History of Animation

 

 

History of Animation

Persistence of Vision

‘Persistence of Vision’ refers to the phenomenon where the retina retains an image for a brief split second after the image is actually seen and lends itself to animation by adopting the illusion of motion when people view images in a closely-timed sequence to one another. We don’t notice the spaces between the images because the persistence fills in the momentary gap to make the motion seem seamless.

Although the term ‘persistence of vision’ is the standard expression it is seen as inadequate as it does not fully describe this very complex physiological reality.

‘Persistence of vision’ is known to keep the world from going black when we blink our eyes.

According to how bright an image is will depend on how long your retina will retain an image (between 0.04 and 0.15 or a second). It also depends on the retinal field, colour and view. This happens when the light is removed from sight.

‘Persistence of Vision’ is a chemical reaction and as a result the eye can’t distinguish clearly the changes in light that occur faster than this retention period. These changes go unnoticed or just appear as continuous picture.

 

Types/Techniques/Devices of Animation

Cave Paintings are paintings that are found on cave walls or ceilings, and normally refer to those of prehistoric origin. The earliest cave paintings were found in Europe and date back to 40,000 years ago in the Aurignacian period. The exact purpose behind cave paintings is unknown but there are theories including trying to communicate with others, religious views, telling stories and ceremonial purposes.

Almost 340 caves have been discovered in France and Spain that contain prehistoric art. The oldest known cave art is from the Cave of El Castillo in northern Spain. The art dates back to around 40,800 years ago and makes it the oldest known cave art in Europe by 5-10,000 years.

Cave paintings have also been found around the world including in Africa, Australia, Bulgaria, England, India, North America and South America, while in Finland paintings are rock faces were discovered.

The most common cave paintings are animals such as bison, horses, aurochs and deer. There are also tracings of human hands and abstract patterns and these are called finger flutings. Colours used in caves paintings include red and yellow, while in some cases the animals are just engraved into the caves with no colour schemes.

 

The Phenakistoscope is a revolving disc on which figures are drawn in different, yet relative positions and are seen successively, which creates the actual motion for example, animal leaping. In consequence of this it creates successive visual impressions of the retina. It may also be arranged so it can be projected onto a screen.

It was invented in 1832 by Joseph Plateau who was a Belgian physicist and his sons.

The name Phenakistoscope means ‘spindle viewer’.

The Phenakistoscope is also known as the Phatascope and Phantasmascope.

The name basically translates from the Greek for ‘action viewer’.

 

 

 

The Zoetrope is toy that consists of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through the slits when the cylinder is rotating, gives an impression of continual motion. The name comes from the Greek ‘zōē’ which means life and ‘-tropos’ which means turning.

The Zoetrope was invented by William Horner in 1834 and originally called it Daedalum (‘the wheel of the Devil’). It was based on the Phenakistoscope and was also an improvement of it.

For just over 30 years the device/toy was forgotten until it became popular and was brought back by M. Bradley (in England) and by William F. Lincoln (in America) in 1867. This was when it was renamed ‘zoetrope’ and ‘wheel of life’.

A Zoetrope was featured in The Woman in Black.

 

The Praxinoscope is the successor to the Zoetrope and is an instrument that shows a body as if in motion by the placement of successive pictures and mirrors in a horizontally rotating box. The eye, fixed upon the central placement of the mirrors, then sees the object apparently performing its natural movements.

The Praxinoscope was an improvement on the zoetrope.

The Praxinoscope was invented in 1877 by the Frenchman Charles Reynaud and was the first device to overcome the picture distortion caused by viewing through slits.

 

 

The Thaumatrope is a toy that was made/discovered in the 19^th century, and consists of a disc with a different picture on each of the two sides. By doing this the two images combine into one image when the disc is rotated rapidly. Just like the Zoetrope and the Praxinoscope the name comes from Greek.

 

 

Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand held light source or by moving the camera. Light painting photography can be traced back to 1914 when Frank Gilberth and his wife Lillian Moller Gilberth used small lights and the open shutter of a camera to track motion of clerical and manufacturing images. Man Ray created the series ‘Space Writing’ in 1935 and was the first known photographer to use the technique, while Barbara Morgan in 1940 began making light paintings.

A variety of light sources can be used for light paintings, these can range from flashlights to the Hosemaster (which use a fiber optic light pen). Other sources of light that can be used include candles, matches, fireworks, light flints and glowsticks. Poi is also popular to use for light paintings.

 

Stop-motion also known as stop frame is an animation technique to make a physically that manipulates objects to appear to move on its own. Between each shot there are small movements and once played back in a continuously it manipulates the illusion of movement.

Stop-motion goes back to 1897 thanks to Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton who created The Humpty Dumpty Circus. After this George Melies used stop-motion to produce moving title-card letters for one of his short films but didn’t use it again. Other successful stop-motion films in the 1900’s including The Haunted Hotel in 1907 by J. Stuart Blackton and El Hotel Electrico by Segundo de Chomo in the same year.

After this famous animator Willis O’Brien used stop-motion on live-action films such as The Lost World and King Kong. These films were groundbreaking especially King Kong that showed that stop-motion was possible in films.

His successor and protégé Ray Harryhausen went onto use stop-motion in many films such as Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Clash of the Titans, It Came from Beneath the Sea and The Three Worlds of Gulliver.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Industrial Light and Magic used a lot of stop-motion animation in their films. This included stop-motion work on the original Star Wars trilogy. The use of stop motion included the chess sequence (New Hope), AT-AT walkers (Empire Strikes Back) and the AT-ST walkers (Return of the Jedi).

Other uses of stop-motion in famous films include Terminator (the final sequence of the film), Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (many of the ghosts) and the Robocop series (Phil Tippett’s go motion was used in that series).

 

 

Clay animation also known as Claymation is one of the forms of stop-motion. Each animated piece, either background or character, is ‘deformable’. They are made of malleable materials such as plasticine clay.

