Screenplay Research

The BBC Writers Room

The BBC Writers Room is an organisation set up as part of the BBC that seeks to identify and support potential new writing talent. They do this by setting up a format that informs you of how things are changing on BBC platforms. However, they also give you access to commissioners, production departments and, what they describe as “most importantly” to the skills and experience of established writers. As part of the help they give, they offer advice on elements of writing such as an introduction to writing a good script and information on how to go about sending a script to them. They also inform you about other opportunities that are open to you.

Currently Existing BBC Dramas

If you want to take advantage of BBC Writers Room and the opportunity it offers to write, then it is important to research what type of dramas they usually commission. One way to do this is to look at the sort of work that is by an experienced BBC writer such as Accused writer, Jimmy Mcgoven, who announced earlier this year a one-off drama, set in Liverpool and entitled ‘Common’, that he has had commissioned. There are also ways to look at scripts of recently broadcasted shows by visiting the Writers Room’s script library such as this link to the script for an episode of brand new BBC drama, Last Tango In Halifax written by Sally Wainwright. http://bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/last-tango-in-halifax-s1-ep1 

Sally Wainwright has previously written other BBC dramas such as The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006) and Sparkhouse (2002) as well as doing a lot of writing work for ITV including Scott and Bailey (2011) and Unforgiven (2009).

Listings

BBC often broadcast dramas in the late evening, not including soaps which generally run at peak times between 6pm and 8pm. As the BBC is one of the biggest broadcasters, millions of people are likely to be watching the channel at this time and this means that competition is also likely to be strong. Other dramas, particularly crime or horror dramas, are usually broadcast from 9pm onwards as this is after the watershed so they can show employ more taboo language and shocking imagery that would otherwise disturb young children.

Ratings

If you look on the BARB website at the top 10 BBC ratings for November, we see that the majority of them are either soap operas like Eastenders or drama series such as New Tricks, both gaining viewing figures of between 7.5 million and 10 million audience members.










Silent Witness
In order to learn about the conventions of screenwriting for BBC dramas, it is important to look at some existing dramas that they have broadcasted in the past and currently. Firstly, I watched parts 1 and 2 of the episode of the BBC Crime Drama, Silent Witness entitled 'Choices' which were originally aired on 1st August 2005 and 2nd August 2005 respectively.

In the opening scene, we are introduced to some of the important characters for the episode's narrative. For example, a club owner known as Ainsley Modest and his now fiancé as well as the unknown gunmen. As the episode opens, we see Ainsley and his fiancé talking in the car and looking at the engagement ring. This is what gives us the backstory of them being engaged to be married. This sentimental element of the plot gives us a slight emotional attachment to these characters right from the off. However, just as quickly as they are given to us, they are taken away by a machine gun drive-by outside Ainsley's club.

Throughout the episode, the plot develops to involve family issues, drug taking, organised crime and more violence. Due to this fact, I am sure that the programme would have been broadcasted after the watershed and I would suggest a primary audience as being aged 35-55 as it incorporates the mature themes that are appropriate to that age group. A lot of dramas are conventially female but this features violence and other elements that are likely to appeal to a male audience also. This higher level of excitement and action is also likely to attract a secondary audience that is slightly younger, perhaps from the age of 20+.

Personally, I enjoyed the way that the episode tied together the backstories of several of the characters, particularly with the 12 year old Wayne Devlin (played by Perry Allen) who actually turns out to be the pivoting point for the entire narrative to come together at the end because of the people that he knows (the gun smith).

There was an element which I noticed when watching this episode of Silent Witness which I would try to avoid in the construction of my own drama. They made a point of the fact that Wayne's mother took pills near the start of the episode and then, for the majority of the plot, this was ignored giving Wayne little reason tor explanation o end up in some of the locations and situations that he did. I was also irritated by the completely irrelevant side plot about a heroin overdose. I felt that this took the focus away from the main story as well as being written in a non-realist fashion. It gave off the impression that it was a common thing for people to do in college and I am firmly against the way that companies such as the BBC encourage these stereotypes in their programming.



Sherlock
I also watched an episode of another BBC Crime Drama, Sherlock, called 'A Scandal in Belgravia', originally broadcasted as part of the second series on Sunday 1st January 2012.

