Genre and Forms

Genres and Forms from Varshini1999

Contemporary Work from Varshini1999

Jan Švankmajer

Jan Švankmajer is a filmmaker and artist recognised for his surreal animations, he was born on the 4^th of September 1934 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He has inspired many of today’s stop-motion animators, including Tim Burton and The Brother Quay. Jan is known for his dark reimagining of well-known fairy tales and for his avant-garde usage of three-dimensional stop-motion coupled with live-action animation. Several critics hailed him for favouring visual elements over plot and narrative, other for his use of dark fantasy. 

He has achieved his reputation over the years for his creepy and surreal films, utilizing distinctive stop-motion technique, counting (Pixilation and Claymation). Jan still remains to produce stop-motion films today. Jan tends to project a moral within his stop-motion animations, the animation per say usually makes no sense, however, when watching it closely it emits a deeper meaning in it, and that is the purpose of surrealism.



Jan’s stop-motion films are very weird and disturbing to watch, yet it conveys vital information’s that has to be focused on in order to realise what they are, this keeps the viewers glued to the movie and makes Jan Švankmajer’s movie so appealing to his ever-growing audience.

Švankmajer pursued an interest in theatre and puppetry. He studied at the School of Applied Arts in Prague from 1950-1954 prior to enrolling in the puppetry department at the Academy of the Performing Arts. Jan also worked at a marionette theatre and other theatres in the city. Švankmajer discovered an appreciation for the film through his theatre work and soon began his cinematic career journey. His first short- Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara- 1964 (The Last Trick), in which 2 magicians contribute in a heated competition of skill – provided evidence of his early interest in stop-motion. 

Švankmajer’s most recognised work, Lekce Faust (1993: Faust), provided a new spin to the familiar tale of the Faustian bargain. The film is set in a foreboding puppet theatre that pulls the main character inside. There he experiences a bizarre form of the Faust play, which comprises of giant puppets and clay figures filmed in stop-motion.

Even though Švankmajer won more than 30 awards and honours from several international film festivals, he is still relatively unfamiliar in North America throughout most of his career. His lack of reputation was in large measure a result of political events that took place in Czechoslovakia. After the invasion of the Soviet Union in that country in 1968, the powers that be constrained opportunities for Švankmajer’s films to reach a wider audience, finding his work generally inappropriate for their desired ends. Nevertheless, Švankmajer’s reputation grew substantially after the fall of the Soviet Union. 

Švankmajer picked up a respectable standing throughout the following couple of decades for his exceptional style of stop-motion animation, and his capacity to make really startling nightmarish surreal but then in some cases funny motion pictures. Utilizing a great deal of exaggerated sounds to make peculiar impacts, frequently in eating scenes, on the audience to make a surreal atmosphere. He utilizes a lot of speed changes, more often than not when individuals are talking or walking to make a strained and emotional impact. A large portion of his movies frequently involve food, this is by all accounts his most loved subject and making lifeless articles come to life through stop-motion animation. The individuals who make the most of Švankmajer's work will appreciate it due to its visual stimulation and it's really disturbing and forceful sequences. His works are extremely fascinating and inventive, however, at times they could be depicted as pushing against the limits in some respects.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Yalzadeh, I. (2017). Jan Svankmajer | Czech artist, puppeteer, animator, and filmmaker. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-vankmajer [Accessed 1 Jun. 2017].

Raymond Frederick "Ray" Harryhausen

"Godfather of visuals effects in 24 frames"

Raymond Frederick "Ray" Harryhausen was an American-British artist, designer, visual effects creator, writer, and producer who created a form of stop-motion model animation known as "Dynamation". He was born 29^th June 1920 and passed away at the age of 92 on 7^th May 2013. Harryhausen was inspired by Willis O’Brien’s animation in ‘King Kong’, this drive was what gave Harryhausen to venture into the field of stop-motion animation.

He came up with some of the most cutting edges and most fascinating stop motion techniques and films ever created. Harryhausen’s style was easily identifiable, models (mostly Claymation) were highly thorough and physiques were extremely close to realism. Harryhausen invented his own stop-motion method which undoubtedly completely transformed the utilization of stop-motion, expanding its use and created it in such a way making it more seamlessly fit in, to the extent that it was capable of being in the same scene as actors and such, which till now was not possible. He was the idol for several modern animators that are famous today. 

This video is from ‘Jason and the Argonauts’, it projects Harryhausen’s utilization of Dynamation. The skeletons are models that are functioned by hand and are made to look like they are alive. This is technique is used by several animators today, for instance, Aardman, Tim Burton). In his films, the models, interact with the live-action world, that will cease to call attention to themselves as ‘animation’.

What is Dynamation and its function?

