Embedded Files
Persistence of Vision Theory
The Persistence of Vision theory, written by Mark Roget, states that "The human eye sees one image, and carries with it an after image onto the image that follows it, thus creating an apparent continuity." I first heard about the persistence of vision theory when reading the book 'Understanding Animation by Paul Wells. Without persistence of vision, we wouldn't have any animations of any sort - no cartoons, no cgi, no videos even and especially no Victorian animation toys. A good example of this theory is the fiery trail you see when whirling around a burning stick in the dark.
Although that trail isn't actually there at the time, because your eye holds on to the image it has just seen, you effectively see previous images that came before the one you're currently looking at, which in this case provides a sort of trail effect.
I'll later go on to talk about the strobe effect in my research, and the persistence of vision theory applies to that massively too. The strobe effect allows the viewer to see one image and then another in rapid succession, giving the illusion of movement. This will obviously make more sense when I come to the strobe effect in full.
Old Animation Toys
Zoetrope
'Zoetrope' is quite a unique word, and for good reason. It comes from the root Greek words ζωή zoe, "life" and τρόπος tropos, "turning," so when translated 'zoetrope' means 'Wheel of life.'
Zoetropes are an animation toy invented by W G Horner in 1833. It makes use of a spinning cylinder with a looping 2D animation facing inwards. The cylinder also has slits in, as many as the number of frames in the animation. These are crucial - without them the whole animation would look like a spinning blur. However, when you spin the zoetrope and then look at the animation through the slits, the slits mean that each frame is only visible for a fraction of a second, removing any motion blur. I've been lucky enough to have a look at a zoetrope in person, and I've attached a video of what a zoetrope looks like in use.
IMG_1175.mp4This zoetrope has a 2D animation, but we want a 3D animation. It wasn't until 1887 thanks to Étienne-Jules Marey that we got a 3D zoetrope. His 3D zoetrope made use of 10 models of a bird in flight. It was still the same as any other 2D zoetrope - it still used slits, still spun, still had a looping animation playing, only in 3 dimensions rather than 2.
Praxinoscope
As I continued reading 'Understading Animation' by Paul Wells, I discovered more and more old animation toys. Designed by Émile Reynaud in 1877, the praxinoscope is fundamentally the same as a zoetrope with the only noticeable difference being the method used to achieve the strobe effect. While a zoetrope made use of slits, the praxinoscope makes use of mirrors.
You can see at the centre of the praxinoscope is a ring of mirrors, each facing outwards and there's one for each frame. As the praxinoscope spins, so do the mirrors, with each image coming in front of its corresponding mirror. Each mirror reflects the image directly opposite it. As it's spinning you look at the ring of mirrors in the middle, and each image flashes for a split second in the same position as the previous image in the mirrors. This is where the persistence of vision theory comes in - the eye then sees a rapid succession of still images in the same location, giving the illusion of movement.
Creative Practitioners
Kevin Holmes
Of course Étienne-Jules Marey wouldn't be the last one to make a 3D zoetrope. Kevin Holmes, a 'zoetrope maker,' is someone who has particularly caught my attention. Rather than making zoetropes with a cylindrical wall with slits in, he uses a strobe light - which has the same effect. The point of the slits was to only show each frame for a fraction of a second. What's another way you can do that? - Place the zoetrope in a dark-ish room and have a light come on when each frame is in place. I've attached a link to a video below to show you how this works.
Sculpture
Sculpture are a music band, and they use zoetropes for visuals. Although they aren't exactly animators, and it's very clear that these zoetropes are just meant to be visuals presumably for a concert, it's still interesting to see how others have used zoetropes.
Making it Spin
The problem with making a zoetrope (or any other old animation toy of this type) is that you have to make them spin, and what makes it even worse is that it has to spin at a constant rate. If you spin the animation really quick, not only does it look really unrealistic but you also can't tell what's going on. I've attached a video to show this.
And of course, this goes without saying, the animation slows down and eventually stops, again not making it look very realistic or engaging. However there are a few ways to make the zoetrope spin at a constant rate.
