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 Techniques used in animation

In animation, several techniques are used to successfully achieve different styles of animation. They are:

- 2D

2D animation is a method of animation in which frames are drawn individually to create the illusion of moving images. 2D animations can be hand drawn or painted or drawn digitally on an animation or drawing software.

- 3D

3D animation is an animation technique where 3D models are created and rigged to be animated using keyframes.  The backgrounds as well as the characters themselves are 3D modelled.

- Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is an animation method where real life footage is taken and traced over frame by frame to create the illusion of a 2D animation.

- Stop-motion

Stop-motion is a form of animation where frames are captured one frame at a time with physical objects that are moved in between frames to create the illusion of movement.

Line drawing

A line drawing is the final piece of line art that consists of distinct straight lines or curves placed against a background (usually over a sketch). Line art can be achieved both traditionally and digitally (using a range of programs).

Examples of line art animation:

The intro for the game Persona 5 was completely 2D animated with some 3D elements in the background (3D animated train and bridge) that used flat colours and straight clear lines to make it appear 2D and cartoon-like. The entire animation consists of very few colours that mainly follows a strict theme of the same 3 colours: black, white and red. 2D line art for animation is usually drawn over a base sketch.

In terms of target audience, 2D animations are usually targeted towards children (due to how simplistic it is). Examples of 2D animations that are targeted towards children would be Adventure Time and The Amazing World of Gumball. However, there are some other 2D animations that target an older audience such as Steven Universe (although it is aimed at a younger audience, the themes in the show might be more suitable for a slightly older audience such as teenagers). 

The salaries of 2D animators and artists in the US ranges from 40,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars. 2D animators in the UK make 18,000 pounds to 36,000 pounds yearly (from starting to experienced).

Stop motion

An example of a stop motion animation movie is Corpse Bride. The animation technique stop motion is a cinematographic technique whereby the camera is repeatedly stopped and started, for example to give animated figures the impression of movement. 

In Spiderman: into the spider-verse, the animators played around with the frame rate as the movie progressed. As the protagonist improved his skills in the movie, the frame rate increased to make it smoother and to show his progression.

In terms of target audience, stop motion animations are usually targeted towards younger individuals, such as children, teens and toddlers. 2D and 3D animations are usually targeted towards a slightly older audience. Majority of stop motion animations, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Wallace and Gromit, are more targeted towards a younger audience based on its themes and genre. 

On average, stop motion animators make $60,000 with no great difference being seen depending on location.

Conclusion

To summarise the mentioned animation techniques, they all individually require different and specific needs to be achieved; this means that some techniques are more expensive than others and requires a larger budget and some might need more time to make depending on how detailed the animation will be.

The most modern technique is 3D animation, as CGI nowadays requires digital animation and editing softwares. The first 3D animation that was a 3D model of a hand created by Pixar in 1972. 3D animation can be considered the most realistic animation technique, as the models and assets are 3D and creates the illusion that the animation is being recording in real time along with the 3D camera movement.

The earliest animation technique would be rotoscoping, as the first animation using the rotoscope technique was used in 1915; Projection equipment was used to trace still figures  from live action footage. This technique will most likely not require a lot of time, as it is only a simple method where frames are traced over. It does not require any artistic skill to achieve a rotoscope animation.

I will be exploring and explaining 4 uses of animation that require the animation techniques mentioned earlier. The uses I will be explaining are:

- Film

- Horror

- Anime

- Gaming

Gaming:

Various animation techniques are used in video games, varying from 2D (line drawing style or sometimes pixel art) and 3D animation. Animations are used in video games to make the game feel more realistic and relatable for the player. There are several kinds of animations used in majority of video games, such as idle animations, walking/running animations, cutscenes etc.

An example of a video game that uses the 3D / CGI animation technique is Overwatch, which is a first person shooter game with several characters to choose from that all have their own personalised weapons and abilities. The main animation style used in Overwatch is 3D, however, some 2D elements are used in the cinematic videos; All of the character models, assets and maps are 3D modelled and animated. The creators of Overwatch, Blizzard, create short animated videos on youtube that have the characters from Overwatch involved that were made to give fans more information on the lore and storyline of the game.

Anime:

Anime is a Japanese 2D animation style that is usually targeted to both children and adults depending on the theme. Anime is similar to (and is sometimes confused with) Manga; manga is not an animation technique, but is a comic created in the anime art style. Most mangas are adapted into an animated series (anime) due to popular demand and high ratings.

The first anime to be created and oldest piece of Japanese animation recorded is Katsudo Shashin (Moving Picture), which was a short animation made sometime between 1907 and 1911 that consisted of only 50 frames. In the anime, the character is shown to be writing "活動写真" that directly translates to "Moving Pictures"

Nowadays, a lot of anime have been adapted into fully animated TV series. An example of a successfully animated anime series is Neon Genesis Evangelion created in the 1990s and set in 2015; Neon Genesis Evangelion takes place on a post-apocalyptic alternate Earth, where hyper dimensional beings known as Angels threaten to wipe out what remains of humanity. Evangelion is considered as one of the most influential anime ever created. NGE's main genre is mecha, along with Sci-Fi, thriller and adventure.

Manga:

Anime:

Film:

Some films (aimed at children most of the time) are animated using several animation techniques. Most well-known animated children's films are usually 3D animated (Pixar, Universal, etc.), but some animated films that are targeted to an even younger audience are usually 2D animated as it is easier to comprehend. Some movies, more targeted to an older audience, use CGI such as Marvel's 2016 Deadpool.

In Deadpool, Colossus (one of the main characters), required 5 actors along with CGI to create. They required tall actors, but despite them being tall they had to wear platforms and sometimes headpieces to get to the right height for the character. These actors were put in grey tracking suits to be later animated using CGI. The grey tracking suits make the creation of the CGI 3D model easier for the animators to rig.

Horror:

For horror, I chose to look at a small YouTube series called The Walten Files created by Chilean artist and animator Martin Walls. The Walten Files is an analog horror series inspired by the well-known horror indie game Five Nights at Freddy's. The main animation technique used in the The Walten Files is 2D animation, as most of the animated characters are shown to be animated with keyframes (this technique is called inbetweening, tweening for short). Although the main technique used is 2D animation, backgrounds and other elements in The Walten Files are either 3D animated or recorded in real life using a lower frame rate (and edited with a VHS overlay to make the recordings appear old and realistic to the time The Walten Files is set in).

Overall, The Walten Files was purposely made to be low quality to show that it was set between 1974 and 1982 - Furthermore, sounds such as loud white noise and static were used to create the effect that it had been recorded in that time. The series genre is called analog horror, which means that it mimics old style media such as TV broadcasts and VHS tapes while incorporating elements of horror.