Moho Forum

Wasn't sure what to call this but I got a few DVD's at the 99 cent store of classics like Superman, Popeye and so on and noted some interesting stuff. Since I have never studied animation these are new observations to me so I figured I'd post a thread for anyone to share some tiups like this.

The old Superman movie I noted one 'trick' I liked was they did a long pan across a factory right to left. They started by using simple single colored backgrounds with the workers and shapes of boxes and shelves as simple black shapes; you could see the guys swinging hammers and get a sense of what is going on but by having only black silohuettes those 20 -30 seconds they didn't have to draw any details like facial expressions etc they panned all the way to the room where the action was to take place and that was in color -hope I explained it ok.

They did a lot of similar scenes like Lois in a jungle type setting sneaking around with just silohuettes and others with simple color schemes like when they are fighting around a fire and everything is basically orange. I am sure there are a lot of 'tricks' from the era when all of the frames were laboriously done frame by frame that might be suitable for the independent filmaker to save time by incorporating some simple frames that require less work.

Hope this is clear.

Edit: Here's a quick drawing to explain better than my words. The camera pans past all these simple screens and at the end where the action will focus there is the normal color area and the camera zooms in past the foreground. I figured they saved a lot of drawing time with these less detailed 'dark' frames.

If I remember correctly, in Superman the relied pretty heavily on rotoscoping live action, too. I remember thinking it looked pretty fantastic when I was younger. I haven't seen them in quite some time.

I also really liked Popey's backgrounds. For many of them they'd create round sets out of clay and other objects and film them rotating. Popeye vs. Sinbad seems to stick out in my memory as using this technique. Very cool looking.

Thanks for reminding me about these gems.
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I don't recognize it right off the bat, but if these are some of the pld Mak Fliesher Superman's, they are what I want to do in Moho. Obviously, there are restrictions, but that feel, that life, that totally damn cool shading, that's the one. There are some older cartoons, notably the old Popeye Sinbad the Sailor where they used actual miniature backgrounds for the first long tracking shot of Popeye on the island. I first say that (the Superman) at the Museum of Comic Art in upstate New York ( now unfortunately long gone) when I was seven. I LOVE that style. It's my "that looks cool" standard, and I aim to get that across in Moho. If I actually get paid on the job I'm on (looks good), I may take a month off and animate somethin' proper. Or at least finish a few of the pieces I have in process (unfortunately, decidely not for a "family audience").

kdiddy13 wrote: I also really liked Popey's backgrounds. For many of them they'd create round sets out of clay and other objects and film them rotating. Popeye vs. Sinbad seems to stick out in my memory as using this technique. Very cool looking.

That's interesting. Hmm... might revisit some old experiments. I had been playing with animating using puppets -never got much done as I didn't have a camera of my own (just got one) but I was making rooms and backgrounds out of foam block which I carved and painted to make like a castle wall, living room etc. I also have a lazy susan type spinning table idea I drew out but never built with the idea of creating some moving backgrounds. I just thought it would be easier to film some of the action and composite it rather than draw every single detail. I still like the idea but the wife would likely not go for a big contraption in the middle of the living room so have to wait until we get a house and I have a play area for myself.

7feet wrote: There are some older cartoons, notably the old Popeye Sinbad the Sailor where they used actual miniature backgrounds for the first long tracking shot of Popeye on the island.

That's actually on one of the DVD's I picked up so I'm going to give it another view this week as I didn't pick up on that first timr around. Good look with the job thing and time off. Look forward to your work.

Yeah, there's one shot in particular, which is a looong tracking shot when Popeye first gets to the island. I didn't recognize it for what it was when I was kid, even though I was already doing stop motion stuff. It blends in nicely and gives a whole different feel of depth for the backgrounds.