IMG_1178.mp4Motor
One option I've got is to use a motor. Although this works really well, I know almost nothing about electronics and that's quite a lot to learn and make for a 13 week project when I've already given myself the complication of making a zoetrope, so it's very unlikely that I'll use a motor for my zoetrope.
Record Player
The beauty of using an old record player is that it's already circular, and the whole mechanism designed to make it spin has been made for you. All you have to do is plonk your 3D models on the record player and set it to spin, and you've got yourself a working zoetrope.
I've made a small list below of places where I may be able to find a record player.
freecycle.org, eBay, Cash Converters - Old Record Players
The Strobe Effect
I've already discussed the significance of the strobe effect - allowing each frame to only be visible for a fraction of a second so that the whole thing isn't just a spinning blur - and there are multiple ways in which the strobe effect can be achieved.
Strobe Light
You may notice that in some 3D zoetropes, like the one on the right, that there is no wall around the edge - the whole thing is completely open, and if there's no walls then there's no slits, and if there's no slits then how come the animation isn't just a spinning blur and still looks something like the video linked below.
Kevin Holmes, the creator of this particular zoetrope, uses a strobe light - a light that constantly flickers on and off. The way this works is that the disc starts spinning, and the strobe light lights up. It then turns off while the zoetrope is spinning, and when the next frame is in exactly the same position as the previous one, the strobe light turns on again. This process is repeated resulting in the whole animation looking how it does.
Again though, the problem with this is it's quite technical and a lot more to think about on top of making a zoetrope. A strobe light could also cause problems when being presented, especially if people suffer from epilepsy, and even if they don't it's gonna hurt to look at. So I'm almost certain that I won't use this particular method for my zoetrope.
Slits
This method is the more traditional way to achieve the strobe effect. It was used in zoetropes as you can see on the right. This method is more preferred than the strobe light idea for two reasons; it's a lot less technical and less to think about, and requires no technology. One problem with it though is that the frames of the animation can become darkened, as I've shown in the photos below - you can clearly see that by looking through the slits, the image becomes darkened. Although this isn't really a problem, it does make me consider other methods.
Stationary
Spinning
Mirrors
Using mirrors would mean that technically it would no longer be a zoetrope, but a praxinoscope. This particular method fascinates me. Instead of using a strobe light to illuminate the zoetrope or slits to only see a fraction of a frame at a time, you arrange mirrors in a sort of tower pointing slightly downwards. The effect is exactly the same, and I've attached a video to show what it's like.
The great thing about this method is it tackles the problems I mentioned in the previous two methods - no technology is needed and thanks to the mirrors, you don't lose any light either, so the whole thing is illuminated properly. However, I don't know where I'm going to get mirrors from, which is the only issue I can think of if I were to use this method.
Another benefit of using mirrors is that it hones in on just one character performing the animation, whereas the zoetrope with the slits has multiple characters all doing the same animation at the same time.
IMG_1172.mp4Camera
This method is kind of cheating because it doesn't require any physical or technical work. You simply set up a camera with a certain shutter speed, point it at the zoetrope then watch the animation through the camera. Although this method wouldn't be challenging me much, it could be a good method as a back up if I run out of time towards the end of the project.
Visual Storytelling
For this project I've given myself the task of trying to tell a story that lasts just one second (roughly). Because it's a zoetrope, there won't be any dialogue to do the story telling, meaning it's all got to come from the visuals - the colours, the movement of the character(s), the expressions etc.
Wall-E
One great example of visual storytelling is the film of Wall-E. From the main characters, Wall-E and EVE, there is no dialogue apart from their names and "Directive," so almost all of the storytelling is done visually. One way in which visual storytelling is used is Wall-E's eyes.
You can clearly see the emotion in his eyes in the images on the right. It's clear that he's enticed by something and it's when we see Wall-E like this that we learn something about his character - we learn about what makes him happy and what it is he longs for.
But when his eyes are not tilted, you can instantly tell that something is wrong. The context of these images is that Wall-E has just been rebuilt and effectively had the robot equivalent of a new brain put into him. So now he's no longer got those characteristics that define him - even though he's right in front of EVE, someone who when he looked at tilted his eyes, his eyes aren't tilted. The audience can instantly recognise that he isn't the same Wall-E we knew from the rest of the film. And all that is said just by his eyes.