The opening scene follows directly on from the end of the last series where characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are talking to Holmes' arch-nemesis, Jim Moriarty, whilst surrounded by his off-screen snipers. This introduces new viewers to these characters but the situation is written under the assumption that you watched the end of the first series. However, it is not essential for your viewing pleasure to do so as each story is written as a stand-alone plot which ties into the overall narrative of the series. This plot structure makes the action of the episodes very easy to follow.

The episode features a myriad of witty remarks and clever plot twists which suggests to me that the primary audience starts from teenagers, ranging up to adults in their early to mid-30s. In terms of other people who might enjoy viewing this drama, I do not think that the secondary audience would be any younger because of the mature themes that are featured, particularly in this episode with the  character Irene Adler who is a dominatrix. However, I think that an older audience than the primary audience may also find viewing pleasure from Sherlock.

When watching this episode, the elements that I enjoyed which I feel I would like to include in my own drama included the attention to detail which the characters have; this is shown through on-screen text highlighting the subject of the character's interest. I also like the complexity of the main characters, particularly Sherlock Holmes who has a lot of interesting quirks such as being a violin prodige and demonstrates evidence of Aspergers Syndrome. This sort of unsual behaviour makes it very difficult to understand the way his mind works making his actions and thought processes marginally unpredictable. However, one thing I was less keen on is some of the alterations that have been made to the original character for the sake of reaching a wider audience and making more money. For example, it is well-known that Holmes takes drugs such as opium to help him think. I am against such changes as a film maker as I believe that characters should be shown in their full glory.



Edge of Darkness
Next, I watched the first two episodes mini-series called Edge of Darkness which was originally broadcast on Monday 4th November 1985. The genre of this series was a combination of crime drama and political thriller.

In the opening scene, the two characters Inspector Craven and his daughter Emma Craven are driving home. During this sequence they are talking about Emma moving in with a boyfriend. This is a slight hint to some of the plot that is to unfold later in the episode such as her involvement with Gaia, a group focussed against nuclear weapons. This occurs shortly before Emma is shot by a mystery gunman with a double-barrelled shotgun. We are not totally sure who he wanted to shoot as he only says the surname, Craven, which they both share.

This drama features some mature themes which would be inappropriate for a younger audience such as the featuring of murder and a sex toy; it deals with the psychology of how Inspector Craven is coping with the killing of his daughter. I would say that, overall, the primary audience would range from the age of around 25 to 45. However, some people slightly either side of this range may also enjoy watching but it is important to consider that this was broadcasted in 1985 so some of the more difficult subjects shown would have been even more shocking than to a contemporary audience who are more accustomed to seeing gore etc with the power of modern special effects.

In this drama, I enjoy the way that much of the attention is focussed around Inspector Craven's solitude and his mindset but I do think that more details could be given regarding Emma's background activities earlier on because it seems that this side of the plot is dragged out quite unneccessarily. I also do not like the characters such as Pendleton whose identity changes without much explanation making it confusing to follow exactly how he is involved with the Inspector.



Eastenders
The BBC's Eastenders is one of the biggest Soap dramas in the UK and it is continuous running five days a week, every week. I watched an episode broadcasted on 17th December 2012.

This structure involves many different characters side plots that tie into an overall depiction of life on Albert Square. There is usually a main plot as well which generally involves a large scandel around one of the characters which is revealed over several weeks. The opening scene of this episode focusses on the 'main' plot at the moment which is Kat and Alfie. We know that Kat has been having an affair and the first thing we see after the title sequence is Alfie looking solemn which we are lead to believe is linked to the situation with Kat. However, it is revealed shortly afterwards that it's the anniversary of one of Alfie's relatives.

As Eastenders is broadcast before watershed, it does not feature anything that would be grossly inappropriate for a younger viewer. The primary audience, however, would be people from around the age of 16+ as it deals with issues relating to that age group and above. This leaves very little room for a secondary audience but people younger than 16 may very well enjoy watching it or be encouraged to as part of family viewing at peak time.

I like the way that many of the side plots for different characters tie together and, because of the way that the soap is constructed, we can cut between these very smoothly in one location such as the Queen Vic pub and the market. However, I do not like the way that other, totally irrelevant, events are put in the plot just to make up the time and spread the plot development over a longer period of weeks so that they keep their viewers watching just to find out what happens. In this episode in particular, a lot of attention is paid to Alfie getting into the Christmas spirit with a german theme at the Queen Vic.

