Kate Duffy's blog for the Research and Development module at Northumbria for which I am researching the classic 2D animation films of Disney and the art of 2D cell animation.
Downloaded the KMPlayer and used it to make screen captures of Bambi to see how the frames change. I will possibly use these screen captures to do tests. Learned that the old Disney animations used about 12 frames per second, 24 if there was a lot of action in the shot. Some animation can go up to around 60 frames per second, however.
Update on progress: ~ I've done a write-up of useful points from "A Frogumentary"- a series of video blogs interviewing important people who worked on The Princess and the Frog. ~ Printed out all typed-up work to date and put into a file which will eventually be handed in at the end of the project. ~ Sketched several Disney characters to learn how to draw them and decide which I'd like to animate in a few tests. ~ Gone through the blog to review my progress and what needs to be cleaned up or developed.
Just because you can do something doesn't automatically mean you should. The success of the CGI Toy Story virtually destroyed the hand-drawn animation industry. Even Disney shut down their "old-fashioned" animation department in 2004, despite having almost entirely built their empire on the technique. Rather ironically it was Toy Story's director John Lasseter, now head creative at Disney, who pointed out how wrong they were, so now Disney is back in the hand-drawn business with The Princess And The Frog. Alongside it, this season includes such undisputed classics – not just of animation but of cinema – as Dumbo, Pinocchio, Bambi, The Lion King and Fantasia. Seeing the artistry, grace and sheer hard work that went into them clearly visible on the big screen makes them seem more magical and alive than any of the computer-generated fare. Free tickets for under 15s are available with every ticket bought for Princess And The Frog.