Painting Techniques
I briefly discussed the problem of colours in the idea generation section of my project. To recap, the problem I've got with this project is that adding colours will either be;
A. Tricky (if I chose to paint)
B. Very expensive (like £300+ expensive, if I chose to 3D print in different colours)
If I choose to paint the models, as fun as it is I'm just not good enough to achieve the level of quality I want for my FMP.
If I choose to print in multicolour, judging by a quick google search I'll need to buy a whole unit which is around the £200 mark, and even if that isn't necessary I still need to buy another 3 or 4 spools of filament, and they're £18 each. So I'm not leaning towards either idea, which makes life a bit tricky. However there may be a couple of ways to work around this
Dry Brushing
One method is a technique called dry brushing. The way you 'dry brush' is you get a tiny amount of paint on the brush, then wipe the brush on a cloth so that almost all the paint is gone. Then you gently brush the model so that a tiny amount of paint is deposited on the model. This method is a great way to exaggerate details as well as darkening shadows and lightening highlights. I've added a video below to show the effect of dry brushing.
2025-03-18 10-13-51_1.mp4Bronze Effect
This is something I came across while talking to my tutor about his neighbour's business, modelling and painting realistic models of characters from the horror genre. You can see from the image on the right that there's no colour painting involved, yet it's a lot more interesting to look at because of the bronze effect which gives the model a lot more shape and definition (similar to the effect given by dry brushing).
Washing
Washing is a painting technique that uses diluted paint that flows into recesses and crevices, using a model's natural shape to create the final effect. There are paints specially designed as washes, however you can also achieve the same effect by diluting regular paints with water. There are a few washing techniques that follow the same principles;
Pre-Washing
Washing
Controlled Washing
Lining
From what I can tell by watching a couple of videos (which I linked at the bottom) the way you 'wash' a model is that you, instead of using normal paints, you use diluted paints or a wash paint that's the same colour as the normal paints you would've used (as shown on the right, which hopefully helps that makes sense). There's also another option - you paint the model with normal paints in it's normal colours and then, once that is completed, add a black wash over the whole of the model to create shadows. As I mentioned earlier I've linked some videos down below to show the effects of this techinque.
Just as a quick sidenote, it's also very possible that I could double this up with dry brushing as well - I could either dry brush the model and then add a black wash, or I could start off by washing the model and then dry brushing it afterwards.
Solid Colour
Something else I thought I could do is just simply paint a character or subject one solid colour. I was watching the videos linked below about colour theory, and it got me thinking about how I may use colours in my zoetrope. Sure there won't be loads of detail in the actual colouring of the characters, but I could potentially tell 'more story' just by using certain colours for a character depending on the colour they are painted. Again, I could use either dry brushing or washing (or both) combined with this technique as well.
Colour Theory
Just building on the idea of a solid colour, I thought it would be worth having a look into colour theory too. Different colours can make an audience feel a different way. For example, red is always used to show anger or love, deep passion. Below I've provided some screenshots from a video (which I've also linked) showing the different colours and what emotion they tend to convey.
Warmer colours tend to be more happy, while cooler colours feel more serious and calm. The point of this image is that you can get any colour and either make it warmer to convey a certain emotion or feeling, or you can make it cooler to achieve the opposite.
Painting in General
I thought it would be good to just have a look at painting in general. If I end up painting my models all one solid colour, it'll still be good to understand what to do in order to achieve a high quality finish. I watched the video linked below and these are my findings.
Use primer - the primer provides a surface for the paint to stick to.
Dry-brush the model with a white paint - provides contrast by creating highlights on the higher up areas of the model and shadows in the crevices. When it comes to painting the model in its colour(s) later, the highlights created by the dry-brushing will still be visible.
Dilute the paints with water - makes brush strokes less visible and with a few coats it provides a nice solid colour finish. This also makes the paints a bit more transparent, meaning that the highlights and shadows created by dry-brushing will still be visible.
