How to make an animated film. What is animation? Baby and Carlson

How do cartoons?

It is generally accepted that a cartoon is an entertainment for children. However, beautiful cartoon stories are loved not only by kids, but also by adults. Today, animation has ceased to be just fun. This is a real art and a complex technical process. Want to learn how to make cartoons? Let's look to where the animated pictures come to life, and they learn to speak plasticine characters - in the artist's animation studio.

No, my old Boileau, you were shaking. The brave marshal McMahon said almost the same thing when he spoke of typhoid fever. And each of these professions works in close cooperation with others. These crafts are like a puzzle for assembly. Three or four people can work on the same storyboard. The latter can be drawn roughly or more accurately. It is the ultimate reference for all employees of the film. The storyboard contains actions, dialogs and even sound effects.

Several male models will share a cartoon, and everyone will play the game. This applies to grasping the best position for movement. For each action in history, the person's layout will perform at least two drawings of the key moments of the movement.

How it all began

Few people know that the animation appeared even before the cinema. The founding father of the cartoons is considered to be Emile Reynaud. He in 1877 presented the first moving tape to the public, on which the pictures were successively replaced. However, before him there were attempts to revive the pictures. As early as the 15th century, books were distributed in Europe, which, with rapid flipping, created the illusion of character movements. Actually, this is precisely the principle of animation itself.

Animation will consist of filling these intervals. The role of the cartoonist is not very different from the role of real films: it's about storytelling, stage setting and character creation. The difference here is: the decor and light are processed graphically. Instead of capturing actors in their gestures, the director passes through the draftsmen. The director monitors the film from one end of the chain to the other and creates a link between the creators and technical specialists. A lot of people involved in the film are impressive. Production involves many steps, and the transition from one team to another must be well observed.

Create the simplest cartoon   in the strength of either of us. We take a notebook, draw on each of its pages the same character in different poses, simulating a sequence of movements, then quickly turn over the pages. Our eye perceives this as a single video.

By the way, initially the animation was an adult entertainment. To make children's cartoons began only in the XX century.

Required skills to become an animated professional

The audit continues. Highly developed artistic sensitivity.

Learning to become an expert in anal drawing

  Opportunities for cartoonists. There are many possibilities for animation. "Real" cinema increasingly uses the capabilities of animation specialists for special effects. Thus, there are three possible solutions: an animated cinema, a "real" cinema and television, which also requires special effects for certain programs, films and serials.

What are the cartoons?

Drawn pictures

The most popular type of animation to this day is the painted one. Only technical devices change. If before the cartoons were drawn by hand, now it is done on the computer. The principle of how to draw cartoons, remained unchanged.

First a detailed script is written. Then all the characters are drawn. Each figure represents an element of the character's movement, a separate pose. There can be thousands of such drawings. After the drawings are either photographed one by one and are reduced to a single video series with 24 frames per second, or using special programs the same is done on the computer.

Salary of cartoonists

This salary is then developed in accordance with the talent of a person and his fame through already completed projects.

All indicative fairs to find animation

  This book will allow you to choose the right orientation and curriculum, adapted to your level and your professional aspirations. After comparing the different sectors of the audiovisual, music and sound world, it shows the wealth and diversity of professions, as well as the typology of the relevant training courses, access modalities, duration of courses, diplomas or certificates recognized by specialists, and major public or private educational organizations.

3D cartoons

Computer animation is the most promising direction for today. It highlights 3D cartoons. They allow you to make a 3D image. This is a very expensive technology, but 3D cartoons today are assembling full rooms in cinemas.

How do 3D cartoons? Of course, modern technologies come to the aid of man. The picture is created using special computer programs, for example, Maya or Z-Brush. First, the "skeleton" of the character with all the muscles and tendons is drawn. Each of them, as in the present human body, is responsible for this or that action. That is, when turning the head, we will see the movement of the neck muscles, and with bending the arm will strain the bicep. Particular attention is paid to the face, muscles, responsible for facial expressions.