 

Understand the requirements of working to a brief

When working in the creative media industries or even on a smaller scale (like as part of a course), you will be required to work to a brief at some point. A brief is an outline of the requirements that your media product must fulfill.

Structure of briefs
A brief may be presented to you in a variety of ways which could decide the way that you approach the project. With a contractual brief, the outline is given to you in an employment contract; this will be discussed between the client and the company but allows for an easier to read, yet detailed, brief. This helps create stricter guidelines for the company to work around and allows the client to have more control over the process. A negotiated brief is when the worker will help the client with the actual development of the brief so that  aims and objectives can be agreed. By working more collaboratively in this way, it becomes easier for the company to meet realistic expectations.

The brief can be given formally or informally. A formal brief will involve a face-to-face meeting with the client where they will inform you of the requirements for your work whereas an informal brief is given indirectly in the form of a telephone call or conversing through emails. In many cases, the client will approach and request to contract a specific person for the job that they have in mind. This is known as commissioning the worker. A client will usually make this decision based on previous work or a new portfolio that they have seen by that person which makes them suitable to work on your brief. A tender brief is one that is published and sent to several different companies who can respond with any ideas that they have. Depending on which idea the client likes the most, they will make a decision as to who will work on their project. For example, with my brief, it was published on the E4 website and a decision will be made around all of the ideas submitted as to which they will air. The brief which I was working towards for my E-Sting is also an example of a competition. It was an open brief which anyone could submit an entry for.  As well as keeping it appropriate for the E4 brand identity, entrants were also required to follow guidelines including use one of the provided selection of 10 second audio plugs in the creation of your ESting. If you are successful in winning the competition (based on a public voting system), you receive £5000 as well as having your ESting aired on the E4 Channel; there is also a £500 runner-up prize.

Reading a brief

When you are given a brief, it is important to read it very carefully; doing this allows you to guage how much freedom you have in your creation of the final product. A more specific brief will give you less freedom to do what you want so it is important to be knowledgeable of what you must and must not include. The rest is up to you. In the brief that I was given for the creation of the E-Sting, there were very few specific instructions as to what needed to be included. The main element which was implicit in the creation of a winning E-Sting was to conduct sufficient research into the E4 brand. So as long as you are aware of what would be suitable for their target audience, you have free-roam on whatever concept you choose to run with for your product. Other limitations that were set included a 10 second time limit and a submission deadline on the 9th November 2012. If a deadline is missed in this competition, you will not be able to take part. However, in the real creative industries, if a film does not meet its deadline, legal action can be taken by investors to reclaim their money.

Negotiating the brief
When working to a brief, it is important to confer with the client as much as possible to negotiate what you intend on doing for your project and to find out about any relevant constraints. For the purposes of this unit, by tutor was my client whom I consulted with daily for interim feedback as I began to build up my final product. This allowed me to spot and resolve any problems that came about as well as foresee some of the problems that could develop later on. Items that were discussed included the deadline and my production schedule as well as creative changes such as having a printed background as part of my set. As I previously mentioned, your discretion in interpreting the brief is important as it allows you to accurately judge what could be twisted or changed to accommodate some of the features that you want to include in your E-Sting.

With any project that you take on, there are always going to be constraints that you need to be conscious of. In terms of legal constraints, it was important to be aware of any copyright issues that might occur in your production. This could include the use of copyrighted characters, concepts or soundtrack in your E-Sting. This was less of a problem for me as I used stock characters and concepts meaning that I could not accidentally copy a piece of somebody else's work. I also created my soundtrack with copyright-free sound effects from my college network. If I had chosen to use them, E4 also provided E-Sting soundtracks for you to use if you wanted to. When working to create any media product, it is important to be ethical. When thinking about ethical constraints, one of the main elements that must be considered is the treatment of all cast and crew which should be reasonable and friendly. After all, you are all ultimately working towards the same thing. This was less relevant to me in this unit as I was a one man cast and crew but this is highly unlikely to be the case in the professional industry. Another ethical issue which also comes under the legal category is the way in which you attain information that you require. For example, you should only have information about a person if they want you to. Having information about someone without their permission is unethical and should not be encouraged, particularly with the phone hacking scandal in recent years. In the aforementioned paragraphs, I have discussed the importance of researching the brand before working for them as this will give you information about regulatory issues that may arise for you. In this case, it was important for me to read Channel 4's editorial guidelines. This is based on the code set down by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and says what can and cannot be broadcast on any of their stations, including E4 upon which the winning E-Sting would be shown. Budgetary contraints mat also affect the way that you approach the production as certain materials and equipment may be expensive unless already owned by the filmmaker. Alternatively, some equipment can also be outsourced from elsewhere such as a film studio if working on a professional production.