Just like other types of animation including cel and traditional animation it is produced by recording every shot/frame and play the recorded frames in rapid succession to the viewer to create the illusion of motion.

Clay animated films go back to 1908, when Edison Manufacturing released a trick film called ‘The Sculptors Welsh Rarebit Dream’. Eight years later Claymation was produced more on a wide range of subjects.

Over the years it grew in popularity and in 1972 the animation company Aardman was founded and increased the popularity of Claymation. Aardman have released five feature films as of 2013.

Computer games have also used Claymation including The Neverhood, Clay Fighter, Platypus and Primal Rage. Television commercials are known for using Claymation as well as in children’s shows such as Bob the Builder and The Koala Brothers.

Claymation has also been used with computer animation which included the film Flushed Away, which was released in 2006 by Aaradman and Dreamworks and was a financially unsuccessful.

Pixilation is a form/technique of animation similar to stop-motion. It is used when live-action actors are used frame by frame as a subject in animation projects. This is done when the actor/actors pose while one or more frames are taken and change their pose between shots slightly. The actor essentially becomes a live-action stop-motion puppet.

Examples of this technique are used in films such as El Hotel Electrico and Jobard ne peut pas vois les femmes travailler (translates in English to Jobard cannot see the women working).

The term is widely credited to Grant Munro. He made the experimental film named ‘Pixilation’ and is available in his DVD collection ‘Cut Up- The Films of Grant Munro’.

Here's a link to a pixilation video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNHIjBa5nwA

 

 

Flipbooks go back to when the first was made by John Barnes Linnett and was called ‘kinograph’.  A flipbook is essentially just a book with springy pages that have an animated series of images printed near the unbound bridge. A viewer bends these pages back and then rapidly releases each of them one at a time so that each image viewed springs out of view to momentarily reveal the next image just before it does the same. These are commonly drawn and are one of the animation techniques that can be taught at a young age.

Flipbooks are seen as one of the inspirations behind early animation filmmakers that the previously discussed devices wouldn’t reach a wide audience. For a long time there was a limit on how long flipbook animations could be until the mutoscope helped overcome this issue. The mutoscope consisted of a long circularly bound flipbook in a box with a crank handle to flip through the pages.

Here's a link to a flipbook animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocF4ycBnYE
 

 

Traditional animation also known as hand-drawn animation, classical animation or cel animation is an animation technique where each frame is hand drawn. This form of animation was the most popular technique used in cinema until the advent of computer animation.

Animators begin the animation process by drawing sequences of animation on sheets of transparent paper perforated to fit the peg bars in their desks, often using pencils (coloured), one picture/frame at a time. A peg bar is an animation tool that is used in traditional animation to keep drawings in place. The pins in the peg bar match the holes that are in the paper. It will be attached to an animation desk or a light table (depending on which is being used).  The key animator draws enough frames to get across the major points of the action.

The Cel was an important innovation to traditional animation as it allows parts of each frame to be repeated from frame to frame. This is often used to reuse backgrounds and saves time and money. For more complex sequences some objects will be kept still so they can be drawn in the background.

Because of the innovation of Cel this meant that each frame didn’t have to be completely redrawn like in early animation which saved a lot of time and made animating easier as backgrounds or objects drawn could be reused instead of having to redraw them for each frame.

Traditional animation was one of the most popular techniques during the ‘Golden Age of animation’ and was most used by Walt Disney Pictures. This resulted in many famous films from Walt Disney which includes the highest grossing hand-drawn animation feature-film ‘Lion King’ which also won two Academy Awards and has since gone on to gross over $987 million worldwide.

List of selected hand-drawn animation feature films

1.       The Lion King (Release Date: June 15^th 1994, Budget: $45, Running Time: 88 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $987,483,777)

2.       Alice in Wonderland (Release Date: July 26^th 1951, Budget: $3 Million, Running Time: 75 Minutes)

3.       Cinderella (Release Date: February 15^th 1950, Budget: $2.9 Million, Running Time: 74 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $85 Million)

4.       Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Release Date:  December 21^st 1937 (Premiere), Budget: $1,488,423, Running Time: 83 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $416 Million)

5.       Fantasia (Release Date: November 13^th 1940, Budget: $2.28 Million, Running Time: 125 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $83,320,000)

6.       The Jungle Book (Release Date: October 18^th 1967, Budget: $4 Million, Running Time: 78 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $205,843,612)

7.       Beauty and the Beast (Release Date: November 22^nd 1991, Budget: $25 Million, Running Time: 84 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $424,967,620)

8.       The Little Mermaid (Released Date: November 14^th 1989, Budget: $40 Million, Running Time: 82 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $211,343,479)

9.       Lady and the Tramp (Release Date: June 22^nd 1955, Budget: $4 Million, Running Time: 75 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $93,602,326)

10.   Aladdin (Release Date: November 25^th 1992, Budget: $28 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $504,050,219)

 

Computer animation also known as CGI animation is the process where animated images are generated by using computer graphics. The more general term of ‘Computer Generated Imagery’ covers by static and dynamic images, while computer animation only covers moving images.

Modern computer animation uses 3D graphics, although 2D graphics are also used for low bandwidth and faster rending times that look stylistic. Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself but also be another type of medium such as film.

Computer animation is also essentially known as the digital predecessor of stop-motion. Computer generated images are also much easier to control than the more physical based processes and techniques, including constructing minatures for effect shots or hiring extras crowd scenes. This is because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using other technology.

The first computer animation feature film was Toy Story. The film was released in 1995 by Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures and won an Academy Special Achievement Award.  Other computer animation films that have been successful include Toy Story 3, Shrek 3, Up, How to Train your Dragon, The Croods and Finding Nemo. Films that have used motion capture through computer animation have also been successful including Academy Award winning films Avatar and Life of Pi.

Notable computer animation companies include Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Dreamworks Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, Blue Sky Studios and Illumination Entertainment.

Famous people within Animation
 

 

Walter Elias Disney better known as Walt Disney (December 5^th 1901-December 15^th 1966) was an American business magnate, cartoonist, animator, director, producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and voice actor who was the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company along with his brother, Roy O. Disney.

In the fall of 1917, Disney started his freshman year and started taking night courses at the Chicago Art Institute. He then became the cartoonist for the school newspaper where he drew patriotic topics and focused on World War I. Disney also dropped out of school at 16 to join the army but was rejected for being under age.

After work for the Red Cross and working in France, in 1919 he moved back to Kansas City to begin an artistic career. He then considered becoming an actor but then decided on a career as a newspaper artist but nobody wanted to hire him. His brother then got him a job as a bank colleague at Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio. He then met cartoonist Ubbe Iwerks and when their time at the studio expired, they decided to start their own company together.

In January 1920, Disney and Iwerks formed ‘Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists’ which was short lived. After a rough start, Disney left to earn money in the Kansas City Film Ad Company who was then joined by Iwerks who couldn’t run the company on his own. During this time Disney became interested in animation after making commercials based on cut out animations. He then decided to become an animator.

After reading the book Animation ‘Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development’ by Edwin G. Lutz, Disney considered cel animation to be much more promising than cut out animation. Disney then decided to open his own animation business and recruited a fellow co-worker named Fred Harman as his first employee. Disney and Harman then struck a deal with local theatre owner Frank L. Newman, arguably the most popular ‘showman’ in Kansas City to show their cartoons at the local theatre. Their animations where titled ‘Laugh-O-Grams’.

Disney cartoons became popular in the Kansas City area and through this he was able to acquire his own studio called Laugh-O-Gram Studio. After profits were disappointing, he wasn’t able to cover salaries paid to his employees and became in debt and wound up bankrupt. He then decided to go to California to set up a studio.

The Disney Brothers then set up their own company and this was the birth of The Walt Disney Company and their first animation was ‘Alice Comedies’. The series was reasonably successful and featured Virginia Davis, Dawn O’Day, Margie Gay and Lois Hardwick as Alice. By the end of the series, the focus was more on the animation characters including a cat named Julius.

In 1927, Disney created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was an instant success. The character of Oswald (which was drawn and created by Iwerks) became a popular figure. It then took 78 years for The Walt Disney Company to get the rights back for Oswald from Universal.

After losing the rights to Oswald, Disney created Mickey Mouse, which was re-drawn by Iwerks so that it could be easier to animate. The first Mickey Mouse short was called ‘Plane Crazy’ and was a silent film. After failing to find a distributor he then created ‘Steamboat Willie’. This received distribution from Pat Powers and became an instant success. Mickey Mouse’s popularity would skyrocket during the 1930’s.

After creating ‘Silly Symphonies’, Disney created his first Academy Award for his creation of Mickey Mouse. That helped launch spin-offs for characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Donal Duck featured in ‘Orphans Benefit’ with Mickey Mouse and became the most popular and second most successful cartoon of all time.

During the 1940’s a few films were created including Saludos Amigos and military Der Fueher’s Face and Victory through Airpower. Military films didn’t generate income and Disney released the feature-film Bambi which underperformed on its release in 1942. Disney then successfully re-released Snow White in 1944.

During this time the ‘Golden age of animation’ begun where Disney released animation feature-films such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Wind in the Willows, with both Pinocchio and Fantasia being financial disappointments.

In the late 1940’s, Disney drew sketches of his ideas for an amusement park where he envisioned his employees spending time with their families and children. It is also thought that he was inspired after visiting Republic of Children, which is located in Argentina. Disneyland then had its grand opening in 1955.

Walt Disney then expanded into other areas and Treasure Island became the studios first all-live-action feature film. This was then followed by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Pollyanna, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent Professor and The Parent Trap. Disney also aired their first daily TV show in 1955, called The Mickey Mouse Club which originally aired between 1955-1959.

In late 1965, Disney had plans on developing and opening another theme park called Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Disney World would include Magic Kingdom, which was a larger version of Disneyworld. The heart of Disney World, however, was to be EPCOT (Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow).

Outside of the Disney Business, Walt Disney married Lillian Bounds in 1925. The couple had two children, Diane Marie Disney (born December 18^th 1933) and adopted Sharon Mae Disney (Born December 31^st 1936).

Walt Disney was a known chain smoker for his adult life and discovered a tumour in his left lung. Five days later a biopsy showed the tumour had spread to the whole of his left lung. After having surgery to remove the lung on November 11^th 1966 and that his life expectancy was between six months and two years. On December 15^th of that year he died at 9:30 am, ten days after his 65^th birthday. Despite this the magic and his legacy still live on today.

Georges Melies – Georges Melies (8 December 1861- 21 January 1938) was a French filmmaker and illusionist. He is famous for leading many narrative and technical developments in the early days of cinema. He was a prolific inventor in the use of special effects and accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896. He was also one of the first filmmakers who used multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves and hand-painted colour in his work. He also referred to himself as the first ‘Cinemagician’ as he was able to manipulate and transform reality through cinematography. His best known films include A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). He was also featured in the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, as well as its film adaptation Hugo, where was portrayed by British actor Sir Ben Kinsley.

After his filmmaking career came to an end after being driven out of business, Melies disappeared from public life. By the 1920’s he was living a candy and toy salesman at the Montaparnasse station in Paris. The business was helped by other filmmakers who collected funs to assist in funding. In 1925 he married his longtime mistress Jeanne d’Alcy and they lived together with Melies young granddaughter Madeline Malthete-Melies. By the late 1920’s, journalists begun to research Melies and his work in film and created new interest in him. After this his prestige started to grow and he was given more recognition in December of 1929 when a gala retrospective of his work was held at the Salle Playel. In his memoirs, Melies said that the event he ‘experienced one of the most brilliant moments of his life’.