Overlaying of an image upon another, this would allow stop-motion models could be work with the images overlaid on the live action film. This gives it a realistic feel and as if they are interacting with the actors, completely advancing viewing quality. The process was incredibly simple, a projector would project the still images of the film onto a rear screen, then the models would be placed in front of this, a glass screen would be placed in front of the models. This was utilized to eliminate the surroundings (i.e. the setting, walls, furniture etc), the camera would then take a picture of the models through the glass pane, this sets up act like layers in effect and create a single 2D still. 

The illustration below explains the process step by step:

The primary advantage of this process of the massive enhancement in terms of visual quality and transition of stop-motion in live action films. With the pros always comes the cons, this process increased the creation time because of the film needing to be completely filmed and then get the models manipulated and overlaid. The increased cost of creating a film using this specific method and due to the additional equipment made it harder to carry on with. 

He got his first job working on George Pal’s Puppetoons shorts. Via that he worked for the Special Services Division under Col Frank Capra as a loader, clapper boy, gaffer and afterwards as a camera assistant amid WW2. Amidst doing this we also worked on his own short films at home animating short films about the deployment and uses of military equipment.

His initial solo feature film was officially called 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' released in 1953 by Warner Brothers Pictures and turned into a colossal box office hit. Inside this film, he utilized a new animation method that split up the foreground and the background of live action footage into 2 distinct pictures. He would then coordinate his animated models into the arrangement and re-photograph it, bringing about smooth stop-motion and live action animation. His family facilitated him a considerable measure of his animation work; his father would regularly help with making the metal armatures and his mother would make outfits and covers with different distinctive materials relying upon what was required.

Colour Film

Harryhausen began playing with colour film amid the making of a documentary called ‘The Animal World’. He played with various colour sticks to overcome the colour-balance and light-shift problems he faced. He was requested to assist by Willis O’Brien who was struggling to meet the short deadline set to complete the eight-minute-long dinosaur sequences. This was Harryhausen’s first ever professional colour work and was the first sequence shown in the film. This was the top-grossing film of the summer and again one of the top three grossing films of the year.



 He soon met and started a beneficial association with maker Charles Schneer, who was working with the B-Picture unit of Columbia Pictures. Their first sci-fi feature film was 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' released in 1955. It was about a Goliath octopus-like creature that originated from the ocean and began attacking San Francisco and was a colossal box office success. This was immediately trailed by 'Earth vs. the Flying Saucers' that was released just a year later in 1956. A setting in Washington D.C and was about the planet Earth confronting an Alien intrusion. This was one of the best and top grossing intrusion movies of the 50's and was likewise a major box office hit.

Amid the mid-1970's and completely through to the 2000's Harryhausen composed many books, novels and fantasy scrapbooks'. These were intended to guide and move young animation pioneers of the new Century Some fundamental titles were ‘Ray Harryhausen: An Animated life', 'A Century of Model Animation: from Melies to Aardman' and the most recent of his books that was distributed 2011; ‘Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook' which sold extremely well. He additionally made enormous production movies close by his written passion that has propelled revamps in the turn of the new Century, e.g. 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' and ‘Clash of the Titans’.

He was the closest thing these pictures had to an auteur, and his effects were their primary box office draw, yet he died without a single feature-film directing credit on his IMDb page. His disciples knew the truth, the majority of them turned out to be filmmakers themselves, and tried to summon some of the imagination and personality of Harryhausen’s creation in their own work. Without Harryhausen The Lord of the Rings, the T. rex-raptor fight in Jurassic Park, the Rancour from Return of the Jedi, or the skeleton horse in Army of Darkness; we probably would not have gotten Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, or Sam Raimi, either.

The technology that allowed Spielberg to inhabit Isla Nublar with thunder lizards far outstripped anything Harryhausen (who retired when CGI was in its infancy, and never touched the stuff) had at his disposal. Stop-motion is simpler, yet harder. It is deeply tedious and labour-intensive way of generating cinematic illusions, and cheaper/easier/more “realistic” effects have vastly outdated it by the time Harryhausen retired. 

Nevertheless, Harryhausen’s monsters existed in the physical world, even if it took camera trickery to project them onscreen with human actors. It had an essence of something believable and tactile about them, even if you knew they were actually the size of toys. They captured the light, cast shadows. They seemed forged but felt real

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• Gilsdorf, E. (2013). Why Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects were more real than CGI. [online] Boing Boing. Available at: http://boingboing.net/2013/06/03/long-live-real-fake-fx.html [Accessed 1 Jun. 2017].

• Pappademas, A., Barnwell, B., Lindbergh, B. and Phillips, B. (2013). R.I.P., Ray Harryhausen. [online] Grantland. Available at: http://grantland.com/features/a-tribute-ray-harryhausen-godfather-visual-effects-24-frames/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2017].