Upon completion of my E-Sting, it was necessary for me to receive feedback so that I could make ammendments accordingly and, overall, improve the quality of it. I asked for criticism as well as positive feedback through YouTube, questionnaires and a focus group. Whilst much of it was positive, many of the critical comments regarded confusion about the concept. Since I did not consider it time or cost-effective to recreate the whole animation, I chose to work on the other amendments including continuity with lighting and sound as well as adding some extra shots to demonstrate other animation possibilities. This included the facial expression at the beginning. In order to make these changes, amendments needed to be made to the timescale of the project. In the professional industry, it is possible that alterations would need to be made if any of the production stages do not go to plan. It is common practice in the film and television industry to have 10% of the budget extra as a contingency for this kind of situation. It is also important to keep your client involved in these proceedings so that they are aware of any issues. Communication is key to keeping your client and investors happy with the way production is going.

Opportunities
Now that I have completed this animation unit, I can reflect upon what I have learnt and the new skills which I have developed. I discovered that much of the beauty of animation comes in that it makes an impossible action become a feasible one. However, I also learnt several things about myself and my personal compatibility to animation. Whilst I see what is great about the end result, I find the entire process painstakingly longwinded and repetitive. Due to this fact, I have decided that it will never be my intention to work in this area of the creative media industry but I am glad that I have discovered this as it will help me to decide which area I do want to work in. This could, for example, be a designer, a technical specialist in animation or a storyboard artist.

Despite my aversion to the process, I have gained several new skills. For example, I have learnt how to create a character and set out of the raw materials such as plasticine. Whilst I have never been talented with hands on art, I have still developed my skills in this area to a degree. This could come in handy should I need to complete a similar task in the future as well as them being transferrable skills into other design tasks. There were also times where I had to multi-skill such as when I was animating my character whilst needing to be aware of how it would look in the cinematography. This sort of awareness is important in the creative media industry as it involves the attention-to-detail which is necessary to create an aesthetically-pleasing, professional media product.

When working to the brief, I had to bring my own creativity to try and create something unique. I had to ensure that I kept within the running time of 10 seconds that was specified. I also had to keep to the timescale that I had set to complete the task. Therefore, when planning my E-Sting, I could not be too ambitious with what I wanted to do; my idea worked around a fairly basic concept with obvious actions that my character (a boxer) would do (punches and intimidation). Overall, I am pleased with what I accomplished as I planned and brought to life my own concept despite having no previous experience of stop-motion animation before this unit.

ESting Evaluation

Animation Evaluation Part 1
This is the final product for the ESting that I have created for E4.



For this, I needed to design a character and then create that character. I needed to then do the same for a set. I created my character out of plasticine and made him into a boxer which I then translated to my set for which I created a practice boxing ring with a plasticine punch bag. These were the tools that I could use, working to a brief, to create my stop-frame animation.

Firstly, from a design/aesthetic standpoint, I feel that I created a suitably 'good looking' set and character as they did look like the original designs that I created for them. However, I did have some issues with regards to limited resources at my disposal; I was working to a minimalistic budget. Also, whilst I consider myself creative, my art skills are not brilliant. This lead to difficulties and some decisions on my part to make minor alterations to my character. For example, in my design the character's hair is stuck up high in the air but, when created, his hair lies flat. That is because I found that his hair being up caused a weight imbalance that made it difficult to stand my character up; it was also not conservative of my resources.

I feel that, technically, my ESting was of a suitably professional standard; the animation was fluid and realistic as was the soundtrack and the way that it was edited together. However, there were particular parts that I found jumpy such as the initial left jabs after the facial animation.

