Eadweard Muybridge
I've already done research about this artist before for term 1 work in another context, but I followed the suggestion to review Muybridge related to my project.
This artist is the father of movies and animation because of one simple invention.
In the twentieth century, people were starting to understand how to capture motion because of the invention of the camera.
Eadweard Muybridge was born in 1830 in England. Muybridge's name is associated with the photography of movement. He emigrated to the United States. It was in 1868 that his photographs became known worldwide. (Britannica, s.d.).
Bellis (2019) claims that Muybridge is the "father of cinema" because he was innovative in managing to make a moving sequence from photography. He developed the zoopraxiscope.
I went to research how the zoopraxiscope worked, and I share this video that shows us what this invention was and also how Muybridge's experiences in motion photography were: (20) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope - YouTube
It is very interesting to understand the techniques created to create the illusion of movement from photographs. What amazed me, which I had not yet realized when I researched this artist, was that he drew (as is done in animation) on top of the photographs so that he could do it afterward to be able to give movement.
He started photographing the movement in 1872 when he was hired by Leland Stanford to take pictures of a horse at a trot. He wanted to know when a horse was running if he ever touched the ground with all 4 legs. He failed to succeed at first and the project was suspended because he was on trial for killing his wife's lover. He was acquitted but thought it best to travel to Central America, where he took advertising pictures. (Britannica, s.d.)
His experiments in moving photography happened again in 1877. «Muybridge set up a battery of 24 cameras with special shutters he had developed and used a new, more sensitive photographic process that drastically reduced exposure time to take successive photos of a horse in motion. He mounted the images on a rotating disk and projected the images via a "magic lantern" onto a screen, thereby producing his first "motion picture" in 1878. »(Bellis, 2019, para. 7). "The horse in motion" was a big step in the history of cinema.
I really enjoy these photographs of this running horse, they show the first steps of any type of animation or film. The technique they used to do this specific image is clever and interesting. The same technique was used in the film "The Matrix". They used various cameras to do a slow-motion effect of the main character dodging bullets. (TV Tropes, s.d.)
In the regular Slow Motion shot the camera moves around the object. But in cinema, this effect is achieved through a set of cameras that will also be around the object but in quick succession. On the TV Tropes (sd, para. 2), they still explain how this is done: «The pictures in the still cameras are then displayed consecutively and spliced into movie frames, creating the effect of a single camera moving around a scene either frozen in time or moving incredibly slowly. ». It is what happens in the Matrix.
Muybridge has produced thousands of moving photographs.
I think it is important to understand how it started what we consider to be the first form of animation. I can also understand the way we have to draw and how we have to think about the drawing before animating it. Think about the angles, the light, the position of the drawings, among other factors. Muybridge worked with photographs based on reality, but when we transpose this to the drawing, we have to think of the drawing as if it had been inserted in a given context and what we want to achieve when we give it movement. Nowadays, animation programs help a lot to create the movement of drawings, making work easier. But it does not teach us how to place the sequence of these drawings for the purpose we intend. Visualizing the way Muybridge does it helps us to think about the techniques we can use.
References:
Bellis, Mary (2019) Eadweard Muybridge. ThoughtCo, 05/2019. [online] Available from: Eadweard Muybridge, the Father of Motion Pictures (thoughtco.com) [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
Britannica (s.d.) Eadweard Muybridge. [online] Available from: Eadweard Muybridge | British photographer | Britannica [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
Shedirx (2014) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope. [Youtube vídeo] available from: (20) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope - YouTube [accessed on: 06/02/2021]
TV Tropes (s.d.) Bullet Time. [online] available from: Bullet Time - TV Tropes [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
This artist is the father of movies and animation because of one simple invention.
In the twentieth century, people were starting to understand how to capture motion because of the invention of the camera.
Eadweard Muybridge was born in 1830 in England. Muybridge's name is associated with the photography of movement. He emigrated to the United States. It was in 1868 that his photographs became known worldwide. (Britannica, s.d.).
Bellis (2019) claims that Muybridge is the "father of cinema" because he was innovative in managing to make a moving sequence from photography. He developed the zoopraxiscope.
I went to research how the zoopraxiscope worked, and I share this video that shows us what this invention was and also how Muybridge's experiences in motion photography were: (20) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope - YouTube
It is very interesting to understand the techniques created to create the illusion of movement from photographs. What amazed me, which I had not yet realized when I researched this artist, was that he drew (as is done in animation) on top of the photographs so that he could do it afterward to be able to give movement.
He started photographing the movement in 1872 when he was hired by Leland Stanford to take pictures of a horse at a trot. He wanted to know when a horse was running if he ever touched the ground with all 4 legs. He failed to succeed at first and the project was suspended because he was on trial for killing his wife's lover. He was acquitted but thought it best to travel to Central America, where he took advertising pictures. (Britannica, s.d.)
His experiments in moving photography happened again in 1877. «Muybridge set up a battery of 24 cameras with special shutters he had developed and used a new, more sensitive photographic process that drastically reduced exposure time to take successive photos of a horse in motion. He mounted the images on a rotating disk and projected the images via a "magic lantern" onto a screen, thereby producing his first "motion picture" in 1878. »(Bellis, 2019, para. 7). "The horse in motion" was a big step in the history of cinema.
Eadweard Muybridge, The Galloping Horse Portfolio, 1887
I really enjoy these photographs of this running horse, they show the first steps of any type of animation or film. The technique they used to do this specific image is clever and interesting. The same technique was used in the film "The Matrix". They used various cameras to do a slow-motion effect of the main character dodging bullets. (TV Tropes, s.d.)
In the regular Slow Motion shot the camera moves around the object. But in cinema, this effect is achieved through a set of cameras that will also be around the object but in quick succession. On the TV Tropes (sd, para. 2), they still explain how this is done: «The pictures in the still cameras are then displayed consecutively and spliced into movie frames, creating the effect of a single camera moving around a scene either frozen in time or moving incredibly slowly. ». It is what happens in the Matrix.
Muybridge has produced thousands of moving photographs.
I think it is important to understand how it started what we consider to be the first form of animation. I can also understand the way we have to draw and how we have to think about the drawing before animating it. Think about the angles, the light, the position of the drawings, among other factors. Muybridge worked with photographs based on reality, but when we transpose this to the drawing, we have to think of the drawing as if it had been inserted in a given context and what we want to achieve when we give it movement. Nowadays, animation programs help a lot to create the movement of drawings, making work easier. But it does not teach us how to place the sequence of these drawings for the purpose we intend. Visualizing the way Muybridge does it helps us to think about the techniques we can use.
References:
Bellis, Mary (2019) Eadweard Muybridge. ThoughtCo, 05/2019. [online] Available from: Eadweard Muybridge, the Father of Motion Pictures (thoughtco.com) [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
Britannica (s.d.) Eadweard Muybridge. [online] Available from: Eadweard Muybridge | British photographer | Britannica [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
Shedirx (2014) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope. [Youtube vídeo] available from: (20) Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope - YouTube [accessed on: 06/02/2021]
TV Tropes (s.d.) Bullet Time. [online] available from: Bullet Time - TV Tropes [accessed on: 05/02/2021]
Some good thoughtful research here ( I didn't know he was on trial for murder!) and reflections at the end of the post. Think about using this approach when storyboarding your idea as you move towards completing your animation.
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