DisneyExaminer

  • Home
  • About
  • Movies
  • Disney+
  • Theme Parks
  • Products
  • Editorials
  • Disneyland Tickets

Take a closer look at the two-story camera Walt Disney invented for his animated films

  • by Jordan Poblete
  • in Other Disney
  • — 12 May, 2016

I’ve always appreciated Disney’s animated films. They were so entertaining for me and even my parent’s during our childhoods. Drawings coming to life to tell some heart-full stories were enough for me to appreciate the films. It wasn’t until I grew older that I found out why I should appreciate the films even more so.

Modern-day animation and animated full-length feature films began with Walt Disney, but as with anything that had a beginning with Walt, it had to be great. One thing he noticed about his animated films early on was that they were flat. They didn’t have any sense of depth to them and therefore would disturb the believability of them.

To fix that, he designed a great camera; Great in every sense of the word!

It was two stories tall and consisted of multiple layers, each one with a layer of animation painted onto glass plates that would then be operated by a team of people. Those people would then move those plates in very small incremental movements after having the cameraman on top operate the shutter to capturing scenes.

As Walt himself will describe in the rare video above, it was a tedious process that lasted months if not years to finish an animated film. It was all worth it to him though, all in an effort for us to believe in his stories.

That’s something we can appreciate very much.

Like what you see here on DisneyExaminer? Help support us grow and be rewarded with even more content and experiences by becoming a DisneyExaminer Patron!

print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Related

Share

— Jordan Poblete

DisneyExaminer Founder + Publisher. Walt inspired Disneyland, Disneyland inspired DisneyExaminer. Catch me at Disneyland. Reach me at jordan@disneyexaminer.com or on Twitter @jordiepoblete

You may also like...

