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Making Them Live With a Pencil

DID you know that one of the worlds most famous film celebrities is not even human? Yet he is the star of over a hundred Hollywood movies and countless TV shows. Who is this film star? In Italian hes called Topolino; in Chinese, Mi Lao Shu; in Spanish, El Ratón Miguelito; in English he is simply Mickey Mouse.

How did he come to life? He started his career in Walt Disneys film Steamboat Willie in 1928 and has gone on to become the most famous cartoon character of all time. Of course, many other animated cartoon characters have achieved world fame Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Pink Panther, to name just a few. The artists who draw these cartoon films and characters are called animators. To find out how they work, animator Bill Kroyer in Hollywood, California tell a us..

Why are cartoons called animated films?

Because the word animate means to give life to. And thats what we do. We can make anything move and, hopefully, appear to come to life. When I worked at the Disney Studio, I animated mostly people and talking animals. But Ive also animated dancing automobile engines for TV commercials and singing fruits and vegetables for health films. You name it, we can make it move.

What makes an animated cartoon character appear to move?

The illusion of movement is made possible by the same phenomenon that makes live action movies appear to move. When you watch a movie, youre really seeing 24 still pictures flash before your eyes each second. The light sensors in your eye retain each picture for a brief moment, so all the pictures appear to blend together in a smooth, continuous image. In animation, we draw each one of those 24 still pictures.

Thats a lot of drawings!

Yes, 1,440 just to make one minute of film.

But at that rate, a feature film like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would require more than a million drawings!

No, the figure is closer to two million.

Why so many?

You never see most of the drawings because theyre done in the planning stages and only a fraction are used in the final version. In an animated film the story isnt written, its drawn. A team of artists does hundreds of small sketches that are pinned to large cork boards, called storyboards. Underneath are small notes describing the action or dialogue in each scene. The artists keep drawing and rearranging these sketches until the story is complete. When the artists have finished, the storyboard tells the whole story of the film in pictures, just like a giant comic book.

And then you start to animate the characters?

Not yet. First another team of artists designs the look of the film, according to a particular design style. Sometimes we want the film to look like old Europe, as in Disneys Pinocchio. At other times well go for a modern look. So the designers research and define the characters, costumes, buildings, and so forth, that will be in the film. Next, our director divides the storyboard into scenes. Each scene is given a layout drawing, one that shows the setting in which the scene takes place and where the characters will be in the scene. And thats where I come in.

Whats the first thing you do when you start a scene?

I study the scenes exposure sheet. Thats a chart that shows me how long the scene lasts and where all the sound effects, music and words occur.

You mean the sound track for the film has already been recorded before you start to draw?

Of course. That way I know ahead of time what sound occurs on each and every frame of film. If the character says ouch on the 15th frame of my scene, I draw him with a wide open mouth on that frame. Thats how characters are made to talk.

What do you draw with? Pen, pencil, brush?

I use a soft pencil because its easy to change and erase things. And I draw on a special kind of paper animation paper. It has holes punched along the bottom edge, and these fit onto pegs on my drawing board. The pegs hold the paper in register consecutively from one drawing to the next. Another unusual thing about my drawing table it has a hole in it! The hole is covered by a piece of glass with a light beneath it. As I draw I can stack several transparent paper drawings on top of one another and see through them, to make sure they are working together properly. When I start to draw, I do very rough sketches, just the basic shapes of the character. That way I can work quickly, without detail, and still visualize the movement I want.

Do you draw all your drawings rough?

Well, I must tell you, I hardly ever draw all the drawings in a scene. It would take me too long. The animator usually draws only the main drawings in a scene. These are called the extremes. They show the main poses or positions of the character throughout the scene. By flipping these main drawings between my fingers, I can visualize how the movement will look. Then my assistant will do the in between drawings.

The speed with which the character moves will depend on how many drawings are put in between the extremes. For example, I may draw a head facing to the left and another head facing to the right. If I put ten drawings between them, the character will slowly turn his head from left to right, as if hes watching someone walk by. If I only put one drawing between the two extremes, he will snap his head quickly from left to right, as if hes watching a car whiz by.

But how do you know how many intermediate drawings to use?

It takes practice and study. Animators are always watching the world around them, observing how things move. Do you know how many frames it takes to make an eye blink? Or did you know that a normal walk is one of the toughest things to animate? If you study it, youll see its a cycle of falling forward and catching your balance. And no two people walk exactly alike. Theres also a big difference between the way a dog walks, a cat walks, and an elephant walks.

What happens when youve finished the pencil drawings?

I film them. This black and white film is called a pencil test. I watch this film over and over, looking for ways to improve the action and timing. Then Ill correct my drawings and shoot another pencil test. Ill do this as many times as necessary to get the scene as perfect as possible. We have a saying in the trade: Your scenes are on film forever, so make them good now. By the last pencil test, my assistant and I will have cleaned up our roughs into beautiful, clean, detailed pencil drawings. But its a shame youll never see them.

Never see them? Why not?

Because they go through a process we call Ink & Paint. Each drawing is traced in ink onto a clear piece of acetate, called a cel, then painted with a special paint that sticks to acetate. Remember the layout drawing we had for each scene? That drawing is made into a color painting. We then lay each cel over the background painting and photograph it. Because we use cels, we dont have to redraw and paint the entire scene for each frame of film only the part that moves.

Are all animated films made this way?

Oh, no, there are many different techniques. At the Canadian Film Board, artists have made films by making tiny drawings right on the film itself! Several of the best studios in London, England, prefer to draw right on cels instead of paper. That way, the original drawings will be photographed. And there are many animated films that have no drawing at all.

No drawing at all?

Thats right. Its called stop motion animation. Artists can manipulate puppets, clay figures even sand sculptures and photograph these objects one frame at a time. When the film is run at normal speed, the objects appear to move and come alive! I recently worked on a Walt Disney film in which we did all the animation by computer. We didnt do any drawing; we simply described the pictures to the computer and the computer did the rest!

What does the future hold for animation?

There will be more technological advancements, like computer aided Ink & Paint. But there will always be animators doing real drawings in the Disney style. Only the human hand has the ability to create a delicate drawing with the subtle expressions to make you believe that the character is real. If I do my job right, you never see a drawing; you see a character, a personality that laughs and cries, and that you care about. When Bambis mother dies in the film Bambi, the audience doesnt cry for a drawing, but for a real character.

Theres a time when every animator looks at his pencil test for the first time, and he sees this little cartoon character on the screen looking toward him, a character that just a few days before was scribbles on paper. Then when that little character opens his mouth and talks I tell you, thats a special moment! That makes all the hard work worth while. Youve given him life with a pencil.

However, we are still left with the questions raised in our first article. Is the happiness that is induced by fantasy and entertainment the real thing? Or is there a more lasting happiness? Will it ever be a reality for all mankind? Roy Brewer, a Disney technician, learned a satisfying answer to those questions. His story follows.

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