work as a writer for a new series on Nickelodeon,…
Book Review
Review: French Animation History (2011), by Richard Neupert
by Adriana Navarro Álvarez • December 5, 2023 • 2 Comments
French Animation History (2011) by Richard Neupert delivers an essential academic exploration of Francophone animated cinema, a topic of great interest according to Neupert, due to its artistic potential and worldwide influence since its origins. Across six chapters, the author…
Transport Vehicles
Psychology and The Train Illusion, Walk Cycles, and Induced Motion in Animation
by Philippe Vaucher • November 28, 2023 • 0 Comments
While the Lumière brothers’ film L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat (1896) enshrined the image of trains in film history, trains may also have played an essential role in the history of psychology and the scientific study of…
Transport Vehicles
Memories in the Sky: Remembrance, History, and Aviation in Porco Rosso (1992)
by Joshua Fagan • November 21, 2023 • 0 Comments
In Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso (1992), the striking red plane flown by the main character, Porco, allows him to defeat pirates while soaring through the Adriatic skies, as well as allowing him to accomplish a more mysterious and restorative form…