Universal Filmlexikon (1933)

furchtbar komplizierte Angelegenheit, aber bei näherem Zusehen ist es nur halb so schlimm. Der Tisch besteht aus einer Aufnahmcphittc. Auf dieser Aufiiahmeplatte wird nun eine von den 13 000 Zelhiloidfolien, die von einem Stab von Zeichnern an Lichttischen sozusagen am laufenden Band gearbeitet sind, nacli (h'r anderen aufgenommen. Zu diesem Zweck hängt senkrecht über dem Aufnahmetisch die Aufnahmekamera, die 13 000 Einzelaufnahmen zu nuH'hen hat. Dann wird der Zelluloidstreifen aus der KanuMa herausgenommen und entwickelt und dann kommt noch einmal eine der schwierigsten Arbeiten: Bildstreifen und Tonstreifen müssen zusannnengeschnitten werden. Ton und Zeichnung müssen miteinander korrespondieren — auch im Trickfilm darf die Maus, oder der Zwerg oder der Kater, nicht erst den Mund. bzw. (bis Schnäuzchen öffnen. während das Pfeifen, Schreien, Miauen erst ein paar Sekunden später hörbar wird, l n<l dami. wenn man ghtubl, aUes getan zu haben, was zu tun war. läßt man Bildülm und Tonfilm zusammen laufen — nun muß sich herausstellen, ob das Sorgenkind — und jeder Trickfilm ist von Anfang bis zu Ende ein Sorgenkind! — geraten ist oder nicht, und ob es den Zweck erfüllen wird, für den es geschaffen wurde. Diese letztere Frage allerdings entscheiden nicht die Schöpfer des Trickfilms, sondern das große Publikum. 13 000 Zeichnungen. 13 000 Aufnahmen, eine unendliche Kette von Beratungen, von Arbeit, von Sorgen und Mühen, um acht kurze Minuten zu unterhalten! Nein — der Trickfilm, ist keine Sache, die man aus dem Aermel schütteln kann . . . 800 FEET OF ANIMATED CARTOONS BY GEORG PAL 800 feet of animated cartoons — what ist that as compared with the big films of several thousand feet! A bare eight minutes of entertainment. relaxation, or puzzlement. Yet those eight minutes cost more in labour, trouble and energy than most people realize, which is my excuse for the following brief description of animated cartoon production. Düring the silent era the animated cartoon was regarded as the younger, though nevertheless important brother of the silent film, and grew up wüth the latter. Then came the talking film, and it was at first thought that the day of the animated cartoon was over beyond recall. But the ver\' opposite proved to be the case, for the addition of sound opened up vast new possiItilities to the animated cartoon. In animated Cartoons the sound composers imagination is no less unrestricted than that of the cartoonist. That was how the little menagerie of film animals who had until then amused the public mutely suddenly began, very impressively and convincingly, to crow, hark and meow. It is not my purpose here to chronicle how long and how intensely artists, musicians, author«, sound imitators. gagmen, etc. had to woriy their heads before the first animated cartoon was ready for exhibition. No doubt a description of the process itself will be of greater interest. The first Step is to agree on a draft plot, the outline of the "'action*', for even an eight minute film must have a complete plot. Once this draft has been prepaied. artist and composer put their heads together and work out a detailed scenario. extending to every individual picture, as well as to every beat of the music and the noises. The noises and music are recorded on the basis of this scenario, each beat being marked on the picture side of the film. These markings provide an accurate reading of the number of Cartoons i'equired for each movement, and it is now the artist's turn to su[)ply the drawings. Approximately three feet of film take 52 individual pictui'es, so that an eight hundred foot aniniated film contains 13,000 separate drawings, none of which must be identical with any other — 13,000 little problems in order to entertain the public for eight minutes! 13,000 movement-phases must be drawn before filming can be started. The filming is effected at the so-called "trick" desk. At a first glance such a desk appears frightfully complicated, but a closer inspection will show that it is not so bad as all that. The most essentiai pan of the desk is the filming board. The 13,000 celluloid leaflets, which are preparad in a practically continuous Strip by a staff of artists seated at small illuminated tables, areconducted on to theboard tobephotographed. The photographing is effected by means of a Camera suspended perpendicularly above the desk, which has to take 13,000 separate pictures. Next the celluloid strip -is taken out of the Camera and developed. Then one of the most difficult phases of the work, the Synchronisation of the picture and sound Strips, commences. Sound and drawings must correspond exactly, for in an animated cartoon the mouse, or the pigmy, or the tom-cat must not open their mouths xxxiir