Motion Graphic Design, Jon Krasner

Chapter 1: A Brief History of Motion Graphics - Early Practices & Pioneers

The reading from this week was the first chapter of the book 'Motion Graphic Design' by Jon Krasner. It talks first about attempts in the past to convey motion in art, such as depicting animals or people with multiple legs in cave and pottery paintings of ancient times.
It was not until nineteenth century European inventions that actual moving pictures gained popularity. Many visual illusions were employed to give the impression of animation, in such devices as the kinetoscope.

     "Animation cannot be achieved without understanding a fundamental
     principle of the human eye: persistence of vision. This phenomenon
     involves our eye’s ability to retain an image for a fraction of a second
     after it disappears. Our brain is tricked into perceiving a rapid
     succession of different still images as a continuous picture. The brief
     period during which each image persists upon the retina allows it to
     blend smoothly with the subsequent image."

Comic strips began to feature in newspapers, and were the precursor to traditional animation that we are familiar with. Development of projection allowed cartoon characters to come to life through animation.
In 1910 cel animation was first developed which opened up a new realm of possibilities to animation artists. The rise in stop motion is also discussed as a parallel to this. Experimentations began in combining live action and animated sequences in the same scene.
Animation was viewed as an expressive artistic medium. Many experimental filmmakers and artists took an interest in it for the possibilities it allowed, outside of the constraints of live action and painting/sculpting/photography. Many examples in the reading are given of these experiments in animated cinema and the forerunners of the genre.

Krasner then goes on to describe the advent of computer generated animation, fuelled by advances in technology in the latter half of the 20th century. New inventions like stereoscopic 3D animation software and virtual drawing tools broadened the scope for the sector even further.
Motion graphic design use in film titles is also discussed. Saul Bass is lauded as a pioneer in this field. Animated title design became a recognised art form in itself.

Most of the reading I found a bit repetitive from what I had already learned with my tutor in animation class, though it was good to return to a few of the key points and  have something to reference from in the future.