ANIMATED EDUCATIONAL FILMS AND THE FUTURE
Nearly everything in our book so far, in accord with its title, has
had reference to the making of comic screen drawings. They gratify
a proper human longing and they strike a responsive chord in the
consciousness. Now there is another kind of appeal, in the matter of
satisfying a human need, to which animated screen drawings can be
put. It is that touched upon in the introductory chapter; namely,
animated films of educational subjects. By educational films would
be meant, if the strict definition of the term is intended, only
those that are instructional. It is to be remarked, however, that
enlightened opinion now includes in the category of educational
subjects any theme, or story for children, even if a slight touch of
the humorous or diverting is to be found in it.
The kind of stories, with the latter thought particularly in mind,
especially fitted for the screen are those of Lewis Carroll. His
“Alice in Wonderland” is a good example of the type of fanciful tale
on the order of which animated cartoons could be made for children.
And Sir John Tenniel’s interpretations of the characters seem to
have been created especially for translation to the animated screen.
The Mad Hatter, with his huge beaver (signalizing again the hat as
inspiring the comic), would make an admirable figure to pace across
the screen.
[Illustration: THE MAD HATTER.]
An artist desiring to be the author of an animated story built on the
model of Carroll’s classics would need a gleeful imagination and a
turn for the fantastic. And he would require, besides, if he hoped to
draw characters on a par with Tenniel’s depictions, more than the
ordinary qualifications of a screen draftsman.
As in the rough-and-tumble antics of the rustic clown little
refinement is either prevalent or expected, so in the ordinary
comic animated cartoon exquisiteness of drawing is neither found
nor ordinarily looked for. But in a story with fineness of wit,
and told artistically, it is obligatory that its interpretation
be of a corresponding quality. It is necessary, in other words,
that the artist be good at figure work and especially skilful in
drawing difficult actions and perspective walks. As remarked before,
when the latter subject was considered, this requires dexterity in
picturing figures in foreshortened views. And to become expert in
this particular means study. For examples of foreshortened figures
to contemplate, the student of animation can find no better ones
than those in the frescos of Michael Angelo. Especially valuable
are the decorations of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Photographs or
copies, no doubt, of these wonderful art works can be found in the
print-rooms of public libraries or in any collection of engravings of
a picture-gallery.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF A FRESCO BY MICHAEL ANGELO.]
It is an entertaining speculation as to whether or not Michael
Angelo, being a man of many artistic activities, would have tried his
hand at animating drawings, had the art been in existence in his time.
In our own day, patterns for emulation in the matter of depicting
action and the delineation of character are found in the drawings of
Mr. A. B. Frost. Witness his achievements in these respects in his
book “Stuff and Nonsense.” Then, too, Mr. Frost’s appreciation of the
comic spirit is particularly noteworthy. His graphic work could with
every success be set forth on the animated screen.
[Illustration: MR. FROST’S SPIRITED DELINEATION OF FIGURES IN ACTION.]
The old-fashioned peep-show has long since passed its way, and in its
place has come the cinematographic exhibition. Children consider it
a commonplace occurrence in their lives to be taken to the “movies.”
Very soon they will imbibe knowledge as well as receive entertainment
through the medium of the films. There are many instructional themes
that could be elucidated in the school by animated drawings.
[Illustration: THE PEEP-SHOW.
Detail of a composition of a French eighteenth-century tapestry
designed by Boucher.]
Educational, travel, and scenic films are frequently presented in
motion-picture theatres, but the possibilities in these subjects have
not been exhausted.
Some of the first investigators who looked into the problems
connected with photographic analysis and pictorial synthesis to
produce the appearance of movement had ideas of applying the results
of their labors to practical purposes. M. G. Demeny, in Paris, to
cite an instance, invented an instrument by which deaf-mutes could
learn to speak and to read lip movements. His instrument consisted
of an optical contrivance that gave the representation of a person
speaking by the turning of a glass disk upon which there was placed
a series of photographs of a person speaking. The pictures were
arranged in a cycle which, when the disk was made to rotate, produced
a continuous effect of the action.