As part of this evaluation, I also collected my feedback from showing other people my animation. To do this, I put it on YouTube and circulated an email with the link attached to a questionnaire. I also had a focus group in my BTEC class where I received positive comments as well as constructive criticism from other animators. To ensure that this feedback was useful and appropriate to what I needed it for, I had to establish criteria around which they could give me their opinions. These criteria related to elements such as content, style, narrative, character and the set design as well as the animations technical and aesthetic qualities.

The general overview from the circulated questionnaires was positive. I found that people liked the design for the character and set and they thought that it was appropriate to its purpose as an E4 ESting. Whilst the motion was considered to be "smooth", I was given some constructive criticism that I should have shown more emotion by giving my character "varied facial expressions". People also thought that I should have taken more time to make my character "move like a boxer" rather than just sliding across the ring. Below is a screenshot of one of my questionnaire responses.

As you can see from the image [shown right], in response to question 5, people did not really understand the narrative. In particular, the fact that my character was fighting a punching bag in front of a crowd. My original idea was that it was a press event but I did not really put this across. Therefore, it may have been a better idea to either create another character to fight or alter the background to a training gym or a similar environment. I also received feedback in the form of comments on my animation on the popular video streaming website, YouTube. These comments are shown in the screenshot below.


All of the feedback I received was ultimately useful to the development of my ESting and my skills as an animator. Other ways I could have received feedback include discussions, reviews or through online exhibition. To some extent, I covered these with my focus group and YouTube comments but they were not formally put into practice.

There are several ways that I can present my findings. This blog post is one of the ways. Alternatively, I may act on my feedback by doing an oral presentation or written report. From my focus group, I also created an action plan for a few specific ways that my ESting could be improved overall.

To conclude this first part of my evaluation, I have discovered that my audience were generally impressed with the aesthetic qualities of my ESting such as the set and character designs. Whilst the motion was smooth, it could have been more creative and experimental to demonstrate my skills as an animator. There was some confusion with regards to the narrative of the animation but many also agreed that this did not matter too much as it was still a quirky ESting with a clear purpose and genre. I feel that, based on my feedback and my own personal feeling towards the animation, my ESting was a success.

Animation Evaluation Part 2
The aim of this task was to create an ESting for E4 in the format of a stop-motion animation. After doing so, I had to collect feedback and compile my findings in the format of a written report (See Above).

As with every media product that you create, there are certain constraints that you need to be aware of. Legal issues are perhaps the foremost of these constraints that must be considered as failure to meet these criteria, in the professional industry, could lead to serious consequences. In the creation of my animation, one of the things I needed to think about was copyright. This means that I could not use anyone else's work as my own; this includes the sound effects and characters that were the basis for my stop-motion animation. To comply with these laws, I designed an original character with its own character profile. I also used copyright-free stock sounds from the archives that we have on our college network. By doing both of these things, I ensured that my work was not breaching copyright laws by using another's creation for my own purposes.

As well as legal, there are also constraints regarding certain regulations that my animation must abide by. Regulatory bodies such as Ofcom and the Advertising StandardsAuthority (ASA) have a code that they enforce to stop inappropriate material being broadcasted on television. This means that my animation could not contain material that could harm or offend anyone. If I did include such material and it was deemed unsuitable for broadcasting, I would invalidate the animation’s purpose as an E4 E-Sting which would mean that I had failed the brief that I was supposed to be working towards.

As well as legal and regulatory constraints, I also needed to be aware of the financial limitations that could restrict the capabilities of my stop-motion animation. I did not have any personal costs with the creation of my video as they were covered by the college that I attend. However, they were restricted to what they could afford based on the budget that the sixth form receives as an educational establishment. Some of the materials I used, particularly in the creation of the set, were already owned by the college and so they did not incur any further cost. This includes the boxes I used to create my set and boxing ring as well as the string I used as ropes and also the ink and paper I used to create my background. However, there were some further costs with the plasticine that needed to be ordered for the creation of my punch bag and my character. This meant that I needed to be conservative of my resources so nothing was needlessly wasted.
 
