|
Filip Stojanovski
Contemporary Storytelling: Comics and Animation
An Early Animator
Eadward Muybridge was a colorful person that lived a
life similar to one of the heroes of adventure novels. The following
biographical account is mostly compiled from the notes presented in the
foreword of his books of prints (Muybridge, 1994). Born in 1830 in
England, at the age of 20 he came to San Francisco, initially working as
a bookseller. At the time, California was the center of the gold rush,
and San Francisco was probably one of the most dynamic places on Earth.
It can only be presumed how this impulsive young man spent his time in
that beehive, but what is documented is that in 1860 suffered a
stage-coach accident, and came to his English home to recover.
During the period he spent in England, Muybridge was
introduced to and captivated by photography. In 1867 he returned to San
Francisco and opened a photographic workshop. Over the next few years he
gained recognition and fame as an expert in this area. His most noted
works were series of landscapes of Yosemite Valley and the Pacific
lighthouses. His expertise and reputation secured Muybridge a place as
an official photographer for the expeditions organized by the U.S.
government to explore the regions of Alaska (after its purchase from
Russia) and Guatemala.
In 1872 Muybridge was contracted by Leland Stanford
to help him solve a problem. Stanford was one of the most powerful men
around, a member of the ruling oligarchy with ties in business and
politics alike: he was head of the Central Pacific Railroad, and ex
governor of California. Privately, Stanford was an avid horse breeder
and liked to bet. The legend has it that he made a large bet, claiming
that at some point during a fast trot, a horse has all four legs off the
ground simultaneously. Muybridge was supposed to supply photographic
proof for Stanford’s side of the argument. The photographer accepted
the contract and started working on chemical components to enhance the
process of photographing in order to meet the task. His work on the
project was interrupted when he was tried for murder of his wife’s
lover in 1874, but after his acquittal on the ground that he did the
right thing by killing the adulterer, the work resumed.
Muybridge constructed delicate machinery (Muybridge,
1994), composed of a battery of cameras positioned alongside the track
where the horses were ridden, which took pictures of the horse, as it
passed in front of them. After taking a large number of photographs,
some really did capture the horse at the point when it had all four feet
off the ground. This solved Stanford’s problem, proving him right, but
left Muybridge with material and an invention that inflamed his restless
spirit. Seeing the whole while looking at the parts, he decided to
organize the sequences of photographs in such manner that they would
present an illusion of motion. This lead to the invention of the
zoopraxiscope – an apparatus that showed photographed animals in
motion. Muybridge took his device and the story of his invention on a
promotional world tour, presenting in front of audiences in packed
auditoriums, to commoners and royalty alike.
Thomas Eakins, The Swimming Hole (1884-85)
In search of more resources that would enable him to
develop the technique further Muybridge teamed up with the University of
Pennsylvania to produce a remarkable project. He was to document the
motion of humans and animals, for scientific and artistic purposes. The
University’s team of scholars, lead by the famous realist painter
Thomas Eakins supervised the project. Muybridge was given resources to
develop an environment where different kinds of motion were photographed
by 3 batteries of cameras (front or back, from the side and at an 60
degrees angle) (Linder, 1999).
Example
The work was commenced during 1884 and
1885. It ended in the publishing of Animal Locomotion; an
electro-photographic investigation of consecutive phases in animal
movements, consisting of plates showing the various stages of motion of
male and female humans, horses and other animals (part of the project
was conducted in a zoo).
The significance of his work far outlived Muybridge,
who died in Kingston-upon-Thames, England, in 1904. His influence is
still present, not only as one of the first modern animators, who tried
to leap over the boundary that separated still photography from the
movies, but also in other areas connected with visual arts. Artists who
are trying to learn from nature still use literally the same
photographs, because they depict motion by showing details that are
simply unnoticeable when working with live models. The people who to
this day benefit from Muybridge’s work include painters, including the members
of the realist movement that flourished by the end of the 19th
Century, cartoonists (McCloud, 1993. pp.108-109), and animators (Thomas
& Johnston, 1981, pp. 334-335).
Contents
| Foreword |
Glossary |
Works Cited
Comics: Bits of History |
Modern Age |
Great Adventurers |
Vocabulary
| Grammar: Closure
Animation: Origins |
An Early Animator |
Classical Animation |
Making an Animation
| Epilogue
|