By late 1937 Melies became very ill and was admitted to the Leopold Bellan Hospital in Paris. Melies died of cancer on 21^st January 1938. This was just hours after the passing of another French pioneer, Emile Cohl. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

List of his selected films

1. Playing Cards (1896)

2. The Haunted Castle (1896)

3. The Vanishing Lady (1896)

4. Cleopatra (1899)

5. Jeanne d’Arc (1900)

6. A Trip to the Moon (1902)

7.  The Man with The Rubber Hand (1902)

8. Gulliver’s Travels (1902)

9.  The Impossible Voyage (1904)

10. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1907)

 

Ray Fredrick Harryhausen (June 29^th 1920-May 7^th 2013) was born in Los Angeles, California, US and was known as an American visual effects creator, write and producer who created a form of stop-motion animation known as ‘Dynamation’.

After seeing the film King Kong (1933) he worked experimentally in producing animation shorts. After this he got to work with pioneer of model animating Willis O’Brien. He became O’Brien’s protégé and learnt a lot from him and went onto the Los Angeles –area Science Fiction League that was formed by Forest J. Ackerman and became life-long friends with him and Ray Bradbury who he met at the Science-Fiction League.

Once Harryhausen started to work on films he worked on films such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Mysterious Island (1961) and his last film Clash of the Titans (1981).

Harryhausen won many awards including British Fantasy Wagner Award in 2008. He was also awarded a Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. Many movies has also have payed homage to Harryhausen including Tim Burton’s film ‘Mars Attack’s which was released in 1996. Pacific Rim also payed homage to him as the film was made in memory of film and was released in July of 2013.

He was married to Diana Livingstone Bruce in 1963 and remained married to her until his death. They have a daughter, Vanessa. They then announced his death on May 7^th 2013 via Facebook and Twitter. He was in London, England at the time of his death.

 

Terry Gilliam is a British screenwriter, film director, actor and animator. He is also a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe (the only one not to be born in Britain). Gilliam has directed several films including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas (1998) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). In 1968 he became a British citizen.

Gilliam started his career as an animator and cartoonist with one of his earliest works being a photographic strip for Help! This featured future Python cast-member John Cleese. When Help! folded he went to Europe and moved to England. He then went onto animate for children’s series Do Not Adjust Your Set.

After this he became part of the Monty Python Flying Circus and was first credited as an animator and later as a full cast member. His cartoons linked the sketches together, and defined the groups visual language in other media (such as LP, book covers and title film sequences). Gilliam’s animations mixed his own art, characterized by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cut outs from photographs (mostly from the Victorians).

After the Monty Python broke up he went onto directing and screenwriting. He then went onto direct many films in the 80’s and 90’s including Time Bandits (1981) The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and The Fisher King (1991).

Since 2000, his work has included films such as The Brothers Grimm (2005) and The Zero Theorem (2013). His future projects include a film to be shot in Bucharest, Romania, a film called 1984 and writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of Mr. Vertigo.

 

Film Companies

 

Pixar Animation Studios is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for its CGI-animated feature films and also the company who produced the first CGI-animation feature film, Toy Story in 1995.

Pixar have released fourteen feature films, all of which have been financial successes. Pixar’s animation films have made $8.3 million worldwide as of July 2013 and have an average gross of $597 million. Pixar have two films (Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3) in the 50 highest grossing films of all time and all of their films are in the top 50 highest grossing animations as of December 2013.

Although the company is known as Pixar today, between 1979 and 1986 it was known as the Graphics Company and was owned by Lucasfilm. During this time it began working on films with Industrial Light and Magic and worked on films such as Star Trek: Wrath of Khan.  Steve Jobs brought the company from George Lucas, in which he paid him $5 million for technology rights and $5 million cash as capital into the company.

As poor computer sales threatened to put the company out of business, Steve Jobs put more and more income into the company and took more of a leadership role within the company.  During this period, Pixar struggled with finances until it struck a partnership with Walt Disney and agreed a deal with them for $26 million to produce three animation films. Despite the successes of the films they continued to lose money.

Pixar then continued to make successful films with Walt Disney and on May 5^th 2006, Walt Disney brought Pixar for $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. With this deal it helped catapult Steve Jobs to the largest shareholder of Disney with 7% and also 50.1% shareholdings in Pixar and gained him a new seat on the board of directors.

Since 2006, Pixar also expanded and opened a new studio in downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The studio was roughly 2,000 square meters and was primarily to produce shorts and TV specials based on characters from Pixar’s feature films. The studio’s first production was Car Toons episode ‘Air Mater’. In 2013, a film based off the episode called Planes was released by Disney and was a worldwide success. In October of 2013, the studio closed.

 

List of Pixar Films (As of December 2013)

1.       Toy Story (Release Date: November 22^nd 1995, Budget: $30 Million, Running Time: 81 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $361,958,736)

2.       Bugs Life (Release Date: November 25^th 1998, Budget: $120 Million, Running Time: 96 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $363,398,565)

3.       Toy Story 2 (Release Date: November 24^th 1999, Budget: $90 Million, Running Time: 92 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $485,015,179)

4.       Monsters Inc. (Release Date: November 2^nd 2001, Budget: $115 Million, Running Time: 92 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $562,816,256)

5.       Finding Nemo (Release Date: May 30^th 2003, Budget: $94 Million, Running Time: 100 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $936,743,261)

6.       The Incredibles (Release Date: November 5^th 2004, Budget: $92 Million, Running Time: 115 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $631,442,092)

7.       Cars (Release Date: June 9^th 2006, Budget: $120 Million, Running Time: 116 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $461,983,149)

8.       Ratatouille (June 29^th 2007, Budget: $150 Million, Running Time: 111 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $623,722,618)

9.       WALL-E (Release Date: June 27^th 2008, Budget: $180 Million, Running Time: 98 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $521,311,860)

10.   Up (Release Date: May 29^th 2009, Budget: $175 Million Running Time: 96 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $731,342,744)