Don't overload the brush with paint - adding too much paint to the brush can cause lumps of paint on the model as well as very clear brush strokes, which just looks ugly. Instead, get a small amount of paint on the brush and then wipe some of it off. This way, when you start painting, the brush strokes will be almost invisible and there won't be any big clumps of paint.
Paint the lighter colours first - the reason for this is that if you make a mistake and slightly paint a bit of the lighter paint onto an area where the darker paint is meant to go, it's very easy to go over and correct the flaw with a darker colour. However if you started off with the darker colour, it would be very hard to cover up any mistakes with a lighter paint.
Over the holidays I also managed to go into a Warhammer shop with some friends, and they let us try and paint a miniature for free.
This is what the model starts off at - you pop out each individual bit and click them together until you have the completed model as shown on the right.
They then gave us a primed miniature model, and got us to paint his weapon. We started off by painting it grey, and then the bit with wholes in (no idea what it's called) with a bronze colour.
Platform
Originally I was thinking of making the entire thing 3d printed, however it has been suggested to me to try and make the zoetrope as big as possible, so I may get in touch with the 3d workshop at college to see if we could make a turntable bigger than one I could 3d print. However, 3d printing is still an option and definitely still worth considering.
The only thing that would worry me a bit about getting the 3D workshop to create a platform for me is that it doesn't seem that in the software they use that they are able to make precise measurements for the shapes that they would indent into the turntable. This would be a bit of a problem as I'd need to have exact measurements
Mechanically Turned
I simply searched into YouTube "Making a 3D Zoetrope" and I came across this genius mini zoetrope. I talked further up this google site about the strobe effect, and I mentioned that there were 3 ways to achieve it. However, I think I may have just found a 4th.
In the image on the right I highlighted the key areas. On the zoetrope itself you can see how there are small indents, and they're quite a distance from each other. On the handle used to turn it, you can see that there are different shaped teeth - one is quite long, and the other is quite short. What this means is that the zoetrope isn't constantly spinning around (like all other zoetropes do), but it means that the frames always pause for a split second when they are in the exact same place. This means that the strobe effect is achieved without having to use slits or mirrors or technology or lighting or anything like that.
I watched a small part of the video I linked below to see how others may have made the platform for their zoetrope. Fortunately, this particular creator chose to 3d print it which is great for me, and rather than printing the entire platform as one massive. I noticed a few things with 3d printing the platform though.
One of those is that 3d printers really don't like printing big flat things, and the corners can tend to warp which really isn't ideal if you're trying to make a perfectly flat surface. However what he did instead was print the part of the platform on its side
https://youtu.be/zP5-Q9bX_vE?si=e3JIR29rkiB7X86l 7:09 - 9:30
3D Workshop
I managed to go and see the people at the 3D workshop in my college and it's looking very possible that they could make a platform for me. I took some photos while I was there too and the one on the far left is an image of all the different materials they could use to make the platform. I also took a photo of their laser cutter as well as a photo of the computer screen and the software they would use to design the platform. Finally the image on the right is just of some examples of other students' work.
I managed to go and see the people at the 3D workshop in my college and it's looking very possible that they could make a platform for me. I took some photos while I was there too and the one on the far left is an image of all the different materials they could use to make the platform. I also took a photo of their laser cutter as well as a photo of the computer screen and the software they would use to design the platform. Finally the image on the right is just of some examples of other students' work.
Target Audience
Zoetropes
One thing I have noticed looking at zoetropes is that they tend to appeal to an older audience (around 30 years+). When watching videos on YouTube, I noticed that most of the people that have made videos about zoetropes, or have made a zoetrope themself, have been in that sort of age bracket. For example a practitioner I looked at earlier, Kevin Holmes (image on the right). It's clear to see then that the zoetrope as a toy is something that appeals to a slightly older audience.
Further evidence for this is their website, mainly the pricing. Kevin specialises in creating high quality zoetropes. He designs them himself in 3D software, 3D prints them and then paints his models, not to mention all the technical work he does too with making the strobe light work and the turntable which is electronically powered too. If you were to buy one of his zoetropes, it would set you back somewhere in the £800 region. Definitely not a price that is going to appeal to little children.
