History of Animation

Thaumatrope Animation

The aim of today’s lesson was to expand our knowledge further in relation to the history of animation by creating our own thaumatrope.

Dr John. A. Paris 

The creation of the thaumatrope, whose coined name relates to “turning marvel” or “wonder turner”, was based on the ideas of astronomer Sir John Herchel, many years before the toy came into popularity. This simple device was in wide circulation by 1826, and has been suggested to have been known much earlier than this. Although its history is associated with Herchel, its popularity throughout the 19^th century has been attributed to a well-known London physicist, Dr. John A. Paris, who demonstrated this idea as persistence of vision to the Royal College of Physicians in 1824 (Herbert, no date). 

Thaumatropes were the first of many optical illusion toys, and simple devices that continued to provide animated entertainment until the development of modern cinemas (Aim centre for animation and interactive media, no date).  A thaumatrope can be described as a small disk, with an image drawn on each side of the disk that is attached to two pieces of string; when the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers, the motion causes the disk to rotate, first in one direction and then in the opposite. The faster the disk rotates, the greater the clarity of the illusion; the two images appear to blend into one, thus causing an optical illusion due to the persistence of vision (Historical Folk Toys, 1996). 

While the thaumatrope is not able to generate animated scenes; as mentioned above it heavily relies on the persistence of vision concept that other optical toys also use to create the illusion of motion. Persistence of vision is the phenomenon where an afterimage is thought to persist for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second on the retina after the image has gone and is believed to be the explanation for motion perception (Orem, 2011; Aim centre for animation and interactive media, no date). 

During our seminars today we were asked to create our own individual thaumatropes; I chose to create an image of an eye and a closed eye. Limited information was deliberately given in terms of how to create this animation; therefore plenty of research took place when making this animation.   

First, an accurate circle template was produced out of card using a compass; second the image in which the individual perceived to create the optical illusion was chosen (in my case the open/closed eye). Secondly, the centre point of the circle was measured in order to draw the images on the same place on each side of the disk; followed by the drawing, which appeared to be the most difficult part of the task for me! 

Finally, the holes were punched on the edges of the disk (far right and far left) in order for the string to be inserted into each hole. Once the string had been tied into each hole, both pieces of string were twisted between the fingertips to transform the two images into a single image.

Here is an example of the step-by-step process that took place when creating my animation:

STEP 1

STEP 2 

STEP 3 

STEP 4 

STEP 6 

STEP 5 

Following completion of the thaumatrope, myself along with many other peers carrying out this task found a few limitations in terms of the design. First it was identified that due to the holes on either side of the card not being measured accurately, when twisting the thaumatrope, it appeared to spin awkwardly and not as fast and freely as it should. Clearly if the holes are not positioned in line with each other, it effects the twisting motion and slows the process down.

Secondly, the drawings on either side of the card again need to be measured to precision; as demonstrated in the images above, the open eye was not drawn to the same dimensions as the closed eye, therefore the image became distorted. 

Despite these downfalls however, researching and creating a thaumatrope was an enjoyable task, and contributed to our understanding of the development of animations.


Reference List 

Aim centre for animation and interactive media (no date) Animation notes: a short history part 3 retrieved 11th November 2014 from http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_history_02.html

Herbert, S (no date) Retrieved 11th November 2014 from The Thaumatrope revisited. http://www.stephenherbert.co.uk/thaumatropeTEXT1.htm 

Historical Folk Toys (1996) Thaumatropes Retrieved 11th November 2014 from http://www.historicalfolktoys.com/catcont/2016.html

Orem, W (2011) Retrieved 11th November 2014 from Moment of Science. http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/thaumatrope/