Flippin 'eck: Flip books 1

In yesterday's lesson we were introduced to another concept in animation named flip books. I don't really have much knowledge on flip books other than actually seeing them, but I have always been interested in the actual process and wondering how artists make them.

I distinctly remember seeing my first flip book in a Disney show on television named 'That's So Raven' when I was really young and was absolutely amazed how someone could make something move from a book, and on paper. I can clearly remember sitting there and not even bothering about watching the rest of the show but being just mesmerised by this flip book. So when I found out we were going to be experimenting with them I was really excited.

We also learnt about the '12 Principles of Animation', which were developed by Frank Johnston and Ollie Thomas and they consist of a bunch of principles that when applied, should create this common language between animators so they can competently speak to each other about their work.

Something I found particularly interesting was the 'squash and stretch' principle. Basically, what it is is when an object has to be stretched, the drawing of it has to be elongated and thinner. And if it to be squashed, it is then a shorter and compressed drawing. This became extremely useful when we were given the task of producing a flip book in which we had to make a ball bounce across the floor. At first I just began with drawing a circle for every stage of my flip book, but then I realised it was looking flat and not really animated, so when the ball reached the floor I used the squashing part of the principle and it made such a difference. I found I really struggled with keeping the ball the same volume throughout the flip book and it often became bigger and smaller throughout so that is something I have to work on.

Also given our tasks, we had to greatly concentrate on the principle of timing. This may seem like a basic principle, but it is also a rather complicated one. More drawings equate to a slower and smoother action and less drawings therefore produces a faster paced action. Logically, this is simple, however when actually participating in the practicality of it, it is something you can easily forget about and it can ruin your flip book, something which happened to me. However once I kept referring to my plan, I finally got the idea and was able to produce a competent flip book.

I actually found animating a ball bounce across the floor to be much more easier than animating a ball bounce vertically, however I really enjoyed playing with flip books, and I am very pleased with my end results!