The Animation Smears Book: Uncovering Film's Most Elusive Technique

by Christian Avender

Overview

Throughout cinema, there have been various techniques to depict motion, and one style in particular is the fascinating use of smears in animation. Incredibly popular and captivating to artists, these animation smears are frames that creatively replicate motion blur captured on film, which is the phenomena that we commonly observe in our everyday life.

The vast world of different techniques for smears is explored in this book, expanding way beyond their commonly believed starting point in the 1940s to their actual origins that date back to the beginning of art history with illustrations and prototypes that led to their usage in some of the earliest known theatrical animations.

The Animation Smears Book: Uncovering Film’s Most Elusive Technique is a comprehensive guide that provides extensive information on the stylistic and creative aspects of smears and their impact, on how they make use of the way we perceive motion. Additionally, this book also reveals the names of artists who helped develop smears and the original techniques that were used.

Thoroughly examined by a professional animator, the animation smear is highlighted as a versatile technique used in all forms of animation including 3D and stop‑motion. This book answers all of the questions that readers ever had about smears and brings clarity to this simple yet mysterious trick that has puzzled fans, scholars, and historians for centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032724348
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	12/30/2024
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Christian Avender is a Canadian industry animator with experience on shows from Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros. and more. Independently researched since 2011, the author provides a better understanding of a commonly overlooked art technique that is still being used in animation today. With years of animation history experience, university education and citing from actual different examples of smears, the author provides a comprehensive understanding of this art technique than ever detailed before in a publication. As an active member of the animation industry and productions, the book features collaborations with other artists and workers to help with the design and to showcase the versatility of animation smears in different settings. With over a dozen animation techniques, it provides as a valuable resource for art institutions as well as serve as a bigger picture alongside other instructional books in animation. The author shows how a larger understanding of action and motion blur in art has been sitting dormant for years, as it is revealed in this book which is the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to the underappreciated art of animation smears.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, 2. What Is an Animation Smear?, 3. Prelude: Portraying Motion in Art before Film, 4. Part One: The Introduction of Film, 5. Part Two: The Study of Movement, 6. Part Three: Influence and Application from Modern Art, 7. Part Four: The Digital Age, 8. Part Four Extended: 3D Animation Smears, 9. Certain Action Examples, 10. Master Animator Methods, 11. What Are NOT Smears, 12. Smears Outside of Animation, 13. Conclusion