Process&Production- A Brief History of Animation- Multiplane Camera

A Brief History of Animation- Multiplane Camera

This large machine is called a Multiplane Camera that works by slotting in art work on each layer and moving them so create small amounts of motion, this creates a 3 dimensional effect. The artwork has sections left transparent so other layers can be seen behind them, this is how background could always look like detailed paintings, whereas the moving designs can fit in but hold less detail so the process takes less time with just one background being painted.

This is the final outcome. This is 101 Dalmatians and is showing at least 3 layers of artwork within one piece. As you can see, the tree in the foreground is a lot more detailed and dark compared to the building yet fits in when the animation is moving as it just looks like there is lots of depth to the scene.

Here is what it looks like from the side when used in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

This is not used anymore for animation as layers can be quickly made on software and deleted, changed or moved whenever needed. This is why the process is still very hard to create animation but compared to when this machine used to be used, it is a whole lot quicker as no paint in needed and no glass panes or multiple sheets.