#celluloid animation

[ferdifz]

The DEATH of Classic Anime (a Stevem video-essay, Jan. 2024)

[thebarroomortheboy]

SWINGING THE LAMBETH WALK (1940) | dir. Len Lye

[daiconarchives]

DAICON IV cels pictures

[knifeforsale]

HAMMER 5" FILLET KNIFE | LISTING

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

God I love being an animation nut it allows me to bring in who I call Louise and Jacques as they never had official names and explain they are the oldest animated characters still alive in the cartoon meets reality world.

They are from the 1870s. However, what throws people for a loop is the factor they are the only animated characters not to be animated on celluloid,

As they were animated via rubber strips instead, with cutouts in them illuminated by this old piece of technology known as a Magic Lantern you have enough of those in sequence with each other add in a background and you had animation

However with the invention of celluloid this was quickly phased out it's why they are the only two characters to have been made this way,

But the fact that I get people in disbelief saying there's no way all animation was on Celluloid and I get to sit there like a smug cat because nope theres 2 of em that were on Rubber.

I love Louise and Jacque, since they were made by a French man I pictured they live over in Paris and typically can be found around the Louve they're the old couple that have been through everything so they're just relaxing, the Goverment taking care of them as Cultural Heritage Toons since they hold the record of being the very first Toons to hop off the film reel.

[kernelongeforce]

I will animate it but idk when so have this quick travelling.

[rkzetto]

[4leafrovers-dump]

A Sonic celluloid I finished today, this is the second cel I’ve made but it’s been a while since the last one I made. The lining and coloring is super wonky and the ink I used wasn’t the best though I think it came out well.

[wellhealthhub]

What are your top ten favorite movies?

Cinematic Marvels: Igniting Your Dreams with the Top Ten Inspirational Movies Embark on a captivating journey through the realm of cinema’s most inspiring tales. Discover how these films transcend entertainment to become life-altering experiences. From the perseverance of “The Shawshank Redemption” to the magic of “The Green Mile,” learn how each story unlocks your inner champion. Unleash your…

[fruitsofhell]

My other fun addition to the Hbomberguy video stuff is not just that you need to start checking everyone's sources just to make sure you aren't being duped, but to not use them as a stand in for media consumption/experiences either. Like I'm not gonna lecture you on reading sources cause I am the first one to not and that's my laziness, but like sometimes more important than checking the original analysis of something is just to... see tge thing being analyzed yourself. That's not even about misinformation or lying, sometimes people's opinions just SUCK ASS.

Like there are youtube video essayists I overall kinda respect but they have dogshit opinions on things. I used to love Jack Saint's bad faith overly critical analyses of throwaway kids films, until I realized he also saw films that in my opinion had a lot of merit, and it turned me off from him. Big Joel is cool as hell, but anytime he gives his opinion on animation save like a few points, I completely glaze over and find him annoying. The other day I watched a video essay about the "Magical Negro" trope, and the first movie sourced interested me, so I watched it and I hardly understand why they put that in, it framed the movie as something it wasn't.

Just in general, it's good practice to make sure your opinions on media are your own and experience it yourself. MY biggest takeaway from the Hbomn video wasn't to throw rocks at Somerton or start obsessively fact-checking every essayist I watch, but to make sure I have a baseline of what they talking about myself and not letting anyone throw around media examples without reckless abandon. The Celluloid Closet and Tinkerbelles and Evil Queens is on my watxh/read list now, but the first thing I did from the words he stole from Celluoid Closet was watch Rebels Without A Cause out of curiosity of this gay subtext in a 50s blockbuster. And it was a super interesting experience that has given me my own unrelated opinions. Not to discount whatever important queer reading and historical importance the film has, but I'm happy I also have more than just that cause I Watched It Myself, not someone's specific and unavoidably biased reading of it.

The video isn't about cultivating suspicion but cultivating appreciation for the skills of analytical/informative/opinion writing. So even when people aren't being lying grifters, it's just good to be your own critic and media analyst. Maybe you'll even contribute to that world yourself, or maybe you'll keep all your cool opinions in your heart and die, who cares. The point is that unlike some people, your opinions and words are your own. It's a beautiful thing to have your own creative voice.

