As Old As Civilisation

Human characteristics, they say, is as old as humans themselves which also takes us to the days of civilisation. One peculiar character of Stone Age man was rock painting. Man’s love for art thus can be traced back to the days of early civilisation.

Over the years painting and sketching have developed by leaps and bounds and today there is animation. Hold on! Animation or the art of creating an illusion of motion by using sequential images is not a modern creation but it has its roots in human civilisation. One of the earliest animations was by Palaeolithic man who drew animals with multiple legs in a superimposed position to create the perception of motion. Similarly, a 5,000 year-old-earthen goblet found in Iran has five sequential images of a Persian desert goat jumping to eat the leaves of a tree.

Flip books can be used to animate images and a projection rate of 10 still images in one second can give the illusion of a motion. Back in the 19th century artists were experimenting with the theory of persistence of vision. Animation as we know it today developed vastly after the invention of mechanised projection of films and cinematograph.

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