Even William George Horner (image on the left) was 47 years old when he invented the zoetrope. Just to name a few more animation toys and the age of their inventors at the time - the Phenakistoscope was created when Joseph Plateau was 30, Coleman Seller was 34 when he made the Kinematoscope and Émile Reynaud was 33 when he made the Praxinoscope.
Despite zoetropes clearly being something of interest to an older audience, I still believe they would be something that would appeal to a younger audience - 18-25 year olds. Why do I think this? Disposable film cameras.
Film cameras were invented in 1889 (similar time to al the old animation toys). The film camera market size stood at USD 1.35 billion in 2023, and even all over social media there's been trends of people handing out disposable film cameras to groups going on holiday, asking them to take photos on their travels and then send them back ot the content creator, and the videos get millions of likes. But the thing is, almost everyone these days has a smartphone with a camera that is far better quality and much easier to use. So why are retro style film cameras still bringing in 1.35 billion dollars? Well it seems that people love a bit of nostalgic tech - even if it's something from a time before they were born. I've attached a short video below of a product done on the TV show 'Shark Tank' and they briefly talk about the popularity with disposable film cameras.
So my thinking is, why wouldn't a younger audience like a zoetrope? Why wouldn't they want to learn a bit about the older methods of animation? After all everyone is stuck constantly looking at an electronic screen made up of millions of pixels, it's very rare that you get to see your favourite video game character racing in real life. Perhaps the zoetrope could provide a break from all the electronics and tech we're surrounded by today, and people could experience the magic of watching an animation made up of real life objects playing in front of your eyes.
Nintendo
Demographics
I've chosen to do a Super Mario themed zoetrope animation, mainly because I think the Mario franchise appeals to a wide range of ages - it is nostalgic to an older audience, and an exciting fun game to play to a younger audience, but I also chose this because I am also a big fan of Mario and the games. The Mario franchise was created by Nintendo with the release of Super Mario Bros in 1985. Since then Mario and Nintendo as a company have sky rocketed in success and sales, and of course their products will appeal to a specific audience, and I'm going to try and find out what that audience is to inform my decision making and production of my zoetrope.
According to this website https://www.start.io/blog/nintendo-target-market-segmentation-marketing-strategy-main-competitors-statistics/ the majority of Nintendo's target market is the millennial generation. They have a worldwide target with most buyers coming from the US, and families are an important part of their target market.
Nintendo noticed that it wasn't actually kids that were buying the games, rather it was their parents buying them for their kids. This means that the games also have to appeal to adults who are looking to buy games for their kids - family friendly, no violence, clean language etc. This has resulted in adults also being a large part of buyers.
70% of Nintendo gamers are aged 18 or older, with the largest user group of their (to-date) newest console (although the Nintendo Switch 2 is due to be released in around 2 weeks or so at the time of writing) - the Switch - being aged 20-25, "with a significant portion of users well into their mid 40s.
I've also looked at this website; https://amplifyxl.com/nintendo-target-market/#google_vignette which outlines the primary audiences Nintendo appeals to;
Young Children aged 4-10
Teenage Gamers aged 11-17
Adult Casual Gamers aged 18-35
Hardcore Gamers aged 18-35
Nostalgic Adults aged 30-50
Families and Parents
Nintendo Enthusiasts and Collectors
Young Children aged 4-10
Nintendo specifically make some games to target this age group. Nintendo offer family friendly, interactive and colourful content with simple and intuitive controls that don't make the experience overwhelming. Although I'm not going to be making a game, it's still worth remembering that the reason Nintendo games appeal so much to a younger audience is because of their fun but simplistic content, something I'll take into account when making my zoetrope.
Nostalgic Adults aged 30-50
This age group would've grown up playing on consoles like the NES, SNES and the Nintendo 64. Now they're returning to those experiences by purchasing modern consoles that can offer that nostalgic experience they're looking for. A lot of these players appreciate the simplicity of the older games rather than advanced mechanics and graphics. I talk in my ideas section about creating some assets to put in the background of my zoetrope that are inspired from some of the 2D 8-bit style 1980s games to cater to this audience.