[Illustration: DEMENY’S PHONOSCOPE.
Modified from a picture in _La Nature_, 1892.]
One form of this apparatus, or photophone, was made to be turned by
hand, and the combined picture or illusion viewed through a lens
by one person at a time. Another type was constructed so that the
synthesized picture of the speaking face could be thrown on a screen.
There is a natural curiosity in nearly every one to want to know
about methods in art. And the interest is general in watching a
craftsman create an object of art, or an artist bring into graphic
being some imagery of his brain. It would not be out of place for
these reasons, as well as a matter of instruction, to produce films
showing art methods.
Especially for elementary pupils would it be a desirable thing to
show the way of making simple free-hand drawings. Then, instead of an
instructor repeating the process—sometimes with indifferent interest
or enthusiasm—it can be arranged that some one skilled in drawing,
and when he is feeling at his best, go through the procedure under
the motion-picture camera. The result could be multiplied a number of
times and shown in many classrooms with an evenness of performance
not possible when some one does it day in and day out.
Methods and principles of the more advanced branches of art
instruction—pictorial composition, for instance, could be taught, too.
As one example, we will suppose that the purpose is to show what
good pictorial composition is. First an indifferent picture, poorly
arranged, is shown; the various components appear on the screen
exactly as they would in making a picture on canvas or paper; then
little things pointed out that are lacking in artistic merit,
or an explanation given of any detail that is not quite clear.
(For this purpose a drawing of a pointer is made on cardboard
and cut out in silhouette. It is moved around precisely as if it
were a real pointer.) After showing the faulty construction the
various components can be moved again, but into places to form the
well-composed picture.
Methods of designing in the crafts could be demonstrated by animated
drawings; and they could also be employed to explain visually the
story or history of design. Ornament can be shown as it evolves from
its natural form, to the first rudimentary basic type; then it passes
into the best classical style, after which it becomes, as in all art
evolution, the merely decorative. And it can be shown, as is usually
the case in the history of an ornamental form, terminating in a
debased and meaningless figure or scroll. All these screen pictures
could be managed so that the pictures go through their mutations
before the eyes as if they were living things.
Presuming that in the acquiring of knowledge all brains function in
a similar way, what could be better as a means of instruction than a
film of some educational subject?
In any special study or theme in physics, for instance, an entire
course could be planned for an animated film. Some of the divisions
of the theme could be actual photographs of the experimental
apparatus in operation. But other matters would need to be moving
diagrams, or progressively changing charts. Explanations on the
titles and other wording, previously thought out with due regard to
their educational value, would be combined with the film.
Could there be anything more interesting than screen drawings of
machinery in operation? To draw the successive pictures required for
work of this character would present no great difficulties to any one
trained in mechanical drafting. It would be a great improvement on
the diagrams and mechanical plans with their complicated markings to
see the work of the draftsman projected on the screen and giving the
appearance of motion. With vivid object-lessons of this kind, the
eye can comprehend in a few moments that which it would take lengthy
paragraphs to make clear.
[Illustration: A FEW OF THE DRAWINGS USED IN THE MAKING OF A FILM TO
SHOW A GASOLENE-ENGINE IN OPERATION.]
On this subject of animating machinery, it is an interesting fact to
note that as early as 1860, Desvignes, who invented one form of the
zootrope, is recorded as having made a series of pictures for his
optical instrument that showed a steam-engine in motion.
The teaching of history could be made still more interesting than
it is by series of changing maps. Such maps would show, as their
outlines changed, the growth or modification of a country as affected
by events of history. Historical battles could be illustrated with
the usual reference marks and symbols. But they would not be still;
instead, they would move about to illustrate the progress of the
battle. This form of animated maps frequently has been used in
connection with pictorial-news reels.
