(1) Zoetrope - 1834
Inventor + BackgroundWilliam George Horner invented the Zoetrope back in 1834. He was a British Mathematician. Initially, he named it Daedaleum which means "The Devil's Wheel"; however, a French inventor called Pierre Desvignes renamed it to Zoetrope which is Greek for "Wheel of Life". The Zoetrope first appeared in England (1834), then France (1860), then the United States (1867). Invention DescriptionA Zoetrope is a 19th century animation toy (invention) in which it consists of drum-like structure with a series of images put inside. It's also considered to be a pre-film animation device or an early form of motion picture projector. A series of images are drawn in this drum-like device; once it's spun, it creates an illusion of motion. It has slots between each picture which is used to see through. More than one person can see the moving images at a time. These images are static yet each represent a different movement. For example, a horse is drawn standing on four legs but the next image is of the horse on two legs thus giving the illusion of motion when spun quickly.The idea of the Zoetrope revolves around the concept of persistence of vision. It was first noted by Peter Mark Roget in 1820; the idea is about how long the retina retains an image. For example, if you see a light flash every tenth (or less) of a second you will see it as a constant open light; this is because our eyes perceive it as a continuous movement. However, between every image there should be darkness, this is because if you happen to look into the Zoetrope from the top rather than through the slots you will see blur. The slots of the Zoetrope create the darkness needed to interrupt the white images thus creating an illusion of motion. When spun, the slots generate flashes of light creating a strobe and persistence of vision is a stroboscopic effect. Therefore, the Zoetrope uses this concept by drawing different movements on different images and spinning it bringing it together.
Inventor + Background
Eadweard James Muybridge was an English filmmaker, photographer and inventor.
(2) Eadweard Muybridge - 1877-78
(3) Windsor McCay(4) Felix the Cat(5) Walt Disney(6) Oliver Postgate(7) Aardman Animation(8) First Computer Animation (Tron)(9) Pixar(10) Attack on Titan
Favoured Animation Type: Anime (Japanese Animation)
Chosen Anime: Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Year Made: 6th April 2013
Clip: Episode 1 (towards the end).
Plot: "The story of Attack on Titan centers around the adventures of Eren Yeager, his foster sister, Mikasa Ackerman, and their childhood friend, Armin Arlert.
After the wall which protects their hometown of Shinganshina is
breached by Titans, Eren watches in horror as one of them eats his mother. Vowing to kill all Titans, Eren enlists in the military, along with his friends."
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan
This anime is simply epic. From characters to emotions to narrative. It is one of the very few that has successfully captured real-life emotional distress; including loss and war. Other than the fictional characters (Titans), this anime achieves the raw emotions of war. It's able to crawl under your skin whilst temporalily numbing your mind. Just like Hollywood action movies, Attack on Titan makes the impossible seem possible. Who would imagine a world at war against Titans? Foreign creatures that spontaneously, and without purpose, appear to eat, kill and crush humans.
What really drew me in was the familiarity of the Titans. I once had a dream, as a child, of being watched from my bedroom window by a huge human that resembled a Titan. I later knew it was inspired by an animation I had watched the night before called The Big Friendly Giant (The BFG). That explained the nostalgic feeling I had. Nonetheless, Attack on Titan is on a whole new level of awesomeness. It captures, what I would imagine to be, the real emotions someone would feel when seeing a Titan in real life. It shook me. I began to believe they actually exist, just trapped somewhere in a mountain thawing to get out. Some believe in immortal vampires, I choose to believe in Titans.
Beyond these personal points, I will begin to criticise and analyse the success of this unique yet nostalgic anime.
Style of Animation
The style of animation is very realistic. I enjoy this type as it generates emotions that can only be produced by real-life films. When watching you don't feel as though it's just a 'cartoon', rather realism. The attention to details is incredible; the facial expressions draw you in almost instantly. Sweat-beads are even drawn to show the seriousness of the situation. The way in which the characters have shock-stricken face expression also adds to the effect. Beyond that, you have the way in which the characters move about very smoothly; you'd think CGI was used. Moreover, when Eren's mum was eaten, blood spilled into the air and the way it was drawn was sickly breathtaking. It was slow-moed showing the blood floating the air for a few moments. It was very effective and added to the mood.
