Fluid Frames

Experimental Animation with Sand, Clay, Paint, and Pixels

Corrie Parks

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781138190627
• eBook ISBN: 9781317665434
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

Once the realm of a few stalwart artists, animating with sand, clay, and wet paint is now accessible for all filmmakers with an experimental frame of mind. Created directly under the camera with frame-by-frame stopmotion, this "fluid frame animation" provides a completely unique visual world for animators. While pioneering animators such as Caroline Leaf, Alexander Petrov, and Ishu Patel paved the way, the availability of frame capture programs, compositing software and digital workflow is opening up new avenues of exploration for artists of all experience levels. This book will walk you through setting up your studio, choosing and working with your materials, and combining the physical under-the-camera production with digital compositing and effects to enhance your animation.

· Firsthand advice from experimental animation veterans and rising stars in the field

· Covers the digital aspects of experimental animation, including the latest techniques in After Effects CC

·

Tutorials and source files for under-the-camera approaches and After Effects enhancements on the book's companion website

In addition to the practical advice, you'll find historical and contemporary examples of successful films, step-by-step tutorials for working under the camera and working with the footage digitally, and interviews and tips from artists who are currently pushing the boundaries in these experimental mediums. Stacked with information and images from over 30 artists, this book is an indispensable resource for both the student and professional wishing to get their hands dirty in an increasingly digital world.

Section II

Thomas Parks.

Chapter 4
Animating With Sand and Other Powders

Notable Pioneers in Powder Animation

Nag and Gisèle Ansorge

Kazimierz Urbański

Caroline Leaf

Ferec Cakó

Aleksandra Korejwo

Exploring the Technique

Exercise: Animating a Sandy Morph

The Sandy Studio

Materials

Tools

In Practice

Processing Footage

Planning a Longer Sand Project

Compositing 101

Layering in Sand

Exercise: Garbage Mattes

Blending Modes

Exercise: Paint Bucket Effect

Color Keying

Exercise: Applying a Color Key Effects Stack

Exercise: Animated Masks

Adding Color

Exercise: Hand Tinting in Photoshop

Exercise: Tints and Filters in After Effects

Combining Sand with Other Animation Techniques

Case Studies from Commercial Projects

Any child at the beach will quickly realize the vast expanses of sand are an open canvas for creative exploration. But who would think that those tiny grains could be a medium for harnessing pure light into nuanced chiaroscuro under the camera? 01

Sand animation encompasses delicate textures alongside bold, contrasting shapes and each artist that encounters the material interprets its uses in a new way. Powder animation, as it is sometimes called, is not limited to sand either. Salt is used in a similar way, as well as other granular substances.

If you have encountered sand animation before, it was probably in a film by Caroline Leaf or through a school assignment. 02 The fact that you are reading this book tells me that your interest was piqued, not spent, by this strange form of animation. Sand animation is my particular specialty, so as we begin to tap the potential of this little-known medium, I would like to personally welcome you into the world of sandy animation!

Notable Pioneers in Powder Animation

Sand animation came into its own in a time when animators were eagerly trying new materials and techniques. Swiss animator and historian Rolf Bächler observes,

Like with many other inventions in the history of film, there were several people in different places experimenting independently with similar materials at roughly around the same time. In the pre-digital world images could not be spread as easily and instantly as they are now, and a new animation technique had to travel physically as a film print if it was to be discovered elsewhere.¹

Thus, the first influential films made exclusively with sand and other powdered substances came to light in several different areas of the globe.

Nag and Gisèle Ansorge

In Switzerland in the 1960s, Ernest “Nag” and Gisèle Ansorge were making live action commercial films to support their more experimental endeavors. 03

In one of these commercial films, they used sand to depict circulating blood.

As a pharmacist, Gisèle was familiar with loose material of all kinds, and tested every substance within reach, ending with quartz sand of a certain grain size … They would sift the sand for the right calibration, soak it in black china ink and then grind the dyed grains in a mortar.²

01 The Crossing – Marieka Walsh.

02 The Owl Who Married a Goose ©1974 National Film Board of Canada, All rights reserved.

After three years of experimenting and refining the technique, the Ansorges presented their first short, Les Corbeaux (The Ravens) in 1967 at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Festival. 04

The enthusiastic response, and their fascination with the material, led to a lifetime of work in sand resulting in ten short films and many commissions.

The Ansorges’s films are sometimes narrative and sometimes surreal journeys. Gisèle primarily manipulated the sand while Nag operated the camera and took care of the editing. One thing that marks their work is the use of imaginative transformations from scene to scene. Gisèle’s masterful command of the material combined with an unabashed approach to unconventional narrative led to films that explored the inner psyche of their relationship and philosophy. 05 The Ansorges also made a sustainable career out of sand animation by making films for children and advertisements. 06

Kazimierz Urbański

In Poland in the 1960s, Kazimierz Urbański was also experimenting with new techniques. He ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: The Experimental Frame of Mind
• Section I
• Section II
• Appendix A: Case Studies
• Appendix B: Artists’ Profiles
• Index