[le-poofe]

Fake screenshots are out, fake animation cells are in! One day I’ll make him move for real, but for now he can sit on a fake sheet of celluloid

[daiconarchives]

DAICON IV cels pictures

Happy new year everyone!

[knifeforsale]

CROC' SKIN CELLULOID POCKET KNIFE | LISTING

[racefortheironthrone]

Was the Comics Code as bad as the Hays Code?

That's a really good question!

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "as bad" - are we talking about the overall impact of the Code on American pop culture or are we talking about the actual content of the Code and what it banned and/or mandated in terms of artistic expression?

I've written a little bit about the Hays Code here, but my main focus was on subtextual judaism in Hollywood generally rather than what the Code was and what its impact on American cinema was.

So what did the Hays Code actually include?

One of the few positive things you can say about it is that the men who devised it were quite clear and forthright about what would and wouldn't be allowed, in comparison to the vagueness and inconsistency of the modern MPAA. So here's the list of what couldn't be shown:

Pointed profanity—by either title or lip—this includes the words God, Lord, Jesus, Christ (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd, and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled; (You'll notice that the Code is very much a snapshot of the transition from silent movies to "talkies," with the discussion of how profanity is spelled as well as produced via "lip.")

Any licentious or suggestive nudity—in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;

The illegal traffic in drugs;

Any inference of sex perversion; (i.e anything having to do with LGBT+ people and culture. For more on the impact of the Hays Code on the LGBT+ community, see the excellent documentary the Celluloid Closet.)

White slavery; (the 1920s version of sex trafficking, but with added racism!)

Miscegenation;

Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;

Scenes of actual childbirth—in fact or in silhouette;

Children's sex organs;

Ridicule of the clergy;

Willful offense to any nation, race or creed; and (this one was really honored in the breach more than the observance when it came to nations, races, and creeds of non-dominant groups in society.)

The following things could be shown, but "special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:"

The use of the Flag;

International Relations (avoid picturizing in an unfavorable light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry); (again, depended a lot on what country you're talking about.)

Arson;

The use of firearms;

Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, et cetera (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron); (I guess the idea was that the MPPDA believed very strongly in the idea that media could affect people's behavior through imitation, but the use of the word "moron" gives me eugenics vibes.)

Brutality and possible gruesomeness;

Technique of committing murder by whatever method;

Methods of smuggling;

Third-Degree methods; (i.e, torture)

Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime; Sympathy for criminals; (this was a big one; Hollywood had done very well from gangster films, so a lot of creators had to do some careful threading of the needle to keep the genre alive. One dodge that they came up with was that they would have a duplicate "final reel" in which the gangster would have their inevitable comeuppance, and then remove the final reel when the censors had left the theater. Very popular with white rural teens.) Attitude toward public characters and institutions; (again, Hollywood shifting from being anti- to pro-establishment.)

Sedition;

Apparent cruelty to children and animals;

Branding of people or animals;

The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;

Rape or attempted rape;

First-night scenes; (i.e, wedding nights)

Man and woman in bed together; (hence the eventual TV practice of showing married couples in separate beds in the 50s)

Deliberate seduction of girls;

The institution of marriage;

Surgical operations;

The use of drugs;

Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;

Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a "heavy".

So in general, we can say that the Hays Code was extremely sex-negative, very concerned about crime and anti-establishment thinking, sexist, racist, and homophobic, and in general afraid of offending anybody.

So what about the Comics Code Authority?

So this is what the Comics Code looked like in 1954:

Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.

Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.

Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.

No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.

All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.

Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.

Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.

Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.

Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.

Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.

Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.

Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.[16]

You'll notice the similarities when it comes to the Codes' attitude to sex, sexuality, crime, and symbols of authority - so to answer the first part of your question, I would say the CCA was pretty similar to the Hays Code (in part because Charles F. Murphy, who drew it up, was deeply unoriginal and basically cribbed off the Hays Code throughout).