The style of animation is very realistic. I enjoy this type as it generates emotions that can only be produced by real-life films. When watching you don't feel as though it's just a 'cartoon', rather realism. The attention to details is incredible; the facial expressions draw you in almost instantly. Sweat-beads are even drawn to show the seriousness of the situation. The way in which the characters have shock-stricken face expression also adds to the effect. Beyond that, you have the way in which the characters move about very smoothly; you'd think CGI was used. Moreover, when Eren's mum was eaten, blood spilled into the air and the way it was drawn was sickly breathtaking. It was slow-moed showing the blood floating the air for a few moments. It was very effective and added to the mood.
Sound
In terms of sound there are two things to address: voice-over and music. Generally speaking, the voice-over was awesome as I didn't feel as though it was voiced, it helped make the anime even more realistic. The emotions conveyed through their voices was very real and emotional. When Eren screamed seeing his mum being eaten, it was blood-curdling. It was as though the voicer was truly in pain, you could hear it in his voice. As for the music, the soundtracks used were different than what I usually hear when watching anime. Again, it was one of those factors that majorly contributed to the realism of the anime. When it came to a serious situation, the soundtrack would re-enforce the thrill in it all. When it came to an emotional situation, the soundtrack would make it that much more sad. Therefore, the music helped complete the final effect on the viewer.
In terms of sound there are two things to address: voice-over and music. Generally speaking, the voice-over was awesome as I didn't feel as though it was voiced, it helped make the anime even more realistic. The emotions conveyed through their voices was very real and emotional. When Eren screamed seeing his mum being eaten, it was blood-curdling. It was as though the voicer was truly in pain, you could hear it in his voice. As for the music, the soundtracks used were different than what I usually hear when watching anime. Again, it was one of those factors that majorly contributed to the realism of the anime. When it came to a serious situation, the soundtrack would re-enforce the thrill in it all. When it came to an emotional situation, the soundtrack would make it that much more sad. Therefore, the music helped complete the final effect on the viewer.
Narrative
Storylines are what keeps the viewer engaged and entertained. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that it isn't repetitive or typical - something they can predict. Attack on Titan has a very unique narrative which could explain why it drew in so many people. Even non-anime watchers watched it simply because it was action-packed. Without a good narrative, the production won't succeed. Rather than just focusing on getting the storyline through, Attack on Titan pays attention to how each character would react to a situation. Therefore, it was a success.
Storylines are what keeps the viewer engaged and entertained. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that it isn't repetitive or typical - something they can predict. Attack on Titan has a very unique narrative which could explain why it drew in so many people. Even non-anime watchers watched it simply because it was action-packed. Without a good narrative, the production won't succeed. Rather than just focusing on getting the storyline through, Attack on Titan pays attention to how each character would react to a situation. Therefore, it was a success.
Intertextual References
As mentioned earlier, Attack on Titan seems to include The Big Friendly Giant as an intertextual reference. The idea of Titans already exists. Who knows what it might have been inspired by, but it does resemble The BFG. In The BFG, there are many unfriendly giants up against one friendly giant. In Attack on Titan, there are many unfriendly Titan up against one friendly Titan. It sounds very similar in terms of characters. There are other intertextual references, however I seem to have stuck to this one in particular.
As mentioned earlier, Attack on Titan seems to include The Big Friendly Giant as an intertextual reference. The idea of Titans already exists. Who knows what it might have been inspired by, but it does resemble The BFG. In The BFG, there are many unfriendly giants up against one friendly giant. In Attack on Titan, there are many unfriendly Titan up against one friendly Titan. It sounds very similar in terms of characters. There are other intertextual references, however I seem to have stuck to this one in particular.
Why is it so successful?
Overall, I think it's very successful as it pays attention to every aspect of the production; from characters to sound. Because of that, it increases the success. Just like a puzzle, each factor fits well together to make the entire picture.
***
Overall, I think it's very successful as it pays attention to every aspect of the production; from characters to sound. Because of that, it increases the success. Just like a puzzle, each factor fits well together to make the entire picture.
***
(1) 1824 - Peter Mark Roget
Peter Mark Roget discovered that it takes the eye fractions of a second to replace a certain image with a succeeding one. This discovery helped him create the Thaumatrope; a toy popular in the 19th century. It consists of a disk (round object) resembling two sides of a coin, with an image on both sides. A string is attached to both sides as it is spun. Both images begin to merge and create motion picture.
One of the obvious advantages for this is that it started the evolution of animation. Without it animators wouldn't have continued to experiment and add to its evolution. From this, children were provided with entertainment that appealed to them. Moreover, its existence was an inspiration for many to build on.
