Flip Book Animation: Absolute Joy

Do you know what a flip book is? I am sure you do! A flip book is a book containing a series of images that seem to come to life when the pages are flipped with speed. Each picture is a small variation of the previous one and the pages are usually flipped from back to front. This kind of animation is one of the earliest types and was first discovered in the latter half of the 19th century. You would be surprised to know that even though it requires a lot of time, effort and talent, you don’t need to be a student of one of the top 20 animation colleges in India to try it out at home.

Young children find flip book animation extremely alluring. I bought one for my little cousin, and he made me flip the book over at least 20 times in a row. As I said earlier, you don’t need to pursue multimedia courses to do it yourself. I have briefly mentioned the procedure of making your own flip book at home. Read ahead:

1.    Lots of paper

You would need a big stack of thin paper to create the desired illusion. Notebooks, notepads, post-it notes would do. More frames per second would result in a more realistic effect.

2.    Subject

You could take help from the internet, or draw anything that interests you. Since it involves a lot of drawing, it is advised to choose an uncomplicated subject.

3.    Start from the back

Your first drawing should be on the last page, second on the penultimate page, and so on. Try avoiding the use of indelible ink if you are a beginner. Drawing with a pencil leaves scope for changes. The idea of starting from the back and using thin sheets has a reason. You would be able to trace your last drawing through the thin sheet when you start from the back.

4.    Gradual changes

Keep making slight changes to each image. Being able to look through the previous image would help you draw the next one with a small change. Keep repeating the process till you run out of paper.

5.    Adjustments

When you are done, try flipping the book from the back. If you are not content with some images, don’t hesitate to make slight adjustments. But do keep in mind that one adjustment would lead to another. Be very careful!

6.    Try it out

After all adjustments, proudly show the end result to your friends, family, and acquaintances. Best of luck!

INSPIRING WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF ANIMATION

With Top Animation courses in India, animation as a discipline is conquering new heights, we see girls and boys fascinated with this world of animation. But was it the same all through? Absolutely not, Even though animation existed as early as the early 19th C, its popularity reached the mass only by the last 19th C. It was mostly dominated by men like in all cases, but slowly gained momentum among the woman too, at a time when even education was not a woman’s right, let alone a male dominated profession. But still, some brave women paved the way for others. Let’s have a look at them:

•    Lotte Reiniger:

She is regarded as the first woman animator and also the pioneer of the silhouette animation technique. Born in 1899, she even anticipated Walt Disney by ten years in terms of the use of the plane camera technique. “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” by her was the first animated feature films.

•    Lillian Friedman:

Acknowledged as the first woman animator within the studio system, Lillian Friedman drew and animated the characters Popeye and Betty Boop, among others. Lillian made film history when she was promoted to Head Animator at Fleischer Studios in 1933.

•    Eunice Macaulay:

Born in 1923,Her career began when her hand made Christmas card got her a job in Gaumont British Animation in 1948. In her career, she worked on a total of twenty-five short films and received numerous awards, including an Oscar.

•    Faith Hubley:

Born in 1924, she entered Hollywood at the tender age of 18. Faith won Oscars for two of her films and was nominated for another three, and has been honoured at Cannes, London, Venice, and San Francisco film festivals.

•    Elizabeth Case Zwicker:

Among the very first and few women animators in the very early days at Disney, She is a famous name in the industry.

If you too aspire to be one of them, you should probably enrol yourself at the Best i.e Arena animation, who knows you might be the next Walt Disney!

Of Animation: Childhood Through Adulthood

Do you think that animation is just for children? Well, you couldn’t be more wrong (if you do)! If that’s what you think then I challenge you to never again eat cotton candy –isn’t that also just for kids? So you see what I’m getting at? Love for animation is just the same as love for board games and cotton candy and marshmallows –it might begin in your green and salad years, but it’s sure to stick on.

And within reason! Animation isn’t just restricted to that little mouse chap in dungarees or that bottomless duck quacking away… Animation is made for all age groups, just like movies and all things in life, really.

As for me, even before I had the slightest hint of what the word meant, animation became my life. So much so that (once I learnt the word, of course, and conducted some extensive research), I actually decided to attend Animation Institutes In Delhi and make a career in animation for myself. But alas, an understanding of technology seems to be something that just eludes me. So while I unwillingly gave up my dream of being an animator, I’ve stuck on as a loyal fan of animation.

I may have been just 10 years old when I decided animation was to be my life, but now years have passed and I still love animation just as much as I did back then, if not more. So a word of advice to anybody else who likes the idea of an animation career – go for it! Don’t let your weaknesses bring you down before it’s too late, just go apply to some Animation Institutes In Delhi for some animation or multimedia courses, and see your dream through! Isn’t that what animation is all about –the stuff of dreams?

Japanese Anime –A Peephole To A World Beyond Imagination

In the Age of the Internet, we’ve all heard about the sheer popularity of Japanese anime. Perhaps you’re even a raging anime-junkie yourself? Even if you aren’t we’ve all got that one friend (or more, of course) who’s utterly crazy for it –they live and breathe anime. Maybe you even know people so moved by it that they’re attending Animation Institutes In Delhi in the hope of making an animation career for themselves.

So what’s this spell that Japanese anime seems to have over our lovesick (read: anime-sick) friends?

Well, simply put –it’s pure brilliance. Period.

Okay, maybe I should elaborate a bit further. From the 1990s, Japanese anime took the world by storm. My entire generation grew up watching Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z –archetypes of Japanese anime (and perhaps the inspiration for those now enrolled in one animation institute or the other). But that was then, Japanese anime has now come a long way. From ‘Gotta catch ‘em all’ Japanese anime seems to have pretty much caught everything they can.

The thing about this brand of anime that differentiates it from more Western concepts of animation is that the Japanese have somehow managed to think so far outside the box, that the box is a speck of dust on a horizon far, far away.

Japanese anime takes you to a world you couldn’t possibly imagine –beyond your wildest imaginations, that right there, is where Japanese anime thrives. While any animation institute will be able to teach you all the skills and techniques needed to create anime like the Japanese, they will never be able to teach you how to take your imagination to a whole other level –that’s entirely up to your creativity. 

With no inhibitions, Japanese anime toys with just about every theme under the sun. So of course, when Japanese anime offers you a peephole into a world beyond imagination, which sane person wouldn’t get addicted?