Behavioural
The most popular game with Wii users in 2021 was Wii Sports, and I've noticed this in person too - when I've been at youth events, sometimes they'll have a Wii set up with Wii Sports loaded up, and the people that are there (aged 16-21) absolutely love it. The adult user base tend to lean more towards puzzle solving and casino style games. Despite all of this though, Mario Kart 8 is still the best selling game on the Switch with over 48 million copies having been sold by 2022. I decided to try and find out what age group Mario Kart 8 appeals to, and I found that someone had done a survey on Reddit. The survey had 490 responses which is approximately 10,000 times less than the number of Mario kart players. However, I do still feel that because of the similarity in number of players and survey responses, this will still give a good indication into the age bracket that Mario Kart 8 appeals to.
Psychographic
Nintendo users are typically positive, optimistic and playful in nature. Something interesting that this website showed me is that Nintendo users fall into the Chardonnay personality type, so I decided to look into that.
I've taken a quote from the website describing the chardonnay personality type;
"Chardonnays are “yes” oriented people. They are positive, very optimistic and out-going, but sometimes their positivity may seem a bit naive. In terms of people and friends surrounding them, they also belong to the same type. It’s essential for them to make those moments with friends special and unforgettable. From the career side, it takes a secondary place in their life, as well as the family. They are always open for new events and suggestions."
Typically, people of this personality type are aged 18-32 and have a very positive outlook on life.
Painting Equipment
I already have some paints at home and some brushes, but neither of them are very high quality (altogether they cost about £20). So I'm going to look into what kit I need to get in terms of paints and brushes, as well as the types of paints.
Just by talking to peers and tutors at college I already know a small amount about painting - I know that for Warhammer models (Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame and you fight using miniature models that you paint), people usually use citadel paints and brushes, and that there are different types of paints.
Brushes
I looked at this website; https://www.firestormgames.co.uk/blog/what-to-buy-to-paint-warhammer#:~:text=Acrylic%20paints%20stand%20out%20as,specifically%20tailored%20for%20Warhammer%20painting and it gave me some brands that make high quality brushes;
Citadel
Winsor & Newton
Rosemary & Co
Army Painter
There are also different types of brushes, and to find out what they are I chose to research the citadel range. I chose to research citadel because speaking to a tutor at college who also has a 3D printer and has painted some models, I trust his word and I can clearly remember him telling me about the citadel brand and mentioning how good they are. The different types of brushes they offer are;
Base - Used for the application of base paints and more broadly all base layers. However they can curl very easily (when the head of the brush slowly bends over at the tip as the bristles contract at different rates) which can very quickly ruin your brush. They come in small, medium, large and extra large sizes. Large and extra large are more flat than round.
Layer - Used for layer and edge paints, also can be used for glazes and shades. Layer brushes are also a lot softer than base brushes, as well as a lot more durable. They also come in small and medium sizes
Dry - Used just for dry brushing and they come in small, medium and large and they're all flat headed.
Shade - These very fine brushes are designed to hold a lot of paint and are intended to be used with shade paints. They come in medium and large sizes, are round headed.
Scenery - Used to paint large areas very quickly. They come in medium and large sizes and are flat headed.
Paints
Again, I'll be looking at citadel paints. Citadel have a range of paints which are as follows;
Base - Give strong solid coats, good for a foundation for other paints.
Layer - Applied on top of base paints to make them brighter or to add highlights.
Shade - Designed to flow into the recesses of models, creating shadows which adds contrast.
Dry - Used for dry brushing.
Contrast - Have multiple uses - can be applied over a white basecoat to base, shade, and layer a miniature in one go, or they can be used to glaze or tint other paints.
Technical - Used to add special effects to models - churned earth, gore, corrosion etc.
Spray - Used to cover a model in a solid coat of colour which provides a good foundation to apply base or contrast paints on to.
Contrast Paint
Spray Paint
It's worth me noting how far away they hold the spray can from the models.
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