One of the most beautiful concepts to understand from animation is the ability to take an idea, an image and allow it to run free with imagination. How a single image, from thought to paper, can interpret thousands of views, depending on one’s perspective. There is much to tell from a single picture, stories to describe from a single frame, all made possible with the invention of still framing and, due to the advancements of technology, computer animation. This concept of a free imagination demands a brief look into its path of inspiration. The principals of still frame art laid the steel, bringing together a need to evolve from one plain picture image to what we have today, moved to the development of computer animation.
It amazes me how many picture frames comprise a two minute animation video; technology has advanced tremendously. It started from hand drawing frames, placed into big machines, with a camera pointing down, requiring many people to coordinate movements; tiny metric movements were required for each frame. Today, however, animation can require as little as one person to sit in front of a computer, and through coding, create pixel animations. The only thing needed today is a computer operated by an animation specialist using specialty programs.
A way to enhance our imagination, and to allow it to fly free and escape from reality, we went from 2D animation to 3D animation. These enhancements allowed for different angles, going behind the characters, to the side and all around, providing 3d movements, grabbing our imaginations deeper into an imaginary world. In beginning of 2d still frames a popular cartoon in 1911 named “Little Nemo” was created by McCay. Since then we have not looked back. Now we have a company called Pixar creating films such as “Finding Nemo” in 2003, ultimately revolutionizing animation. This proved that the line between our imagination and reality has become very thin.