Of course, the creation of cartoons is not easy, and this is a task that must be solved only through joint work. But it's also true that there are programs that can simplify this creative process and facilitate some operations. Let's start with the basics: what is "Pencil"? This program is designed to create an animated film in two dimensions. In fact, it allows you to draw or import every cartoon that we want to create by adding music and words. All with easy-to-use graphics and using computers that are not particularly effective.

Then the texture is stretched on the skeleton. And this is not only the color of the skin and clothing. It is important to work out every wrinkle and wrinkle, all chiaroscuro and so that the character looks alive. Also, the background is worked out in detail. Everything should be as plausible and realistic as possible. In order not to draw each blade of grass, the multipliers have special modules that "plant" the vegetation in the frame as it grows in reality.

In addition, being a writing practice, it is actually very useful to be able to use a tablet or tablet. Everyone, if they have patience, passion and a pinch of artistic talent. And this is definitely not a program intended for amateur use: more than some kind of advertising and television station it uses.

How to create a cartoon: levels

If we look at the basic Pencil mask, we will be able to recognize 4 elements. The toolbar on the left side of the color palette on the right in the center is our screen, on which we turn our scenes into a timeline, and the levels are down. Let's start with the bottom part: we can treat it as a layer structure for adding or removing elements to our frame. We can introduce 4 different types of levels.

Then the installation begins. Usually the animator creates 4 seconds a cartoon a week - so it's a painstaking process! To be in time on time, dozens of animators usually work on the cartoon.

Now, when you look at the next "Shrek" in 3D, remember how they make cartoons. Video length of 90 minutes - the work of hundreds of people and the fruit of many months of work.

Image, raster type; vector image; sound accompaniment; shots. . To start, click on the symbol and select "New Bitmap Layer": so we got the first level to work. The trick that allows us to create the illusion of movement is to change the scene many times per second, adding a frame for each moment. The more cadres we have, the better the illusion of movement. But the complexity of creating a cartoon grows in a similar way.

To add a frame, just click on the symbol next to the word "Keys". But the frame-by-frame is truly a huge undertaking. We can reduce this by adding backgrounds taken from the drawings that we have already created. Click "Edit" and then "Import Image." But be careful, the images that we import must be placed in a raster type: for vector levels, speech is a more complex moment.

Plasticine cartoons

Favorite from childhood plasticine cartoons are made a little easier. But you can not call for help on the computer, except at the stage of installation. All the figures in all their actions are molded by hand.

In professional studios, the figures are made from a special plasticine that does not melt under the lamps. Then they are laid on a special surface of pure color (blue, green) - chrome. Figures are filmed on a digital camera. Then the background is also removed. And already on the computer background and figures are connected. This is called the method of shifting. Now it is the most common.

How to draw a character for a cartoon

Importing images simplifies the work for the background, but also for creating characters. Of course, those who can draw already can skip this paragraph; others are armed with patience and devote a minute to me. When drawing from a PC, we have advantages and disadvantages, as in everything. The most beautiful thing is the ability to use the concept of an ugly copy and completely transform it. Let's look at the top design. Design begins with the use of the level of the bitmap, the level that we will make, or impose our ugly copy.

You can create your own plasticine cartoon at home using the camera. Now on the Internet there are many master classes devoted to how to make plasticine cartoons. And for this you do not need to have a professional set of tools. Sufficient digital "soap box", plasticine, talented hands and a simple program for video processing.

Then from the sketch we go to the vector level and start rewinding the edges of the drawing, correcting any errors or misses. After the ink is the time of the colors: we always work at the vector level and use the tools on the left and the colors on the right. Then, even with respect to the type, we can add shadows to the character to give a little depth to the scene.

Let's see our cartoon

The last step is to clear the level of the bitmap image: we will clean the bad copy, and we will have our creation ready in all its glory. Obviously, we need to create a scene for each frame: the main elements for this will be found in the previous paragraphs. For background music and, therefore, for dialogs, just continue to work with importing images. Only the audio file needs to be imported.