11.   Toy Story 3 (Release Date: June 18^th 2010, Budget: $200 Million, Running Time: 103 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $1,063,171,911)

12.   Cars 2 (Release Date: June 24^th 2011, Budget: $200 Million, Running Time: 106 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $559,852,396)

13.   Brave (Release Date: June 22^nd 2012, Budget: $185 Million, Running Time: 93 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $538,983,207)

14.   Monsters University  (Release Date: June 21^st 2013, Budget: $200 Million, Running Time: 103 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $743,522,851)

(All figures correct as of December 2013)

 

 

 

Dreamworks Animation is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates feature films, television programs and online virtual worlds. As of December 2013, they have released 27 feature films which include franchises of Shrek, Kung-Fu Panda, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon and Monsters vs. Aliens. As of 2013, Dreamworks feature films have made over $11 Billion worldwide. Its average gross per film is around $430 million which surpasses all animation studios other than Pixar (whose average is $597 million). The studio has received many awards including two Academy Awards, as well as multiple Annie and Emmy Awards.

The studio was formed in 1994 after the merger of Dreamworks and Pacific Data Images. The company became public in 2004 after seven years being in association with Amblimation alumni. Dreamworks Animation currently maintains two campuses: the original Dreamworks animation studio in Glendale, California and the PDI studio in Redwood City, California.

Dreamworks Animation films were originally distributed by the live action Dreamworks studio, then by Paramount Pictures, which started in 2006 until 2013 when 20^th Century Fox acquired the rights to distribute the animation films in a 5-year-deal.

List of Dreamworks Animation Films

1.       Antz (Release Date: October 2^nd 1998, Budget: $105 Million, Running Time: 82 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $171,757,863)

2.       The Prince of Egypt (Release Date: December 18^th 1998, Budget: $70 Million, Running Time: 98 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $218,613,188)

3.       The Road to El Dorado (Release Date: March 31^st 2000, Budget: $95 Million, Running Time: 89 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $76,432,727)

4.       Chicken Run (Release Date: 30^th June 2000 (UK), Budget: $45 Million, Running Time: 84 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $224,834,564)

5.       Shrek (Release Date: May 18^th 2001, Budget: $60 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $484,409,218)

6.       Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (Release Date: May 24^th 2002, Budget: $80 Million, Running Time: 83 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $122,563,539)

7.       Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Release Date: July 2^nd 2003, Budget: 60 Million, Running Time: 85 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $80,767,884)

8.       Shrek 2 (Release Date: May 19^th 2004, Budget: $150 Million, Running Time: 92 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $919,838,758)

9.       Shark Tale (Release Date: October 1^st 2004, Budget: $75 Million, Running Time: 91 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $367,275,019)

10.   Madagascar (Release Date: May 27^th 2005, Budget: $75 Million, Running Time: 86 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $532,680,671)

11.   Wallace and Gromit: Curse of a Were-Rabbit (Release Date: 14^th October 2005 (UK), Budget: $30 Million, Running Time: 85 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $192,610,372)

12.   Over the Hedge (Release Date: May 19^th 2006, Budget: $80 Million, Running Time: 83 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $336,002,996)

13.   Flushed Away (Release Date: 1^st December 2006, Budget: $149 Million, Running Time: 85 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $178,120,210)

14.   Shrek the Third (Release Date: May 18^th 2007, Budget: $160 Million, Running Time: 93 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $798,958,162)

15.   Bee Movie (Release Date: November 2^nd 2007, Budget: $150 Million, Running Time: 91 Minutes, Box office Gross: $287,594,577)

16.   Kung Fu Panda (Release Date: June 2^nd 2008, Budget: $130 Million, Running Time: 92 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $631,744,560)

17.   Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Release Date: November 7^th 2008, Budget: $150 Million, Running Time: 89 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $602,308,178)

18.   Monsters vs. Aliens (Release Date: March 27^th 2009, Budget: $175 Million, Running Time: 94 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $381,509,870)

19.   How to Train Your Dragon (Release Date: March 26^th 2010, Budget: $165 Million, Running Time: 98 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $494,878,759)

20.   Shrek Forever After (Release Date: May 21^st 2010, Budget: $165 Million, Running Time: 93 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $752,600,867)

21.   Megamind (Release Date: November 5^th 2010, Budget: $130 Million, Running Time: 98 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $321,885,765)

22.   Kung Fu Panda 2 (Release Date: May 26^th 2011, Budget: $150 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $665,692,281)

23.   Puss in Boots (Release Date: October 28^th 2011, Budget: $130 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $554,709,226)

24.   Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (Release Date: June 8^th 2012, Budget: $145 Million, Running Time: 93 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $746,921,274)

25.   Rise of the Guardians (Release Date: November 21^st 2012, Budget: $145 Million, Running Time: 97 Million, Box Office Gross: $303,712,758)

26.   The Croods (Release Date: March 22^nd 2013, Budget: $135 Million, Running Time: 98 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $587,204,668)

27.   Turbo (Release Date: July 17^th 2013, Budget: $135 Million, Running Time: 96 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $281,886,271)

(All figures right as of December 2013)

 

Sony Pictures Animation is an American animated film company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company was founded in May 2002 and works closely with Sony Pictures Imageworks (which handles digital production) and Columbia Pictures (which distribute the theatrical releases of the films).

The studios first feature film was Open Season which was released in 2006. The success of the film spawned two direct-to-video sequels (Open Season 2 and Open Season 3). As of December 2013, they have released nine feature films and two direct-to-video releases.

Sony Pictures Animation has many films in development including The Smurfs 3, Hotel Transylvania 2 and Popeye which are all due for release in 2015. The company also has two untitled projects with one due for release in 2016 and the other in 2017. The company also is developing films including RollerCoaster Tycoon, Chickenhare and The Familiars.