Physiology and anatomy are two studies that need good pictorial
exposition in the classroom. Scientific moving pictures of the actual
subjects are in many cases available and their photography is
feasible. But for some details that cannot be taken with the camera,
animated diagrams would have to be substituted. To suggest a very
good theme in physiology, we may mention that of the circulation of
the blood. Only a few particulars of this could be photographed.
Most of the story of the blood circulation would have to be told by
animated diagrams.
There would be at first, perhaps, a sectional view of the heart
showing the auricles, and ventricles with the valves and their
reciprocal action. The flow of the vital fluid, to be sure, would be
indicated very clearly as it passes through the cavities. A striking
animation of this film would be that of the blood flow in its course
through the body. This would be represented by a schematic diagram
like those usually set forth in the books. It would have an added
interest if the fluid were colored—the arterial blood red and the
venous blood blue. (This is the usual way, when printed in colors, in
which they are distinguished in textbooks.) A film like this, it can
be understood, must be planned well—a scenario practically would be
written for it.
The manner in which the muscles move the bony frame of the body can
be strikingly demonstrated by animated diagrams. Take as a simple
case the bending of the arm. The two antagonist muscles of the front
and the back of the upper arm can be made to show as swelling and
lengthening, alternately, as they flex and extend the forearm.
[Illustration: THE ACTION OF THE MUSCLES ON THE FRAME COULD BE SHOWN
ON THE SCREEN.
A series of drawings like this would be the first thing to prepare
for making the film.]
A similar animation of the skeleton would be that of the bony levers
in the human frame. And as a comparison, actual mechanical levers of
all three orders could be made to operate in connection with the
levers in the skeleton.
It would be possible, to some extent, to put the “Origin of
Species” on the screen with the help of animated diagrams. For the
vertebrates, a section of the film could represent a schematic
evolutionary tree. On it, the lower forms of back-bone life, such
as amphibians and fishes, would be placed on an offshoot near the
lowest part of the main trunk. Odd creatures like marsupials would
branch off a little higher up, and still higher a larger branch of
the tree would split into two minor branches for reptiles and birds,
respectively.
The tree would show above a branching off into three important
divisions for the ungulates, carnivores, and quadrumana. The story
could be continued by separate delineations of the different branches
and tell in further detail the development of the forms that belong
to them.
The art of the animated cartoon and the educational screen drawing
has as yet not been developed to its highest point. It needs, for one
thing, color. Such films are only shown, at present, in monochrome
or simple outlines. Of course colored cartoons will come. Effecting
the tinting by hand would be easy as a process, but very tedious
and costly. A practical way of coloring the ordinary photographic
film is now in use by tinting them with the aid of stencils. Both
the stencil-cutting and the coloring are accomplished by the help of
machinery.
At present there are color processes that produce very beautiful
photographs on the screen; but they do not show, at least in those
that so far have come under the observation of the author, all colors
of nature. The craft is awaiting the inspired inventor who will
produce motion-pictures in colors that will exhibit nature’s full
range of hues and shades. Then in comparison with Niepce’s simple
process, of about 1824, of fixing a lens-formed image upon a metal
plate coated with bitumen, the photographic art will have attained to
a marvellous degree of technical development.
A consummate color process should reproduce, too, an artist’s work
upon the canvas without losing any variations of hue that he has set
forth. Then it will be possible to have animated paintings. One will
go, when this wonder has been achieved, to an exhibition gallery to
see art works with the additional interest of movement as well as
those of color and individual interpretation. And, too, our museums
will have projecting rooms and fireproof libraries for keeping films.
It seems like fantastic dreaming to hold such notions; but many
things that were once considered purely visionary—have now become
commonplaces.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations.
Illustrations without captions have had a description added, this is
denoted with parentheses.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg xx: “Michel” replaced with “Michael”
Pg 31: “give” replaced with “gave”
Pg 40: “Franscisco” replaced with “Francisco”
Pg 45: “Word’s” replaced with “World’s”
Pg 73: “constructon” replaced with “construction”
Pg 102: “its” replaced with “it”