In order to work towards the best of my ability and create a successful media product, I needed to manage myself and my time effectively. A timescale of around one week was agreed with my tutor to complete my animation excluding my design and creative tasks. In order to manage my time correctly, I needed to know exactly what shots I wanted to take and work at a suitable pace when animating. I also needed to allow time for editing and reshooting if it was required. For my animation to meet the requirements and agreed outcomes I was given, good and clear communication with my tutor was essential. This allowed me to ask for confirmation that I was taking the correct approach and also interim feedback that enabled me to change things during the animation. Leadership skills are important in any project. Even though I was working independently on this task, I still needed to demonstrate leadership skills in using my initiative and taking control of the task. Upon completion of my task, feedback that I received enabled me to learn from the things that I did and did not do well. For example, I was praised for my time management and my attention to detail but I was criticised for some of the banal movements that my character was animated to do.

I received feedback on my animation from my supervisor, peers and my audience in different formats. This included a questionnaire, a focus group and comments on my video on YouTube. This allowed me to further evaluate my own performance and the usefulness of the task to me overall. I have learned that I am capable of working appropriately to a brief which is an important skill for the creative media industries that I aspire to work in. More specifically, I have also learned some skills in animation that I feel, with more practice and education, I could develop to have the competence to work as a professional animator should I choose to take that path.

 

Planning an ESting

Synopsis

As the ESting begins, we will see a boxing ring with the E4 logo (pictured above) posing as a sponsor on both the sides of the ring and as the centrepiece. My character, a boxer by the alias of Fist Tuck, will be in the ring opposite a red punch bag. He will punch this punch bag four times and, on the fourth, the bag will fall over. When this happens, the stop-frame animation will slowly go to a higher angle whilst panning down whilst my character steps back. My character will begin to cheer as the camera continues to move upwards until we finally see the E4 logo in the centre of the ring upon which the animation will zoom in slowly on before the ESting finally comes to an end.

E4

E4 is a British television channel launched on 18^th January 2001 as a companion to Channel 4. Predominantly, the target audience for this Channel is 16-34 year olds. E4 has a large range of shows in its programming including British shows such as Shameless and The Inbetweeners but also many US import shows such as The Ricky Gervais Show, Smallville and Glee. For example, The Inbetweeners follows a group of British boys in their late teens as they get into crazy situations. The target audience here is, predominantly, the same age group as the characters as the relationships are most relatable to them. However, its highly adult humour makes it an enjoyable watch for most ages. In 2007, they launched a website on which you can view some of the television shows as well as watch the channel live. Other features include viewings clips or playing some of the hundreds of games and quizzes they have. E4 also run competitions to win various prizes. These range from simple funny picture contests to actually creating an ESting to be shown on the E4 Channel. This is, in fact, the reason why I am creating my ESting.

Justification

From my research into E4, I believe that my idea for an ESting is suitable to the brief I was given. It will fall under the correct time frame and the featuring of a sport (boxing) which should appease the younger and more active target audience. I also think that the level of activity makes the ESting a bit more lively and, therefore, more entertaining. The brief says that the E4 logo must be featured which my idea more than caters for with a central logo which will be zoomed in on as well as others in the background.

Set Design

Above is the set design for my E4 E-Sting within which my character, Maximillion Winkledinkle, will be animated. As my character is a boxer who devotes all his time to being the best one he can, I have created a training gym for him to be shown in.

 

I will make it out of an upturned white box and stick the E4 logo on the sides of the rings and as the centrepiece. This gives the effect of a sponsored ring whilst also incorporating the logo.

 

The design includes a red floor-mounted punchbag which, in the E-Sting, my character will punch 4 times. On the fourth, the punchbag will fall over and my chatacter will step back and cheer. The camera will be birds-eye view by this point and will then zoom in on the E4 logo. This is where the E-Sting will finish. 



Character Designs

Name: Maximillion Winkledinkle

Alias: Fist Tuck

Age: 27

Occupation: Boxing Legend

Background Knowledge: Growing up, Winkledinkle was bullied a lot by his fellow class mates because of his name and the fact that he was a wimp. One of his names was even Wimpledimple. His father was ashamed of him because of this. Then, out of a desire to prove himself, Maximillion went on to devote his waking hours to become the most fearsome, legendary boxer there ever was.

Reason for Creation: I created this character because I am a fan of the Rocky films and a sucker for an underdog. Also, he reflects my own personal feelings of societal inadequacy.

The short piece of stop-motion animation shown above features the plasticine character which I previously designed called Maximillion Winkledinkle or 'Fist Tuck'.