List of Sony Pictures Animation feature films:

1.       Open Season (Release Date: September 29^th 2006, Budget: $85 Million, Running Time: 86 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $197,309,027)

2.       Surf’s Up (Release Date: June 8^th 2007, Budget: $100 Million, Running Time: 85 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $149,044,513)

3.       Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Release Date: September 18^th 2009, Budget: $100 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $243,006,126)

4.       The Smurfs (Release Date: July 29^th 2011, Budget: $110 Million, Running Time: 103 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $563,749,323)

5.       Arthur Christmas (Release Date: November 11^th 2011 (UK), Budget: $100 Million, Running Time: 97 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $147,419,472)

6.       The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (Release Date:  28^th March 2012 (UK), Budget: $55 Million, Running Time: 88 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $123,054,041)

7.       Hotel Transylvania (Release Date: September 28^th 2012, Budget: $85 Million, Running Time: 92 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $358,357,603)

8.       The Smurfs 2 (Release Date: July 31^st 2013, Budget: $105 Million, Running Time: 105 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $346,994,164)

9.       Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Release Date: September 27^th 2013, Budget: $78 Million, Running Time: 95 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $213,390,183)

(All of these figures are correct as of December 2013)

 

Blue Sky Studios is an animation company that was founded in February 1987 and was an independent company until 1997 when 20^th Century Fox brought the company and has owned it ever since. The company was first hired to work on the 1987 Walt Disney production, Tron.

The studio was founded by Chris Wedge, Carl Ludwig, Dr. Eugene Troubetzkoy, Alison Brown, David Brown and Micahel Ferraro who all worked on Tron. The company then focused on making TV commercials and visual effects for films. One of their most well known pieces was the intro to Nickelodeon block called ‘Nicktoons’.

Once 20^th Century Fox owned the company the studio focused more on making animated feature-films and have since release eight feature films that have all been financial successes. Their first release was Ice Age back in 2002 and that film has since spawned three sequels and many spin-offs and animated shorts.

List of Blue Sky Studios Films (as of December 2013)

1.       Ice Age (Released: March 15^th 2002, Budget: $59 Million, Running Time: 81 Minutes, Box Office Gross - $383,257,136)

2.       Robots (March 11^th 2005, Budget: $75 Million, Running Time: 90 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $260,718,330)

3.       Ice Age: The Meltdown (Release Date: March 31^st 2006, Budget: $80 Million, Running Time: 91 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $655,388,158)

4.       Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who (Release Date: March 14^th 2008, Budget: $85 Million, Running Time: 86 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $297,138,014)

5.       Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Release Date: July 1^st 2009, Budget: $90 Million, Running Time: 94 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $886,686,817)

6.       Rio (Release Date: April 15^th 2011, Budget: $90 Million, Running Time: 96 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $484,635,760)

7.       Ice Age: Continental Drift (Release Date: June 27^th 2012 (Europe), Budget: $95 Million, Running Time: 88 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $877,244,782)

8.       Epic (Release Date: May 24^th 2013, Budget: $100 Million, Running Time: 102 Minutes, Box Office Gross: $263,918,682)

(All figures right as of December 2013)

 

Aaardman Studios is a British studio that is based in Bristol, England. The studio are known for using stop-motion and Claymation techniques, especially with plasticine characters such as Wallace and Gromit.

Peter Lord and David Sproxton founded Aardman in 1972. The project was a low budget project that they created to try and realize their dream of producing an animation motion picture. After this they produced animation shorts on BBC called Vision on which was for deaf people.

After this they created a segment called ‘Greeblies’ which they used Claymation which then inspired the creation of Morph, another clay character. After this they worked on Animated Conversations, an adult animation which used real life conversations as the dialogue.

After creating more shorts, Nick Park created Creature Comforts, an animation short and became the first Aardman production to win an Academy Award. Nick Park then helped create the clay characters for Wallace and Gromit. These films include A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995) with the latter two winning Academy Awards.

Aaradman then went into partnership with Dreamworks to make five films over the next 12 years. The deal was worth $250 Million. The first film they co-financed was ‘Chicken Run’. This was Aardman’s first feature film. They then worked on Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wear Rabbit which won and Academy Award. The next year the third film they produced together was called Flushed Away. This was also Aardman’s first computer animation. It also marked the end of the partnership and the last film they produced together after creative differences.

Since then Aardman have worked with Sony Pictures Entertainment, who co-produce, finance and distribute their films. The first feature film they produced together was Arthur Christmas, which was released in 2011 was critically acclaimed and was a moderate success. The following year they released The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, just like Arthur Christmas was a moderate success and got good reviews from critics.

Aadrman have also created animation shows such as Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention, Shaun the Sheep, Chop Socky Chooks and Canimals.

 

 Hanna-Barbera Productions Inc. was an American studio that was best known for nearly four decades in the mid-to-late 20^th century. The company was formed in 1957 by MGM animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (Creators of Tom and Jerry) and live-action director George Sidney in partnership with Screen Gems television division.

Many of their famous franchises include: The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo and The Smurfs and many others. Those shows earned the company eight Emmys, a Golden Globe Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The company also received many other awards over the years.
During the 80’s the company’s success and fortunes began to be less profitable because of Saturday morning cartoons being eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication. In 1991, the company was purchased by Turner Broadcasting System, who used most of its catalogue to program its new channel, Cartoon Network. After this both Hanna and Barbera went into semi-retirement but continued to serve as mentors and creative consultants.

In the mid 90’s, Hanna-Barbera began producing original programming for Cartoon Network, which included Cartoon Cartoons shows. In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner and the studio became subsidiary of Warner Bros. Animation. In 2001, Barbera died and the company was absorbed into its parent but Warner Bros. Animation continued to work with Hanna’s death in 2006.