June 10, 1936 was created the largest in the USSR studio animated films "Soyuzmultfilm." Then it was called "Soyuzdetmultfilm", and in "Soyuzmultfilm" it was renamed in August 1937.

Whatever one may say, the best cartoons of Soviet childhood can be called the creativity of the studio "Soyuzmultfilm". For the years of its existence, it has released a huge number of cartoons for every taste, which we show our children and do not get tired to revise themselves. In addition, most cartoons contain a lot of secrets and details that are noticeable only the most attentive. Let's find out.

Before recording the final video, it is recommended to watch the result. By clicking on the visible playback icon at the bottom of the screen, which will allow us to do this. We can also turn off the music or turn it on by selecting the speaker icon. If the result meets us, we can save our cartoon.

And here is our cartoon

Our epic came, fortunately, to a conclusion. We can save our cartoon by clicking the "File" menu, and then "Save". But we are most interested in the opportunity to export our small big animated film into a widely distributed format. Then click "File" and "Export".

(Total 23 pictures)

Winnie the Pooh


The first screen version of the book about Winnie the Pooh belongs to Walt Disney's studio: in the early sixties several episodes were published about a funny bear and his friends. Before the work on the domestic "Winnie the Pooh" Fyodor Khitruk did not see the Disney version.

Then we select the file name and click OK. After saving, we can finally share our being with the whole world. Of course, this is an excellent program, but easy to use, but with huge capabilities. Proof of this are boxes with a pencil.

My judgment, in general, is more than good. Stories for cartoons include dialogues, narration, sound effects and description of scenes. It is important to describe all scenes so that designers can create illustrations. The author of cartoons finds ways to tell stories without relying on the script.

However, he wanted to move away from the images that were depicted in the book, to create his own, new and original characters. Of course, he did it. Everyone who has seen both the Disney and our options unequivocally speak in favor of the latter.


It is curious that initially Winnie the Pooh was very mohnat, his ears looked a little "chewed", and his eyes were of different sizes. Piglet first turned out to artists like a thick appetizing sausage. A lot of different cubs and piglets were painted, before the characters got used to us.

Always carry a notebook with you, so that you can write down all the ideas that come during the day. Look at everything around you, so you can find phrases that can be used for jokes in the cartoon. Also, beware of different ways of talking about inner thinking people.

Shoot down ideas or using a network of words to convey their ideas on paper. You should throw a network of words that correspond to a certain type of character, such as a baker. Write down all the words that describe what the baker is, where it does and the types of materials and tools used along with the language that could be used.


By the way, in the second and third series, the heroes' drawings were simplified: black "glasses" on the face of Winnie the Pooh took on a clear outline, and the red cheeks of Piglet began to be marked with a single red line. While working on a cartoon about Winnie the Pooh, Fyodor Khitruk did not know about the existence of animated films about the amusing Disney studio bear. Later, according to Khitruk, his version was liked by the Disney director Wolfgang Reiterman. At the same time, since soviet cartoons   were created without taking into account Disney's own exclusive rights to the screen version, their display abroad was impossible.

Review your notes, and then create a potential story, a joke or a description of the scenes. Use the technique of writing "cascade" writing a dialogue for the first panel in the initial part of the document. Below, write a dialog for the next frame. After that, he analyzes the dialogues for possible puns, double meanings or plot changes.

Expand your stories using dialogs obtained using the cascade technique. Use the network of words and ideas found earlier to describe the illustrator boxes. There are cities that you see and love, but you do not want to go back there. There are clean, organized and well-developed cities that offer amenities for their tourists. There are cities - megacities, in which your breath stops from the achievements of human thought and imagination. However, there is a city that can not be compared to anyone else, because everything in it smells for millennia.

Baby and Carlson


The Soviet cartoon "Little Boy and Carlson" directed by Boris Stepantsev, based on the story of the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren and released on television in 1968, was enthusiastically received by both small and adult viewers.

