Before computer software was an integral part of animation, much of the creation of animated content hinged on painstaking and thorough attention to detail and technical skill. To help save the time of animators in the past, they developed the technique of cut-out animation.
Cut-out animation follows the same principles of stop motion animation – only this time it relies heavily on the use of scissors. The technique involves the creation of cut-out shapes and moving them in small steps while photographing each development to simulate motion. During the early years of animation, this procedure saved more time than having to draw every single frame.
Like in today’s technology of motion capture, the early process of cut-out animation also involved a capture device. During those years, a cine camera which can capture single pictures was used. However, unlike the quick gratification of the digital era, the results of the cine camera had to be developed in a dark room.
However, change is inevitable and is often for the better. Computer technology has entered the fray of cut-out animation and improved its renditions. Nowadays, everyday people like you and me can create their own cut-out animation, using dedicated software. This can even be created using Flash through the procedures of motion tweens and symbols.
Even with this modern approach to cut-out animation, it is worthwhile to appreciate the importance of the technique during the early years of animation. One of the first animated feature films relied heavily on cut-out animation. These were created by Quirino Cristiani in Argentina. The style of cut-out animation has been used to portray flat characters, props and backgrounds.
Nowadays, most of the graphics and sequences created through cut-out animation have been built from scanned images or vector graphics – and no longer with physically cut images. The notable cartoon animation series which employs this new technique are South Park, Angela Anaconda, and Charlie and Lola. On the other hand, one of the well-known animators still using the traditional technique today is Yuriy Norshteyn.
• Here are some of the well-loved animated feature films of old which are considered as benchmarks of cut-out animation:
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reiniger (from 1926) was a silhouette animation using armatured cutouts and backgrounds which were variously painted or composed of blown sand and even soap.
• Thieves of Baghdad by Noburo Ofuji (from 1926) was also an early example of cut-out animation, by animating chiyogami (Japanese colored paper) cut-outs.
• No. 12, also known as Heaven and Earth Magic by Harry Everett Smith, completed in 1962, utilizes cut-out illustrations culled from 19th century catalogs.
• The Soviet films Lefty (1964) and Go There, Don’t Know Where (1966).
• René Laloux’s early films made use of armatured cutouts, while his first feature Fantastic Planet is a rare example of unarmatured cutout animation.
• The feature films of Karel Zeman (Czechoslovakia) combined cutout animation and landscapes with live actors.
• The opening sequence of L’Armata Brancaleone, a film by Italian director Mario Monicelli, features cutout animation.
• Twice Upon a Time (1983), an animated movie directed by John Korty and produced by George Lucas, uses a form of cutout animation, which the filmmakers called “Lumage,” that involved prefabricated cut-out plastic pieces that the animators moved on a light table.
Here is a sample video from South Park to demonstrate the look and feel of cut-out animation:
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