Selection of well-known Hanna-Barbera shows:

1.       Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
2.       Yogi Bear
3.       Top Cat
4.       The Jetsons
5.       Wacky Races
6.       Captain Caveman
7.       Hong Kong Phoey
8.       The Smurfs
9.       Dasterdly and Muttley
10.   The Tom and Jerry Show
 

By Josh Jermy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds of Film

Sound of Film

Diegesis – This type of sound is what the actors are saying e.g. dialogue. Other examples of diegetic sounds are sounds made by objects in the film, music presented by instruments in the story space and other sounds that have originated from the source within the films world.

Non-Diegesis – Non-Diegesis sound is the type of sound that isn’t visible and hasn’t been implied to be present in the action. Examples of this include narration, sound effects that are added for dramatic effect and music that matches the mood.

Ambient – Ambient sound means the sounds in the background which are present in a scene or location. Ambient sounds include providing audio continuity between shots, preventing an unnatural silence when no other sound is present and establishing or reinforcing the mood.

Additional Dialogue Recording – Additional Dialogue (ADR) also known as dubbing or re-recording and this happens when dialog that cannot be salvaged from production tracks that have to be re-recorded in a process called looping or ADR. Actors re-record dialogue after watching the image repeatedly while listening to the original production track on headphones as a guide.

Foley – The Foley artist creates sound effects on a Foley Stage, which is a simple production room in which everything is a prop, including the floor, which can provide different kinds of footfalls. As the film is shown and goes on the Foley artist or artists create sounds that match the sounds the filmmakers want for the image projected.

 

By Josh Jermy

Editing: History and Information

History of Editing

Before the widespread use of non-linear editing systems, the initial editing of films was done with a positive copy of the film negative called the cutting copy in the UK and known as a film workprint in other regions. This was done by cutting and pasting together pieces of film, using a splicer and threading the film on a machine with a viewer such a Moviola or Steenbeck (a ‘flatbed’ machine). In today’s world films most films are edited digitally on systems such as Final Cut Pro or Avid. Editing digitally bypasses the cutting copy altogether. Using the cutting copy (not the original negative) allows the editor to do as much experimenting as he/she wish without risk of damaging the original.

Filmmaker Edwin Stanton Porter was hired by Edison (the company who invented a motion camera and projector) in 1899 and was put in charge of his New York motion picture studio. Porter is generally thought of as the first filmmaker who experimented with editing.  Porter then worked on many minor films before making Life of an American Fireman in 1903. The film was a breakthrough as it had a plot, action and a close-up of a hand pulling a fire alarm. He took inspiration from George Melies in his early films.

Porter then continued to experiment with different cinematic techniques in his films. The Great Train Robbery was ground-breaking and is still shown in schools today as an example of early editing form in film. It was produced in 1903 and was one of the very first examples of dynamic, action editing that pieced together scenes that were shot at different times. This was done to get an emotional impact that is unavailable in a static long shot. Porter was the director, editor and engineer of the film and became one of the first hyphenates.

Porter then went onto discover aspects of language in motion picture. Through this he discovered that the image on screen doesn’t need to show a person from head to toe and that splicing together two shots creates in the viewer’s mind a contextual relationship. This was an important discovery that made non-live narrative motion pictures and television possible due to shots being able to be photographed at widely different locations at different times and then combined into a whole narrative.

Around 1918, Russian director Lev Kuleshov did an experiment that proved this point. He took an old clip of a Russian actor and intercut the shot with a shot of a bowl of soup, then a child playing with a bear and then grief when looking at a dead woman in a casket. The piece was praised and said that the acting was good unbeknown that it was shot years earlier. This is when the time of the Kuleshov experiment came along.

When it comes to editing there are three different cuts (the editors cut, directors cut and final cut). The editors cut is the first pass and is quite often longer than the final film. The process can go on for months or more than a year depending on the film. The director’s cut is edited once principle photography has finished and the director can collaborate with the editors and further refine the cut of the film. The final cut is supervised by the producers and have the film edited to the film studios request. There have been many conflicts between directors and film studios on how the final cut of the film should look. The final cut of a film is sometimes edited to get the film within the requirements to get it to a lower or higher film certificate which can effects box office gross.

By Josh Jermy

Film Review - Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia!

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Writers: Catherine Johnson

Producers: Judy Cramer and Gary Goetzman

Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard, Dominic Cooper and Christine Baranski

Music: Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and ABBA

Film Studios: Universal Pictures and Playtone

Release Date: June 30^th 2008 (UK)

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Budget: $52 Million

Synopsis:  The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular ‘70’s group ABBA.

Review: This musical tribute to the highly successful band ‘ABBA’ isn’t one I remember for good reason.

The film starts with a cliché I don’t who my father is and doesn’t get much better from there (sad times). This brings Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard into the film and to be honest anyone couldof played those roles and it still wouldn’t of improved the movie.

Now more on the cast, firstly to Pierce Brosnan who is one of big problems of the movie, he sounds like a drunk Irishman on a night out with friends when he sings as his singing voice is not great to say the least. Now to Julie Walters who throughout the movie just seems to be drunk and does random acts including crying and singing on the roof of a cottage (not a good site). Amanda Seyfried does her best and actually does quite well in her role but this does not save the movie (not by a long shot). Meryl Streep isn’t at her best in this movie, while the rest of the cast is forgettable.

One of the highlights of the film is how it was shot with some nice shots and some good scenery that makes the movie look nice.

Now to the songs and the singing, to be honest I think ABBA were thinking ‘what have we done?’ because most of the cast can’t sing properly and just seemed like they were on karaoke after a few to many drinks (alcoholic drinks that is).

The script is pretty cliché and doesn’t have much memorable about it other than some badly sung songs and some random acts with people crying and dancing.

Overall this is not a good movie, regardless of the all-star cast and being very successful, by the end of the movie I was laughing at how bad the movie really was. I recommend to not watching this movie unless you can deal with two hours of drunken karaoke.

 

Rating: *

Formats in Film and Television

Single Drama – This is based in television and is quite rare in this day and age and is designed as a ‘one-off’ story. Single Dramas are mostly based on typical issues, which the producers think is better suited for television than for cinema.

