Proposla Writing Greta Narbutaityte
To what extent do Technological developments in production and distribution impact on Animation? Animation is older than cinema, indeed almost as old as photography. NiĂŠpce made the first still photograph in 1826, just six years before Plateau invented the Phenakistoscope. The ZoĂŤtrope appeared just a year later in 1833. These two devices were examples of what today we would call drawn animation, presenting a series of pictures to the viewer in rapid succession to give the illusion of movement. While such toys were highly popular in the nineteenth century, it was not until the birth of cinema at the end of the century that animated films could tell stories.
The invention of cel animation by Hurd in 1914 was a key milestone. Not only did it reduce the work required to produce drawn animation by eliminating the need to redraw the backgrounds, it also made it possible to divide the work up among a team of specialists. One artist could design the characters, one draw the backgrounds, another produce key character frames as outline drawings, while yet others would work on the less inventive tasks of inking in outlines or filling in character movements ('in-betweeners'). The development of 'rotoscoping' by the Fleischer brothers was another key improvement, leading to much more realistic character movement.
The early history of Computer Graphics begins with the work of Ivan Sutherland and Douglas Engelbart in the 1960's. Early hardware was extremely expensive and restricted to large corporations where it was mainly used it for CAD (Computer Aided Design). These were monochrome vector-graphic systems, quite unsuitable for photo-realistic rendering. By the late 1970's and early 1980's, bitmapped raster-graphic systems with colour displays became much cheaper as chip densities increased. Rendering software, originally developed for flight simulators, became more and more photo-realistic as hardware prices came down and better software algorithms were developed. Without the spectacular changes in hardware, today's graphics would still be much like those seen on computer displays in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which were state of the art in 1968.
We face an uncertain future, not least because of the rapid pace of technological change, so any attempt at prediction is likely to fail. Even so, some signs are relatively clear. Computers seem guaranteed to get faster, in accordance with Moore's Law, for the next ten years at least. In itself this would just mean that rendering times would decrease, but we can also expect that CGI software will become both more powerful and easier to use. More powerful, in the sense that it will be able to produce an ever wider range of effects; and easier to use, in the sense that the level of computer knowledge required will decrease. These trends could lead to significant changes. Thus Mark Sylvester (co-founder of Wavefront) predicts: The barrier to entry has gotten so low that it is feasible to create a studio that is under the radar of traditional Hollywood and therein lies one of the secrets to their success - low overhead, reasonably paid animators, and a passion to deliver high-end product, for low end prices. As more companies begin to specialise, it is not out of the realm of reason to see shops offering Cloth, Hair and Dynamics effects that cannot be completed anywhere else.
Proposing A Research Question The fast paced evolution within the animation industry requires innovative thinking and new approaches to problem solving. Now, like never before, raising children is going hand in hand with technology: educational animations, games, applications and such. However, with the easy access to any given information available nowadays, a question arises: Does this help children absorb more information or deprives them of the ability to learn themselves? Even Though, the world wide web now provides a platform for independent information gathering and distribution, it seems society is not so much dependant on monopolised media and has more capability now than ever form independent opinions and knowledge.
This applies to education as well. Children are no longer dependant on the text books or information provided by teachers and can simply “Google� what ever they desire to know about. But this process of looking up information is not necessarily the same as actually learning. Granted it is possible to look up tutorials for just about anything but this falls into this paradox of not really learning anything properly, because of the distracting amount of information. This is where education, or rather specifically schools, usually fall flat: encouraging children to learn about what the state thinks is necessary to know instead of what every individual child is capable of developing in their own way. Children leave schools knowing the Pythagoras theorem or what Shakespear wrote about, but have no clue how to do taxes or what their responsibilities are as a functioning member of a democratic society. The educational system is blind sighted by the necessity to produce efficient workers rather than creative thinkers.
On A Personal Note This topic is relevant to me both personally and as a practitioner, because after I went through six years of art school, I did not have the desire to proceed with my education. The art school taught me the basics but not how to build from them, how to draw but now how to seek inspiration. I felt like I was left with skills that I had no clue what to do with,and in school there was always a feeling that I am missing a point to why I should learn this, usually the answer was “so you would get a good grade and then get into University and find a well paying job�. Now I do not see the how those good grades help me form my own opinions, understand my social responsibilities or how to become a better practitioner in my field of interest. Luckily higher education helped me out with the last one, but not everyone know what their field of interest is to begin with. With this research project I want to pursue answers to why this happens and is it possible to fix it. If so, what changes are needed to be made in order for schools to encourage diverse talents rather than squandering them with standardisation and to what extent this could affect the future generations.
5 Relevant Subjects ● ● ● ● ●
Education philosophies The age of technology and innovation Different ways of studying, types of memory Creativity and creative problem solving The educational system and its reforms
5 Relevant Books: ● ● ● ● ●
Jeanne H. Ballantine,Joan Z. Spade (2011) Schools and Society: A Sociological Approach to Education John Dewey (1899) The School and Society: Being Three Lectures, Chicago, Isaac Asimov (1983) The Roving Mind Ken Robinson (2009) The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything Douglas Thomas, John Seely Brown (2011) A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change