The animation is 72 frames (3 seconds) long. The movements that I tried to achieve were two punches and a cheer to create the idea of a victorious boxer. Whilst the cheer went well, I found it challenging to get quite the movement that I wanted for the punches. Nonetheless, I am pleased with what I have created as you can still see a high level of quality and fluidity in the claymation.

The History Of Animation

Persistence of Vision and Thaumatropes

Persistence of vision is a theory that the human eye can retain an image for 0.04 seconds. This means that what we see is a blend of what is there now and what was there less than a second ago. This theory has since been disproved because it is the brain that retains the image. Nonetheless, this idea lead to the creation of the Thaumatrope by John Ayrton Paris in 1825. This was an 'optical toy' which provided early animated entertainment in the days before cinema. It works based on the persistence of vision principle whereby you place two seperate images, that go together, on each side of a piece of card. By attaching string to each side of the card, you can spin it. When spun quickly enough, the images will appear to merge into one because of the image that our brain has retained. In the video above, you can see the thaumatropes that were created by our BTEC group. I created the bird in the cage as I had seen it before in various clips including Sleepy Hollow and I wanted to recreate it.

Stop-frame Animation and Frame Rates
Stop-frame animation is a type of animation whereby you make an object appear to move on its own by taking pictures at each stage of the action that the subject is completing. When the pictures are played together fast enough, the subject appears to move without aid. Frame rate is the term applied to the speed at which the images are played. Therefore, by having a quicker frame rate, the smoother the illusion of motion will appear. The average frame rates shown in film and TV are 24p, 25p and 30p. A lower frame rate will not give an effective illusion of motion.

Joseph Plateau and the Phenakitoscope

The phenakitoscope was invented in 1832 by Joseph Plateau. This is one of the earliest devices and examples of stop-frame animation. All of the individual frames are placed on a disc and another disc is mounted on the same axis with viewing slits in it. When spun, this device gives the action images the illusion of motion. The idea was based around the theory of persistence of vision but was later replaced by William Horner’s Zoetrope.

William Horner and the Zoetrope
William Horner was a mathematician credited with inventing the Zoetrope in 1834. It worked on much the same principles as the Phenakitoscope except that the images were now on a strip that could be placed on the bottom of a metal drum with the slits in the top. This means that the faster the drum was spun, the smoother the animation would be overall. Horner called it the Daedalum but it didn’t become popular until the 1860s.

Emile Reynaud and the Praxinoscope

Emile Reynaud was the inventor of the Praxinoscope in 1876. He was the first to have his cartoon films screened publically. The Praxinoscope has a band of pictures, each slightly different from the last, which is put onto a rotating drum much like the Zoetrope. Mirrors are placed on the middle of the drum so that, when the Praxinoscope is spun by hand, you can view the images in a motion sequence. As the Praxinoscope incorporated mirrors, this gave the way for it to gain greater prominence than the Zoetrope because of its higher image quality.

Edward Muybridge
Edward Muybridge was an English photographer who was on the pioneers in motion and motion-projection. In 1872, he was hired to find out when all of a horse’s hooves could be off the ground at the same time whilst running. To find this out he “rigged a racetrack with a dozer strings that triggered cameras”.This early motion photography lead to the creation of what we can call movies today.

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is a very famous American inventor who, in 1888, created the Kinetoscope. This early motion exhibition device was designed for films to be seen by individual people by looking through “the peephole viewer window at the top of the device”.Whilst it wasn’t a projector, it did form the basis for what would eventually become cinematic projection.

George Pal

George Pal is another of the big names in animation. He began with making some short films called the puppetoons which were carved wooden puppets that would change from frame to frame. The process is known as replacement animation. A clip of these puppetoons can be watched above. He also made live action films but animation was still incorporated quite highly into his work such as with his film Time Machine (1959).

The Lumiere Brothers
The Lumiere Brothers were pioneers in both in cinema and animation due to their invention of the cinematograph which was a camera and a projector combined into one. It was referred to as animating pictures. Below is a video of their first films.

Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien was a pioneer in motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation. Whilst he never really enjoyed huge success or recognition, he is the man responsible for "some of the best-known images in cinema history". This includes, the world-recognised King Kong (1933) which inspired the work of a young Harryhausen whom he worked with on Mighty Joe Young (1949).

Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen was a visual effects producer, writer and director famous for creating his own brand of stop-motion model animation called “Dynamation”. He famously worked alone on his SMA sequences. Below is some early test footage of Harryhausen's work.

Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker known for his surreal animations. Starting as a theatre director, he later went on to make films for more than 20 years. One of his most famous films is Jabberwocky (1971).


The Brothers Quay
Stephen and Timothy Quay are twins known as The Quay Brothers are famous stop-motion animators. In 1980, they formed Konick Studios and later went on to make films including The Chairs, for which they won an award.

Tim Burton
Tim Burton is a filmmaker famous for his gothic-themed movies. He previously worked at Disney but his ideas were not up to their standards and so he began to work on his own projects. Later, he made one of his most famous films, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). This is a very famous piece of stop-motion animation amongst the rest of his works including Corpse Bride and a famous moment in Sleepy Hollow (1999) when the headless horseman gets his head back.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are two modern creators of animation including Team America and South Park. In 1992, soon after meeting at the University of Colorado, they created a short animation entitled The Spirit of Christmas which provided the characters that became the much loved basis for South Park. Made by animating construction paper cutouts for stop motion animation, the series provided much joy on Comedy Central with its shock-value-orientated and slapstick-like humour, branching into elements of tongue-in-cheek social satire later on. See a clip from the first episode, Cartman Gets An Anal Probe, can be viewed below.

Martin Rosen
Not all animation is upbeat and cheerful, we have the aforementioned Tim Burton's gothic style to show that. However, another man called Martin Rosen was known for creating a dark animation entitled Watership Down (1978). Based on a book of the same name written by Richard Adams, the film features rabbits being hunted down in a gory style by a hawk. After receiving good press upon release, Martin Rosen went on to make The Plague Dogs (1982) and Watership Down: The Series (1999-2000).

Gerald Scarfe
Another example of the use of creative and dark animation in sequences of the film The Wall (Alan Parker, 1982). Based on the Pink Floyd album by the same title, Gerald Scarfe created these animation sequences to illustrate the plot in a psychedelic way featuring metaphors for what the characters are thinking. This psychological animation added a great deal of association with this onto Pink Floyd's career. He later went on to work on providing caricatures for Yes Minister and work on the 1997 Disney film, Hercules. See below for an example of his work from The Wall.

Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations was founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. They are most famous for their claymation style films such as Creature Comforts and the Wallace and Gromit films. Claymation is created using stop-motion and plasticine models. Wallace was modelled around the voice of Peter Selis and Gromit did not have a voice actor as they wanted the emotion to be shown around his features such as the eyes.

Cinema (animated films)
Through the development of animation, the industry has grown from the earliest shorts to feature-length films. The first feature-length film in motion picture industry was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). One of the earliest loved characters in animation was Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) shown in the video below.



TV Animation
There are also many TV animations such as the old favourite Looney Tunes. These sorts of shows once dominated children's programming but, contrary to popular belief, animated television shows are not exclusively for children. Particularly in Japanese culture where anime is a huge part of their regular programming for all ages.

Channel Idents
A channel ident is a method by which a channel can be identified during your viewing. In the United Kingdom, these are typically accompanied by a voiceover who will say what you are watching and what is on later. As technologies have developed, so have the channel idents. See below for an example of an E4 ident.


TV and Cinema Advertising
Many successful adverts nowadays are animated, whether this be television or cinema adverts. In many ways this can be the best way to go as animation allows you to create films where the impossible becomes possible. Some notable animated adverts include the Zingy the Flame EDF advert and the Chewits advert (shown below).


Animated Music Videos
Animation has also made its way into other aspects of popular culture, even being used in music videos. One band that famously features animation in their music videos is Gorillaz.

SMA in Computer Games
Computer games are another part of popular culture that are full of animation. A good example of this is Cletus Clay (pictured below).

SMA for Mobile Phones
Animation has made its way into a number of appliances that we use on an everyday basis including our mobile phones. This is perhaps most prominent in the modern day apps that are available where it is possible to download stop motion animated games. There are even apps that allow you to make your own stop motion animations such as Stop Motion Studio.

SMA for Website Use
You may also find stop-motion animation all over the internet on many different websites. This includes films on video streaming sites but also in the form of web ads and competitions. Sometimes you may find a small animated game to play to win entry into a prize draw or a similar idea.