lauan503research-1

2D Animation

2D animation is the art of drawing a movement either drawn by hand, on computer or the combination of both. Many people in history have had an impact on how 2D animation has grown throughout the years. Many creations such as, the Zoetrope and the discovery of hand-drawn animation may be the reasons that 2D animation still ‘exists’ today.

For example, 2D animation was said to have started when William Horner created a device that he called the ‘Zoetrope’. The Zoetrope was created by William Horner around 1867. The device is a wheel that is made of a drum and an axis. On the inside of the drum is images containing, step-by-step drawings that can be seen through little slits on the outside looking in, creating that appearance of moving images for the audience when spun. When the drum is spun this device shows a clear picture of each frame drawn. These would of been drawn one after the other clearly demonstrating the illusion of a motion-sequence.

(Pepple Studios, William Horner: The History of animation.Accessed 2/12/2018 https://www.pebblestudios.co.uk/2017/07/29/william-horner-the-history-of-animation/)

As well as the invention of the Zoetrope, 2D animation has changed over many years and moved onto hand-drawn animations. Hand-drawn animations allows the animator to flip back and forth between the pages to check the sequence of the movements. Along with this new process ‘Disney’ used storyboards and script writing to help aid their animators when drawing the animations by hand. An online source explains how hand-drawn animation works and why is was so effective for Disney at the time. The use of a pencil and paper meant that the animator could easily flip back and forth between the drawings to check the sequence of the movements without having to use a Zoetrope.

(Ryan Nothard, Blog-post, 2D Animation, Snow White and Techniques Research. Accessed 2/12/2018, https://kcimgdryannothard.wordpress.com/2017/05/26/2d-animation-snow-white-and-techniques-research/ )