The animator, as well as the comic graphic artist, makes use of signs to elucidate the story.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS IN MAKING ANIMATED SCREEN PICTURES
CHAPTER VIII
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS IN MAKING ANIMATED SCREEN PICTURES
Many of the striking ways of telling incidents of an animated cartoon put one in mind of the pictorial symbols of primitive man. An example is that of a vision appearing above the head of some one in doubt or in a revery. Then there is the miniature scene floating over a sleeper to tell that of which he is dreaming. These and other similar forms are supplementary ways of explaining incidents in a screen story. They are also used in the regular photographic film; but they are specifically typical of the animated cartoon.
They are amusing additions to a film that are certain to please whether used to apprise the audience of what is going on in the character’s mind, or to explain the dream of a sleeper as he lies abed.
There are several modes of creating any of these effects. The usual way would be that of having the quiescent part, say it is a sleeper, limned on the celluloid; and the details of the moving part, say the vision, on three or five sheets of paper.
SYMBOLIC ANIMATION OF SNORING.
To effect this, the sleeper would be drawn on celluloid and the pictures in the clouds on separate sheets of paper.