Sound in Animation

“Sound effects play an important role in conveying action. Music helps express emotion.” Michael Geisler

As Micheal Geisler says here without sound one cannot interpret what is happening in the scenes, it gives a depth of life and emotion to a film or animation. It conveys emotion so that the listener or a watcher can understand what the characters are feeling. The interpreter becomes the character, it is as if you're looking through the characters eyes.
Music have an amazing impact on us, it can make us sad or laugh. It can move us in an impossible ways without even words. Music has become a part of us without us realising, it is that powerful, impacting and sets our emotions free.


“The right music can help your animation flow, and sound effects can give your work a solid feeling that adds to the illusion of life.” Mark Simon.

The sounds that are in animation or film are:
Ambient or natural sounds
Sound effects
Sound tracks
Narration
Dialogue

Without all of these sounds an animation would be lifeless. All of the sounds in an animation plays a major role in creating a perfect animation. Sound effects can show the interpreter what the character is feeling and thus the interpreter will take that into account. Narration can help the interpreter in a massive way for it helps the watcher to understand what is happening when there is no movement.
Dialogue helps to build depth to a character and can also emphasise the type relationship between two or more characters.
With the right music it makes the animation amazing or horrendous, it is up to the creator to pick the right music so that interpreter can feel what the creator is trying to say through the characters behaviour and attitude.

“A truth whispered among animators is that 70% of a show's impact comes from the sound track.” Michel Dougherty.

I totally agree with Michel Doughtery said, without the sound tracks an animation does not build up emotions, it doesn't put us into the characters shoes and help us to experience what they're feeling. Even if a character in an animation is smiling it doesn't convey their feeling towards us, e.g. character A kills character B, a smile appear on character A's face. If there was no sound track in the background, the interpreter would not know how to convey this information. So if the animator put's a triumphant sound track in the back ground, the watcher will interpret it as victory or if the animator puts a sinister sound track in the background of the killing, the interpreter will convey the information of the killing as evil.

Therefore sounds play a major part in animation it helps us to take in the information easier without us feeling astray from the animation. It helps us to interpret it better and can put ourselves in the characters shoes.

Cameraless Animation - Creating aThaumatrope

In this weeks Educational Futures seminar we discussed and looked into Camera-less Animation, which basically means making an image or a drawing move without the use of frame by frame photography. Methods of camera-less animation are Thaumatropes, Flipbooks and Phenakistoscopes.

I myself tried my hand at making a Thaumatrope. A Thaumatrope is a toy that was popular in the nineteenth centuary. It is a disk with two different images on either side and has two strings punched into holes on the edges of the disk, when the disk is spun on the strings the two images blend and together create a new image that the eye can see.

This is how I made mine;

Step 1: I assembled together the necessery tools, such as sissors, colouring pens and pencils, glue, string (or rubber bands), a piece of carboard, plain paper and a compass with a pencil.

Step 2: Next I took my piece of paper and compass and drew three circles of equal radii, its worth taking note of this length as you will need it for the cardboard later.

Step 3: After I drew the circles I then cut them out with sissors.

Step 3: Next I took my compass and piece of cardboard and drew a circle of equal radius to the paper circles and cut it out.

Step 4: Then I took one of my paper circles to one side and drew my drawing of choice on it with a dark coloured pen. The reason for this is when I trace the same image on a seperate disk in pencil I will be able to see it and also when I draw the accompanying image I will be able to see the original and make the second image fit perfectly to it.

Step 5: Using the dark original image I drew the image i will be using and also the accompanying image over it.

Step 6: After I had made my two images, it was time to stick them on ether side of the cardboard. It is important to remember that the image on the back needs to be upside down so that when the disk spins they will both be upright and blend in together well.

Step 7: Take two elastic bands and cut them, then punch two holes through the disk either edge of the disk.

Step 8: I fed the two elastic bands through each hole and tied them on the ends. Pick up your bands or string, each one between your thumb and forefinger then twist and watch the disk spin and the two images melt together to make a new one.

Viola: