Persistence of Vision

Write down the key words and phrases that you’ve highlighted:

• "The human eye retains an image for a fraction of a second after it has been seen. If, in that brief time-space, one image can be substituted for another, slightly different, image, then the illusion of movement is created."
• "We look at a cinema screen is not a ‘moving picture’ at all, but a series of still pictures – 24 every second – shown in such rapid succession that our eyes are deceived"

Actual Definition
Persistence of vision is a commonly-accepted although somewhat controversial theory which states that the human eye always retains images for a fraction of a second. This means that everything we see is a subtle blend of what is happening now and what happened a fraction of a second ago.

What are the key words / phrases?

• Vision 
• Theory 
• Fraction of a second 
• Subtle blend  

My Definition
Persistence of vision is the theory that we see images a fraction of a second after they have actually gone. This links in with optical illusions as when you would see the next image the previous image would still be in your eyesight. Therefore it looks like the two images you are seeing are actually moving.

How It Works?
So, this is how it works. Your eyes and brain has a image delay for 1/30 of a second, however this can change depending on the brightness of the image. For example in the image below you are presented with a succession of images on a strip. if you move the strip slow enough then you will notice each particular image. However, if you move the image fast enough then you will see the delay of the previous image as well as the current image at the same time thus manipulating our mind that the images are in fact 'moving,' even though they are not. This also can be linked to films we watch daily. for example frames on this are shown as 60 frames a second, with are persistence of vision, we are tricked into believing that we are seeing a smooth free flow sequence even though most of the film is actually black. This theory also links in with the ideas of a thaumatrope and a roller as both have two images that manipulate are vision to make us believe that the image is moving however it is because the delay on the image which puts the two images together.

Bibliography 

Persistence of vision http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/p/persistence-of-vision.html Assesed 28/04/17

Roller

Roller 1

Roller 2

What happens when you roll it?
The roller is a very simple object. It is simply a piece of paper folded in half with two pictures on each of the sides, you simply place a pencil on the top image and you roll the piece of paper to the top, until you can see the bottom image. You then roll the piece of paper down to create an illusion which will make you think that the image is moving. In this roller it was a image of a robot bouncing up and down.

What happens when you roll my second one?
This was the same idea as before however, In this roller I did a ball bouncing. I thought this one was better as the movement was more fluid and I felt the animation was better.

Are these rollers animation?
As with the thaumatrope, yes it is animation but it very basic as like the taumatrope you can only have what is on the image. You cannot add anything to it. You also cannot change the way in which you are viewing it,

What sort of actions work best? Why?
The actions that usually works best is something bouncing up or down. For example a ball bouncing on the floor. This usually works best because if it something else then the image will just look like it teleporting between to positions. For example, if you wanted to add more complicated movements then the image would not move smoothly.

What can’t they do?
As the thaumatrope it is extremely limited. For example you cannot add anything else than the image into the frame as then it becomes confusing and the images start to teleport.

How easy are they to make?
They are extremely easy to make compared to the thaumatrope as it only took me a couple of minitues and you only need a pencil and a sheet of paper.

Thaumatrope

What was my thaumatrope?
The image that was seen on my thaumatrope was simply a stick man walking.

How much fun is it? For how long? 
Considering the fact that it is just a stick man walking it does get boring very quickly.

How easy is it to make?
However it is really easy to make it only took me 5 minutes

What can’t it do?
It is very limited in what it can do, for example you can’t include anything more on the image once it starts moving so you are stuck with the same image forever. It is also limited in movement as you can only have one shot where as other forms of animation can have multiple shots and angles.

Is my thaumatrope actually animation?
It is primitive but technically yes, it is animation as the movement of the image allows us to think the man is moving but all it is, is two images that are being flip back and forwards.

What Is Animation?

My Definition 
"Animation in the media world is the process in which you capture multiple images and you merge them together to create an illusion which imitates that the images are moving."

Other forms of animation include: 
- Cell Animation
- Stop-motion Animation
- Computer Generated Animation

Cell Animation
Cell animation is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until the invention of computer animation. (Wiki 2017)

Example: The Iron Giant (1999)
This is a traditional animation film as it was created by hand. However it is difficulty to find a film from this century however as CGI is easier to do and it is less time consuming.








Stop-motion Animation 
Stop motion animation is animation that is captured one frame at time, with physical objects that are moved between frames. When you play this back, it creates the illusion of movement. (DragonFrame 2017)

Example: Chicken Run (2000)
This is a great example as all the character in this film were created by hand and they had to take photos to imitate the characters moving. However this is a lengthy porcess and the slightest mistake can ruin the whole film.








Computer Generated Animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (Wiki 2017)

Example: Toy Story (1995)
This is a classic example as everything in this film was computerized and it is also one of the first films to use this type of animation.






Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation (Accessed 26/04/17)
http://www.dragonframe.com/introduction-stop-motion-animation/ (Accessed 26/04/17)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_animation (Accessed 26/04/17)