Willis “Obie” O’Brien

He was on March 2^nd, 1886 and passed away on November 8^th, 1962. While unappreciated in his lifetime, Willis “Obie” O’Brien’s mastery of animation has inspired the mind’s eye of generations. This pioneer’s monstrous legacy was educated through years of developing innovative techniques. Willis was an Irish American and he pioneered motion pictures special effects and is most recognised for his sciences fiction films; ‘The Lost World’, ‘King Kong’ and ‘Mighty Joe Young’ for which he won the Academy Awards for ‘Best Visual Effects’ in 1950. He began his careers as a cartoonist for the San Francisco Daily News and was also a professional marble sculptor.

The Oakland-born California native expanded life experience prior to jumping into motion pictures. His winding artistic journey started in his teens working briefly as a cowboy, boxer and cartoonist. Their interests would rise in his later works. He made models, mainly featuring dinosaurs and caveman, and with the help of the local news camera crew he animated the figures and generated a minuscule stop-motion piece. Successfully capturing the attention of the Edison Company and was funded to make his first film ‘The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy’ in the year of 1915 with a spending plan of $5,000. Later his was requested to animate a series of Prehistoric themed short films for the company, these were the first stop-motion films to associate live actors with stop-motion models. The films grossed over $100,000 and the Director Dawley gained most of the credit and then eventually went on to utilize the effects for sequel ‘Along the Moonbeam Trail’ and his documentary ‘Evolution’. O’Brien got a small-scale financial compensation for his successful film.

Herbert M. Dawley with a duck-billed dinosaur he built for ‘Along the Moonbeam Trail’, circa 1920.

From the niche point of view of visual effects history, this is bombshell material, specifically for those who reverence for O’Brien runs deep. 

His character typically consisted mainly of clay, especially in his early pieces of work. The intricacy of his models grew with the advancement of his career and skills. He would create models with complexly articulated armatures covered with rubber skins, some of his designs would even include a rubber bladder that allowed his creatures to “breathe”. By inflating and deflating the bladder, his creatures could fight, move, and also give the sense of breathing- stirring both the audiences’ fears and imaginations. In King Kong, he created movement via the utilization of an armature that is covered with hair, and he moves the body a slight bit at a time and captures it. This technique is adopted with by most of the stop-motion animators of today (Aardman in ‘Chicken Run’ Tim Burton in ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’) etc. 

 In order to advance his projection of the mighty Kong, O’Brien frequently visited zoos to study the Gorilla’s movements. He would also go to wrestling matches to study their interactions and enhance the choreograph of his creatures’ battles. 

Kong’s nourishing character coupled a new style of rear projection film effect left audiences elated and amazed – exceeding all previous films of its type. The gentle giants winning performance was as strong as the films special effects.

Using this method as the background today, live action fused with stop-motion animation is a modern standard procedure. A cellulose acetate screen was utilized for rear projection for the first time ever. This new fabric of cellulose screen was flexible and stretched over a frame like canvas. Willis also started using a blue screen behind live action actors permitting them to be matted into existing footage. This method, as well as rear and miniature projection, enhance the optical procedure. Till computer animation was widely utilized, these practices were used in most monster films until the 1990’s.

Willis carried on writing concepts for many films after ‘King Kong’ but only found the backing to complete a few. Amid filming the follow-up feature ‘Song of Kong’, tragedy would strike into Willis’ life. Hazel, O’Brien’s ex-wife would progress to shoot and kill both of their sons and then turn the gun on herself. While tormented with grief, O’Brien forged on labouring in anonymity, gaining neither fame nor fortune.

Now known to the world as the man who made Kong, O’Brien is equal as a legend amongst horror, dinosaur and animation fans. In 1950, he achieved a special Oscar for his work on ‘Mighty Joe Young’. Ray Harryhausen worked alongside O’Brien during the production of Mighty Joe Young while some would say did the majority of the animation. He was credited as the technical creator and was soon awarded the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Six years later he worked with Harryhausen again, for the famed dinosaur sequence in Irwin Allen’s nature documentary ‘The Animal World’ in 1956.

‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ was the last of his animation project, featuring few of the main characters dangling from the fire escape by a ladder, but sadly kicked the bucket before the completion of the film. Following his passing, he was posthumously awarded the Winsor McCay Award by ASIFA-Hollywood (The American Association Internationale Du Film d’Animation) for lifetime/career contributions to the art of animation in 1997. 

Willis O’Brien has been an inspiration to several, conjuring up wonderful worlds of fantasy and wonder. Through solitary in his life’s work, he set the foundation that we all can build and grow upon. 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• Shay, D. (2014). Willis O’Brien Revisited. [Blog] Cinefex. Available at: http://cinefex.com/blog/willis-obrien-revisited/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2017].

• Wold, K. (2014). Willis O'Brien - The Man who Created Kong. [Blog] Animate Clay- Stop Motion Network. Available at: https://www.animateclay.com/index.php/articles/11-stop-motion-pioneers/44-willis-o-brien-the-man-who-created-kong [Accessed 1 Jun. 2017].

PIONEERS

Pioneers from Varshini1999

BIO OF PIONEERS