GIF PIE!
Making Time: 90 minutes
Age Group: 10 - 120
Project Designer: Mitchell Dose
You will learn how to make a PHENAKISTISCOPE out of some simple materials.
A…. what?
A Phenakistiscope: the earliest known version of a ‘motion picture’ and a precursor to modern film and animation. It’s an analog version of the animation we now call a GIF!
Project
Overview:
In a Phenakistiscope, each drawn Frame of an Animation is a
SLICE of a PIE.
Project
Overview: continued
Yours will have 8 Frames, er…
Pie Slices
The disc is spun in front of a mirror while looking through the back via little slits. As the disc spins, the strobing of the image through the slits tricks your eyes into seeing continuous motion of the images drawn.
Is this your first time Animating?
No Problem!
We’ll go over a few shortcuts to drawing an animation for the first time and creating a character that looks ‘alive’.
Prepare
Your Workspace:
Set up your work space.
Clear a surface on a table top where you can work.
Make sure you have some scrap material covering your surface to keep it clean (magazines, newspaper, cardboard, plastic trash bag...)
Make sure to ask other people who are using the space if it’s OK for you to set up there!
Gather Supplies:
LET’S GET STARTED!
Step 1:
Using the Plate as a Template, Trace out a Circle to the one side of a piece of paper.
Cut the Circle out.
Do not throw out the paper from around your circle (you will use it later).
Step 2:
Now we’ll find the Center of the Circle.
Draw 2 straight lines across the sides of your circle. Use the ruler to find the Halfway point of each line.
Draw perpendicular (90 degree) lines from each Halfway point.
(see next slide for clarity on how to do this)
CENTER!
Let’s show it again on Paper.
Use the Paper cut-off from the circle as a 90 degree Guide; it already has a square corner!
YOU’VE GOT CENTER!
CENTER
SQUARE CORNER
A.
B.
C.
Step 3:
Now we’ll make a template to draw the slices of the Pie on the Circle. Each ‘slice’ is a Frame of the animation.
A.
B.
Use the Pie Slice Template to trace 8 equal slices around the center.
Save the Pie Slice template! You will need it later.
NICE WORK! WE HAVE A PIE.
NOW YOU WILL FOCUS ON THE ANIMATION!
The Animation will need a CHARACTER designed by You!
Your character will have two things a SHAPE and an ACTION.
Examples:
A bird...
A balloon...
A hand holding a flashlight…..
2) The ACTION - is a mark that shows how your character moves through each frame - making it seem more ‘alive’.
Examples:
A bird that flies while leaving a visible wind-trail.
A balloon floating away with a wavy string.
A hand holding a flashlight with a tail that wriggles.
Let’s Focus on your Character SHAPE Template.
KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!
You can hand-draw the Shape of your Character if you choose!
Or, you can trace it!:
Use your phone to do an Image search for your Character. Place a piece of scrap paper over the screen and trace it lightly with a pencil (don’t damage your phone!) After tracing, pencil it in darker on a hard surface.
Step 4:
*Make sure the Character SHAPE fits inside of a single Frame (‘Slice’ of the Pie), and that there is some space for it to move around.
Step 5:
We’ll be Tracing the Shape onto each of the 8 Frames (Pie Slices).
Notice that the Shape can start to repeat and move off the edges of the circle in a spiral (9 - 12)!
1
2
3
4
5
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10
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Place the Pie Circle over your SHAPE template.
Position the SHAPE so it just starts to ‘appear’ in one Slice.
With a Pencil, Trace the part of the SHAPE that appears in the Slice.
*If you can’t see your template through the Paper, make it darker with a Pencil or Marker
Continue to Position and Trace the SHAPE Template for each additional Pie Slice.
As a rule of Thumb, move the SHAPE about a Thumbs width out toward the edge of the circle.
Try to keep your SHAPE centered within each Pie slice.
Thumb-
width
Thumb-
width
Continue to Position and Trace the Template for each additional Frame until the SHAPE reaches the edge of the Circle.
GOOD JOB!
ITS OKAY TO FEEL WOBBLY ABOUT DRAWING!
REMEMBER!
EMBRACE YOUR DRAWING STYLE! IT IS YOUR OWN.
Next, let’s focus on the ACTION of your character.
Your SHAPE was drawn moving from the Center Point of the Pie Slice outward toward the edge of the Circle.
The ACTION will follow a curved Line that starts at the center of your pie slice and ends at the edge of the circle.
In this example, the Tail of the Hand will wriggle along this LINE.
For each frame, the tail will be re-drawn to follow the curve the Line.
We’ll need the Pie Slice Template again.
Draw your ACTION as a LINE, going from the Point of the Template outward. Make the line dark enough so you can trace it through another layer of paper.
Line up the ACTION Line of the Template underneath the Paper for each Pie Slice. Lightly trace the line onto each of the 8 Frames.
Step 6:
Now, draw in the ACTION using the Line as a guide for each pie slice.
In this example, the tail is centered over the ACTION Line. The tail changes a little bit from pie slice to. pie slice
It’s up to you how the ACTION changes with each frame!
Keep going with the ACTION for each frame!
Notice! The ACTION (in this case the tail) might go on for a few frames after the SHAPE has already ‘left’ the circle of the Pie.
NICE WORK!
THAT WAS THE HARDEST PART!
Step 7:
Now we’ll INK the Animation.
Use a fine marker to draw over the pencil lines for the SHAPE and ACTION.
Step 8:
Cut out a small rectangle from a piece of the Cardstock.
Use the piece as a template to trace the SLITS on all the Pie Slice lines.
Step 9:
Spread glue all over the back of the fully drawn Pie.
Glue it down to the Cardstock.
Step 10:
Cut the Circle out of the cardstock
Then cut the SLITS with the Scissors.
Step 11:
Use markers to add some Color to your Animation!
Adding some Bold colors to the different parts of your Character makes the Animation easier to see when in Motion.
Step 12:
Use the Thumb-tack to attach the CENTER of the Pie to the rubber Eraser of the Pencil.
The tack should stick in enough to let the Pie circle spin freely.
Thumb-Tack
Pencil
Stand in front of a mirror. With the GIF PIE facing towards the mirror, give it a Counter-Clockwise spin while looking through the SLITS. Focus on the Animated Image… it’s moving!
Give it a Whirl!
We’ve gone over ONE WAY to animate movement using a Phenakistiscope.
Want More?
There are other animation styles and projects that you can make at home!
- by Rimstar
Another cool
Circular anima-
tion technique
- by Andymation
This tutorial shows a number of helpful techniques for hand-drawing and helping an image look ‘alive’.
PLEASE SHARE WHAT YOU MADE:
#beamanywhere