Thaumatrope and I-Movie

On Thursday 18^th of February we completed a workshop based around the classic Thaumatrope animation and creating our own videos and editing them through the app I-Movie. The workshop allowed us to demonstrate the ability to plan, organise and prepare solutions for the task. Also the workshop allowed us to apply practical skills, understanding and methods to solve time-based problems in the task. Firstly we were given a brief introduction into the animation technique “Thaumatrope”. The Thaumatrope is a Victorian toy which is made from a simple disk that features a different picture on each side. The disk is attached to two pieces of string and when the strings are spun rapidly, the disk rotates and the two images appear to combine. The animation technique was invented by John Ayrton Paris in 1825 who was an English physician. Also, in the introduction we watched a presentation that explored the history of animation which I thought was interesting because it showed me how much animation has developed over the years to create the modern animation films we watch today. After the introduction about “Thaumatrope” we watched a tutorial on how to create them which led to a task that allowed us to create our own “Thaumatrope”.

To start the task we were given templates that had different character outlines which were going to be combined together to create a “Thaumatrope”. The two separate images were upside down because when they are combined it gives the successful outcome that the device creates. Also the templates had the same outline for the hole puncher to be measured from because both pieces have to be equal when spun together in order for the device to work. Once we chose the templates we cut them out and stuck the circles together. Then we attached rubber bands to the end of each circle to allow the spinning technique and animation to work correctly. The outcome worked successfully and I repeated the process a couple of times which included my own “Thaumatrope” design. I enjoyed creating these devices because it allowed me to collect inspiration from the templates to create my own designs which were also successful. Also I enjoyed creating “Thaumatropes”because they were an easy device to make which allowed me to create a variety of pieces in the workshop.

Templates For The "Thaumatrope".

The Two Selected Scene Templates



The Final Template Thaumatropes

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnvOwjW8Hcw - Video Of My First Thaumatrope

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3nE4GilN9I - Video Of My Second Thaumatrope

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsoosvQrUP8&feature=youtu.be- Video Of My Third Thaumatrope

 

After the “Thaumatrope” workshop we started a new task which was to create an I-Movie film. At the start of the task I didn’t feel confident because of the app as I had difficulties using it before in the Stop-Motion animation workshop. However I wanted to develop my skills and gain skills from using the software so this task allowed me achieve this. I-Movie is a video editing software which can create a variety of films including elements such as photos and sound clips. For the task we put into teams and had to decide what topic to choose from which was to either create a film about Andy Warhol or Grayson Perry, to create a film about an artistic process such as screen printing or create a short film about promoting college. As a team we decided to create a short movie about Andy Warhol as we had previous knowledge of the artist and we believed that we could incorporate elements into the short film. Also we decided to create a short movie based around him because as a team we had library books about the artist which included images and information which was useful for the project. Finally, we decided to choose this topic because we could incorporate a screen-printing process because Andy Warhol used this method to create his artwork. After choosing the topic, we gave each individual team roles and planned out what we were going to create. Our storyboard and plan is presented below. The storyboard allowed the whole team to understand what were going to create and what elements we were going to incorporate at each stage. Also the storyboard was useful as it allowed us to include all the elements that the I-Movie had to incorporate which was:

•Add a video

•Picture

•Theme music or sound effects (built in)

•Voice over

•Sound effect

•Music

•Text

Storyboard

To create the “Brief History” Of Andy Warhol we had to record a voice-over in a quiet room for the IPad to pick up the recording. Before we created the recording, we created a script which highlighted Key points in Andy Warhol’s career. The voice over was going to be played through a selection of Andy Warhol’s artwork that we collected through the library books. After completing the “brief history” we moved onto creating a screen print for the short film. To capture the technique, we filmed a video showing the process at each step and relating back to the same technique that Andy Warhol used. Once we collected both of these elements we started to edit the short movie but we faced a problem with the voice recording. Initially we decided as a team to break the voice over parts into different sections of the video but this sadly didn’t work. To solve the problem we created another voice clip that combined all of the information together.  Eventually we edited and created a final short film that incorporated all the elements required for the task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkqQyO34mSY&sns=em - Our Short Film