Every stone in this city has its own history and many legends. Every sunlight is special. Each fountain tells about the life of great people. Other cities can be clean, pleasant, super-modern and beautiful, but Rome is the only one. Tradition requires throwing a coin, and there are many methods and techniques for this ritual. Seven coins in the Fountain.

There three Americans throw their coins into a fountain according to the following scheme: the coin guarantees your return to the eternal city, two coins guarantee you a new love story, and if you throw three coins, you will soon be married. Better at night, because it is very well lit and suitable for shooting. During the day, there is a crazy house because of the groups that push to get inside. And then you have the opportunity to photograph gladiators dressed as gladiators or Roman gentlemen for 5-15 euros, depending on how pretty they are, they set the price for a photo with them.


There were two series about Carlson: "The Kid and Carlson" (1968) and "Carlson is back" (1970). "Soyuzmultfilm" was going to do the third, but this idea was never realized. The archives of the studio still have a film, which was planned to be used for filming a cartoon on the third part of the trilogy about Baby and Carlson - "Carlson again mischievous."


If you very carefully watch a cartoon about Carlson, you can see the following detail: at the beginning of the cartoon, when the kid crosses the road, on the passing bus, you can see the advertisement of Air France.

On the kidnappers of linen from the animated picture about Carlson are very similar to the detectives from the cartoon about the adventures of the Piglet Piglet. In addition, the Soviet parents of the Baby are very similar to the Soviet parents of Uncle Fyodor from "Prostokvashino".

Cat Leopold


The Soviet animated series about Leopold's cat and the hooligans who molested him was filmed on the Creative Association "Ekran" from 1975 to 1993. At the time the creation of the animated series was not yet an art workshop. Therefore, the first two series ("The Revenge of the Cat Leopold" and "Leopold and the Goldfish") were not drawn, but were made by the technique of shifting.


Minor details of the heroes and scenery were cut from the paper and transferred under the glass. After each frame, the details moved to a miserable distance, which created the illusion of movement. Further series of cartoons were realized with the help of hand-drawn animation.


The creators of the cartoon long puzzled over the name of the protagonist. The authors did not want to call it too simply - "ordinary" Barsik or Murzik. According to their intentions, the name should have sounded beautiful and at the same time it's easy to pronounce.


There is a version according to which the good-natured and charming cat was called the son of the script writer Arkady Hayt. While working on the plot of the cartoon boy tried to do two things at once: watch the adults and watch on TV "The Elusive Avengers". The name of the White Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Kudasov, one of the heroes of the "Elusive", and prompted the idea of ​​calling the cat the same way. Hooliganous mice are also not nameless, as many people think. The well-fed gray rodent is called Motey, and the thin white beast is Mitya. However, in a cartoon of mice names are never called.

Cheburashka


Soviet cartoon about Cheburashka was filmed by director Roman Kachanov based on the book by Eduard Uspensky, more precisely, according to their joint script. And although Ouspensky wrote 8 stories about Crocodile Genu, Cheburashka and their friends, all was done 4 series.


Known today, the cartoonish image of Cheburashka - a sweet creature with huge ears, large gullible eyes and soft brown wool - was coined by the animator-animator Leonid Shvartsman. This is how he first appeared in Roman Kachanov's cartoon "Crocodile Gena" (1969) and won the hearts of children and adults.

According to the foreword to the book by Edward Uspensky "Crocodile Gena and his friends", Cheburashka was a child in the childhood of a book author, a defective toy depicting an unprecedented animal: either a bear cub or a little rabbit with large ears.


According to the book, the author's parents claimed that Cheburashka is an unknown animal that lives in the hot tropical jungle. Therefore, in the text of the book, whose heroes are, as the author claims, children's toys of Ouspensky himself, Cheburashka really appears before the readers as an unknown tropical animal.