However, there are also some significant areas of difference that have a lot to do with the unique circumstances of the 1950s moral panic over comics. See, in the 1950s, superhero comics were considered deeply uncool and old hat - they had been huge in the 40s during the war, but by the 50s the biggest genre in comics were horror, crime, and romance comics (with cowboy comics bringing up the rear). To quote myself from another post:

"This gave rise to a moral panic in the 1950s, although more accurately it was part of the larger moral panic over juvenile delinquency. The U.S Senate established a Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in 1953 to investigate the causes of juvenile delinquency and comics became a major target. While Wertham’s book is best known today for its assertions that Batman and Robin were teaching young boys to be gay and Wonder Woman was teaching young girls to be lesbians, the main focus of the Subcommittee [edit mine: and Wertham's academic work] was on horror and crime comics for their depiction of sex, violence, and “subversive” attitudes to law and order."

The CCA made it impossible to publish two of the most popular genres in the industry for a generation (the CCA relaxed its stance on horror stuff a bit in the 70s, which is why Marvel trend-chased werewolves and vampires the moment they could get away with it), which not only scrambled the medium (and potentially created space for the Silver Age of superhero comics to flourish) but drove the former titan EC Comics practically out of business. (Indeed, William Gaines of EC Comics believed that the CCA had been specifically worded to drive him out of business.)

So in some ways, the CCA was worse.

[dykerobinhood]

Can I get the lesbian/queer movie rec list again? I lost it when Tumblr decided to be a bunch of assholes and explode your account :(

awwww of course!!!!! it might be missing a couple because my memory isn't great, but here we go!

lesbian/sapphic films:

the handmaiden (2015)

the children's hour (1961) (tw for suicide and general angst)

yes or no (2010) (excellent thai film and my first real sapphic movie)

the girl king (2015)

bodies bodies bodies (2022)

all of the fear street movies

but i'm a cheerleader (1999) (you've probably already seen it but i would be remiss if i didn't include it)

titanic (1997)

the watermelon woman (1996)

portrait of a lady on fire (2019)

pariah (2011)

rafiki (2018)

disobedience (2017)

the color purple (1985) (i still haven't seen the new one, so stand by for an opinion on that)

bottoms (2023) (obviously)

the half of it (2020)

and that's all i specifically remember including in that list for now? if i remember more later, i'll be sure to add!

documentaries:

paris is burning (1990)

a secret love (2020)

howard (2018)

the celluloid closet (1995)

before stonewall (1984)

flee (2021) (an animated documentary)

i am not your negro (2016) (i got to see this one in theaters and it was beyond excellent)

i had to include some documentaries because i love them lmao

[bryce-bucher]

Been Learning to Paint Old Cel Animation Backgrounds

Lately, I've had the drive to learn and practice creating digital paintings that closely resemble the traditional background paintings found in older anime. As a first step, I decided to grab a Kingsfield 4 screenshot from @moonlightfaust and use it as a reference.

I honestly ended up kinda surprised at how good I think it turned out. I haven't really tried painting a background before, and I think this is a very good first step for where I wanna be.

How I do it

Firstly, I loaded up my reference on my second monitor and started painting away in clip studio paint. I sketched things out at first and then used the default gouache brush for the broad strokes. I made sure to use a nice variation of colors and values on the surfaces to give them texture. After that I blended stuff together using a custom blend brush I grabbed called "wet betty", and then I used the thin gouache brush to work on smaller details. I drew out the caustics and then painted some blue lighting on the walls on a layer set to additive (glow). Here are some wip photos showing all that off.

After creating the base drawing, I brought it into Affinity Photo and adjusted the brightness/contrast and added a softproof adjustment layer to make it look as though it was printed. I also used a white mask of the caustics in order to make those parts of the image transparent.

After that, I brought the image into blender in order to simulate the cel animation look.

I'm using a variation of @jam2go's under-lighting method here in order to get that nice, naturalish glow. I'm using a special compositing setup in order to simulate the little variations in light and lens artifacts you might get from capturing cels that gets processed onto the final render.

I've also given the image cel plane very subtle bumpiness in order to simulate real celluloid not being completely flat. (It's a little hard to see, but I just subdivided it and used a displacement modifier)

The light artifacts and the cell bumpiness are both animated, and I also added very subtle noise to the position of the cell to simulate how each frame in cel animation isn't placed in exactly the same spot. After rendering, it all comes together to simulate a cel animation look fairly nicely I think.

Anyway back 2 gamedev now