New animating techniques and their authors.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to present new animating techniques on the example of three artists: Alexandre Alexeieff, Julian Antonisz, Piotr Dumała. At the beginning I will depict methods for obtaining the illusion of motion. All presented methods are from before the era of cinematography, started by the Lumière brothers. The presentation of the history of animated images is intended to explain currently used animating techniques and the genesis of their creation. On the other hand, it allows to interpret what the concept of animation is. The first mentioned pieces of information that can be interpreted as a way of presenting a story through moving images are dated back to ancient times. In their works Greek and Roman philosophers described ways of storytelling through projecting shadows. A similar technique was used in the 10th–century Chinese shadow theaters. Whereas the description of devices and inventions from the seventeenth century allows us to understand the more technical side of methods of achieving optical illusions of movement. They will be later visible in the way of working of artists until nowadays. The next stage will be a presentation of artists and their histories. Their background is needed to understand how they developed their new techniques and from where they drew their inspiration. The first technique that will be described is pinscreen. Its author – Alexandre Alexeieff, born in 1901 – was a Russian animator and book illustrator. His time of artistic productivity covers the period of World War II and locations such as France or the United States of America. A great influence on the style and characteristics of his works was his fondness of his country and the places where he was working. In the thirties, thanks to many artists including Man Ray or Salvador Dali, animation started to be recognized as a new medium of art. The Pinscreen is a device assembled from board and regularly arranged pins. The pinscreen was positioned vertically and the created images were photographed to animate. The images created through the shadows and highlights casted by pins gave the animation a personal and original character. This laborious method is characterized by the smoothness of transitions between images. The second technique which will be mentioned in my thesis will be non–camera animation. This method had already been used repeatedly but Julian Antonisz brought his own achievements and innovative approach to it. Painting directly on a film had been used previously mainly for abstract animation. Animations were handmade and painted using for example brushes. The approach to this form of art was changed during the communist time in Poland by Julian Antonisz. He invented many devices that allowed him to scratch complex and detailed drawings in a small scale on a film. He fully committed himself to the idea of “non–camera cinematography” and the opportunities that it gave. He is also the author of the “non–camera manifesto”. He wrote it to expand the knowledge about non–camera and expand the circle of artists using this technique. His animations are combinations of various methods of influencing the structure of a camera film. He used these practices to tell his own unique stories. The world that he created was a caricature of contemporary life, society and the system in Poland. The last example is a technique inspired by painting. Its author is Piotr Dumała. He has been creating animated films in Poland since the eighties. The main setting for his animations was a black background. To achieve this effect he used plaster panels coated with dark colors and images scratched on them. As with the pinscreen, he photographed an image and applied changes. Thanks to that he was able to obtain the effect of smooth transitions. He built space using lights. Dumała is primarily known for interpretations of literature. He made adaptations of Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Franz Kafka. His movies are characterized by serious subjects and approach to creating characters. He emphasized the complexity of relations between characters. The atmosphere of animations is created only with music, sound effects and drawing style. Dumała resigned from using dialogues. Thanks to their approach and development of the techniques, the artists went down in the history of animated films. Their individuality in style allowed them to stand out and express themselves more efficiently. They mastered these techniques and probably no one will come close to their level. Over the years and throughout works of artists we can notice changes in styles and global changes. Thanks to movies we notice personal attitude toward art and worldview. What connects those artists is passion for creation and telling stories reflecting their soul and approach to life.