Formats in Film and Television

 

Serial – This format is used for a TV Series that will use the same characters (sometimes the same locations) regularly but each episode is not complete within itself and storylines will continue through to each episode. This is to encourage the audience to watch the next episode and find out what happens. Some Serials can carry many storylines (some up to four or five).

 

Procedural Drama – Procedural Dramas are a series which each episode its own storyline and which will rarely carry over to the next episode. Procedural Dramas are very popular all over the world. Shows such as Castle, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Bones and Hawaii Five-O. Most Procedural Dramas are based around law enforcement agencies, court or law.

 

Series of Films – A Film Series is a collection of related films that succeed each other. Some Film Series are multi-film work. Individual sequels are common but not always successful enough to spawn more sequels. Well known Film Series include Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones and Transformers.

Narrative of World War Z

The film starts with Gerry Lane (Former UN Employee), his wife and his two daughters having breakfast before heading out into heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is attacked by zombies. As the chaos begins and spreads, Gerry and his family seek refuge in a department, home to a couple with a young son. An UN Deputy Secretary General sends a helicopter that extracts the Lanes and the couple’s young son to US Navy vessel in the Atlantic.

A doctor sites that the plague is a virus and if they can find the origin they may be able to develop a vaccine. Gerry reluctantly agrees to help and find the sources outbreak but only if his family will be not be removed from the ship which the UN reluctantly agree to.

Gerry and his team fly to Camp Humphreys which is a military base in South Korea where they are attacked by zombies which results in some casualties. Turning to re-enter the plane, the doctor falls and accidentally shoots himself resulting in his death. Gerry and the rest of the team are then rescued by the bases surviving personnel.

They then travel to Jerusalem and meet a Mossad chief and explains earlier that the Indian Military had been fighting ‘dead spirits’ and therefore build a huge wall around the city. As Gerry is told this, loud celebratory music is sung by the refugees and prompts the zombies to scale an attack and climb the walls. As all this happens, Gerry is escorted to the plane by some soldiers. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring an emaciated little boy. Soon after a soldier is bitten on the hand which Gerry amputates to stop her turning. Gerry and the soldier escape on a commercial airline plane.

Gerry contacts the UN where the plan is diverted to a WHO facility just outside Cardiff, Wales. On the plane a stowaway zombie attacks mid-air and Gerry uses a grenade to blow the infected out of the aircraft, which also courses the airplane to crash. Gerry and the soldier are the only survivors. Gerry awakens three days later in the WHO facility and explains to the staff a theory he has, that zombies don’t bite or attack people who are seriously injured or terminally ill because they won’t be suitable hosts. The facility is then overrun by zombies but Gerry gets to the pathogen vault where he infects himself with unknown bacteria and tests the theory by opening the vault, which is a success.

Gerry then escapes to and goes to reunite with his family in a safe zone at Freeport, Nova Scotia. A ‘vaccine’ derived of the pathogens is created and is issued to troops battling the infected, which acts as a camouflage. The vaccine also helps survivors to reach quarantine zones. Human forces start to offense against zombies and hope is restored. Gerry then comments on how this isn’t the end.

The Amazing Spider-Man Narrative

The film starts and Peter Parker is a socially awkward teen in high school that has a crush on Gwen Stacy and is bullied by Flash Thompson. He lives with his Aunt (May) and Uncle (Ben) after his parents disappearance many years before.

After a day at school, he comes back home and finds his dads research that reveals he worked at Oscorp with fellow scientist Doctor Curt Connors. Peter manages to sneak into a lab at Oscorp where ‘biocable’ is under development from genetically modified spiders. After sneaking inside Peter is bitten by one of the spiders. On the subway ride home, Peter discovers he has spider-like abilities.

After studying his father’s papers and research he goes to visit Doctor Connors and gives to him the missing piece in Doctor Connors experiments. Doctor Connors then invites Peter to work with him on the experiments on regenerating limbs. After working on the experiments with Doctor Connors at his lab he forgets to pick up his aunt. When he gets home he has an argument with his uncle and storms out.

At a nearby deli, Peter is two cents short and can’t afford milk. As Peter is about to leave, a thief comes into the store and steals the money from the teal which Peter keenly observes. While searching for Peter, Ben tries to stop the thief but is shot in the process. Peter then finds Ben bleeding and dying from the gun shot.

After Uncle Ben’s death, Peter starts using his new abilities to track down criminals matching the killer’s description. After falling through the rough of an old abandoned gym, Peter notices a luchador poster which inspires Peter to don a mask and spandex costume to hide his identity.

Peter is then invited to a dinner from Gwen and meets her father Captain George Stacy and have a conversation about Spider-Man (Peter’s alter-ego). After the dinner Peter reveals to Gwen that he is Spider-Man and they share a kiss.

After successful trials on regenerating limbs on a mouse, Connors tests the experiment on himself after pressure from his superior Doctor Ratha. Doctor Connors then goes to stop Doctor Ratha using the experiments on hospital patients but on his way his skin starts to turn green and scaly and starts to become the ‘Lizard’. Peter Parker as Spider-Man intercepts him at the bridge and snatches all of the falling cars with his web lines.

Peter then unsuccessfully confronts the Lizard who he suspects is Doctor Connors. During the confrontation Doctor Connors/Lizard finds out Spider-Man’s identity and goes to his high school where they fight before Lizard escapes. Following this the police start a manhunt on both Spider-Man and Lizard.

The police then corner Spider-Man where Captain Stacy finds out that Peter is Spider-Man. Lizard plans to make all humans a lizard like creature by releasing a chemical cloud from Oscorp Tower. Spider-Man eventually releases an antidote through the cloud and saves the city but not before Lizard mortally wounds Captain Stacy. Before his death, Captain Stacy makes Peter vow to keep Gwen safe which Peter initially does but later suggests to Gwen at school he may see her after all.