In an interview, Eduard Ouspensky said that he once visited a friend who had a little daughter. At the time of the writer's visit, the girl tried on a fur coat, which dragged along the floor. "The girl constantly fell, stumbling about a fur coat. And her father after the next fall exclaimed: "Oh, again cheburashnulas!" This word crashed into my memory, I asked its meaning. It turned out that "Cheburashka" - this means "fall down". So the name of my hero appeared, "the author confessed.

Three from Prostokvashino


Animated series "Three from Prostokvashino" based on the story of Edward Uspensky "Uncle Fyodor, Dog and Cat" directed by Vladimir Popov. In total, three series were produced. Much of what is in the literary source, was not included in the cartoon, but the popularity of the screen version several times exceeded the popularity of the story Ouspensky.


Work on the creation of screen images of the cartoon "Three from Prostokvashino" was divided between the production directors at the request of the director Vladimir Popov. The image of Galchonka did not turn out very long. Therefore, anyone who came into the premises of artists on "Soyuzmultfilm", asked to draw this character. To his creation, even the artist Leonid Shvartsman, who invented the cartoon Cheburashka, put his hand.


Uncle Fyodor is the only type by which the team that worked on creating the cartoon "Three from Prostokvashino" never came to a single decision. Therefore, its screen image varies greatly from series to series. Such an impermissible move from the point of view of Western animation in our country was taken quite calmly.

By the way, Cat Matroskina could also be called Taraskin. The fact is that when Eduard Uspensky wrote his story, he wanted to name this character by the name of Anatoly Taraskin, an employee of the film "The Wick", but he did not allow his name to be used. True, later regretted it and admitted to the writer: "What a fool I was! Surname regretted giving! "

Wait for it!


"Well, wait!" - This is not just a cartoon serial, it's a real legend, on which more than one generation has grown up. In 1969, "Well, wait!" Was a state order. Officials decided to give our answer disney's cartoons   and allocated a fairly serious budget. The requirements of the customers were limited to asking for something ridiculous.


With this request, Soyuzmultfilm's management appealed to the well-known comedians Alexander Kurlyandsky, Arkady Hayt, Felix Kamov and Eduard Uspensky.


A lot of controversy with the creators of the cartoon arose about the 12th series of the famous cartoon film, when the Wolf is in the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Ramses. It was even admitted that in this connection the Egyptian government can protest. But everything worked out.


In the animated series "Well, wait!" An amazing musical selection, which uses the popular recordings of Western and Soviet music. But they were never mentioned in the output of the cartoon. Then it was not accepted.

The music that sounds during the credits, - the screensaver "Well, wait!" - is called Vizisi ("Water skiing") and was published in a collection of Hungarian pop music by the company "Melody" in 1967. Its author is a Hungarian composer named Tomás Deák.

Last year's snow fell


As the composer Grigory Gladkov mentioned during the performance in the humorous program "Around the laughter", the cartoon "Last year's snow fell" had the original working title "Fir-tree-stick, thick forest", and the protagonist was a janitor from the "Plasticine Crow". Then the visual concept of the main character was finalized, however, like the name of the picture.


The role of the narrator in the cartoon "Last year's snow fell" was originally planned to be given to Liya Akhedzhakova. She even voiced the cartoon, but the director Alexander Tatarsky did not like it. As a result, both roles - both the peasant and the storyteller - were given to Stanislav Sadalsky.

Sadalsky, who voiced the role of the peasant and the narrator in the cartoon "Last year's snow fell," was not quoted in the credits. Shortly before the surrender of the cartoon actor was detained in the restaurant of the hotel "Kosmos" with a foreign citizen, followed by a denunciation of the chairman of the State Television and Radio SG. Lapin. As punishment for communication with foreigners, the actor's surname was decided to be removed from the credits.


Cartoon "Last year's snow fell" could not avoid the close attention of censorship. "At the delivery of" Snow "I had a pre-infarction condition, - recalled the director of the cartoon Alexander Tatarsky. - They told me that I disrespect a Russian person: you have only one hero - a Russian peasant, and that idiot! .. »

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