Animating Objects One of the best ways to learn the art of animation Most anything you can move can be animated (i.e. keys, pencil, ball, rock, coins, etc) Requires little from animator camera something to move imagination Allows for quick feedback to see results. Best way to experiment with ideas and animation techniques

Basic setup for Object Animation: Camera: nothing fancy but must be able to focus clearly Tripod: Must have one to hold the camera still Without it the motion gets lost within camera shake Good lighting: avoid shadows and animating in the dark Diorama: This is a set up that creates the illusion of infinite space with no corners or edges to see within frame (like at photography studios) Backgrounds should simple and contrast with object in motion.

SCREENING Princess Nicotine, 1909 Stop motion match sticks One of the earliest experiments with object animation Automatic Moving Company, (1912) by Romeo Bosetti Debate today whether furniture is miniature or real The Impossible Map, 1947, Evelyn Lambart (worked with McLaren), NFB site Excellent educational use of stop-motion Picnic with Weissman, Jan Svankmajer, 1969 (Collected shorts of Jan Svankmajer) Wildly imaginative surrealist (integrates stop motion, live action, puppets, …) Inspired Tim Burton

Assignment: For your homework, find a simple object and a nice area to animate it in and create some motion experiments moving the object about the scene. Show contrasting motions, like slow vs. erratic, fast and smooth vs. modulating Create the illusion of life by having your object interact with another object or objects. Perhaps it runs into something and causes mischief etc.. In other words breath life into something that we all know is inanimate. Bring your image sequences to next class session and we will turn them into a movie.