  • Disney+ is not necessarily the place you’d find reality TV shows, but The Quest has challenged that by wrapping it into an epic story that shot like a movie. The creators of some of TV’s most popular reality shows including “The Amazing Race” and “Queer Eye” joined forces with the producers of “The Lord of the Rings” to create a cinematic competition show for TV featuring teenage contestants that all gets folded into a fantasy world filled with castles and sorcerers, and a mission to save it. We spoke with the show’s creators to learn more about this new type of television program and the challenges and wins in creating something unique for Disney+. — DE: This isn’t the first time that a show like The Quest was created. One was created for ABC back in 2014 that only lasted one season. What was different this time around? What makes fantasy stories like The Lord of The Rings perfect for episodic TV? Jane Flemming and Mark Ordesky (Court Five, “The Lord of the Rings”): “Disney+ wanted us to push the envelope for what an immersive adventure featuring real people could be – to create a new story-telling format for streaming. Not only did we avoid traditional reality tropes like confessionals, we deepened the narrative weaving through the Paladins’ (contestants) experience. Ultimately, as with the classic Hero’s Journey which features in the books and movies our contestants all love, their choices transform them and change the fate of Everealm. Generally speaking, fantasy stories match well with episodic TV, because every fantasy hero must face increasing challenges on their way to completing a seemingly unattainable goal.” DE: What challenges were there to create a reality competition show with scripted elements? What were the production challenges in shooting things cinematically? Elise Doganieri and Bertram Van Munster (New Media Collective, “The Amazing Race”): The challenge to create a reality game show with scripted elements was not that different from what we do in our other reality shows. We still had to come up with creative ideas that fit the concept of the show. This time it was very exciting for us to think about how we could integrate the tasks to fit the storyline, which was something new for us, that gave us something very specific to work from. In addition the challenges had to feel organic in the storyline, and we also had to integrate scripted characters. In the gem challenges the scripted character, for example, Mila would speak with the teens, and in a narrative form describe the challenge into the conversation. To round out the challenge a creature such as the Witch of Fortiteer or the Dragior would then be present the entire challenge and speak to the teens directly. This brought another dimension to the challenges and gave our teens the ability to converse with the creatures who would then improv, this is all very purposeful to create the immersive experience for the teens (Paladins). The production challenges to film the show cinematically were to give the Paladins the experience that they were going into the world of Everealm and that the cameras and crew became “invisible” to them. We had a low profile when filming all the reality. We also had to film the teens in the sequence of the real story, in real-time. In a film you would typically film scenes out of order. Here we had to film in real-time, so every day the story would move forward for the teens. This was an intricate and logistical puzzle that had to be set up well in advance. Each time we filmed with the teens we also did not stop down. We filmed continuously so we had to set up and be ready to film a complete scene from start to finish. The actors, who are extremely talented, had to be on-point every day. They not only had to know their lines, but they had to be ready to improvise when a Paladin asked a question. Our incredible camera crews also had to be ready to pivot and follow the action as the scene developed. To achieve the cinematic look and feel of the show, we used Sony Venice cameras with anamorphic Cooke s7 lenses. We also had additional cameras to set up specialty shots. And of course the lighting was very important to create the mood for each scene. DE: What was it like to capture the authentic moments that these teens were experiencing while competing on the show? Rob Eric and Michael Williams (Scout Productions Inc., Queer Eye on Netflix): Watching our contestants' reactions to the magical world we built for them was absolutely amazing. We literally watched them grow through this adventure, find their confidence, and work together to unfold and solve the mystery of this kingdom on the verge of being defeated by an evil force. Not to sound goofy, but it really was magical! DE: How can you identify those unique moments that happen and put them into a reality-based comeptiton show? When we first started putting this show together, we asked ourselves what our main goal was in creating this unique hybrid experience. The answer was simple: to give our contestants an authentic fantasy world experience that would shock and awe them. We aren’t just television producers, we ourselves are all huge fans of fantasy movies and books. We all, at one time or another, watched a magical movie or read a fantasy book and thought, “How cool would it be if I could be in this world? What would I do? Would I be a hero...a villain...etc." Bringing this world to life for our contestants was about capturing those moments from movies and books and having a real authentic reaction. We worked hard to build a world that had all the bells and whistles of a realistic fantasy world that we ourselves would love: creepy witches hiding in dark woods that could scare them, a castle that looked like it came out of a fairytale to set the tone, and immersive stories unfolding around them. It was a blast identifying these moments and giving our contestants the chance to both be the hero and compete in a reality game show. Disney+’s The Quest is what happens when you create a cinematic reality TV show 9 Jun, 2022
  • How “Myth” became a reality, Disney Animation’s next VR short that adds to “Frozen 2” story 13 Jan, 2020
  • How To Become An Imagineer. 6 Dec, 2013
  • Data and Disney: Personal privacy in Disney Parks 19 Aug, 2016
  • Previous story How to register to volunteer for runDisney (and score a free Disneyland ticket!)
  • Next story Disney Parks launches new web series to tell you about all things Disney Parks
  • Today is

  • Happening Now

    My Tweets
  • What’s Trending

    animation behind the scenes buena vista street business california adventure cars land christmas D23 expo DCA disney disney animation disney california adventure disney channel disney consumer products disneyexaminer disney interactive disneyland disneyland resort disney movie disney parks disney parks and resorts downtown disney exclusive food frozen FYI lucasfilm main street USA marvel marvel studios movie review new pixar review spoiler free star wars technology the force awakens walt disney walt disney animation studios walt disney company walt disney imagineering walt disney parks and resorts walt disney studios walt disney world
  • News Archive

  • Home
  • Other Disney
  • Take a closer look at the two-story camera Walt Disney invented for his animated films
  • Hiya, Pal

    DisneyExaminer is a premier independent online magazine that takes a closer look at all things Disney.

    Founded and lovingly made in Orange County, California.

  • Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

  • Search

  • Home
  • About
  • Movies
  • Disney+
  • Theme Parks
  • Products
  • Editorials
  • Disneyland Tickets

© 2008 - 2022 DisneyExaminer. All rights reserved.