A flipbook is a special type of picture booklet, where each page contains a
similar image that gradually changes on every subsequent page. The person is
supposed to quickly flip through all the pages to blend the image on each page
into the next page’s image. It creates the illusion of animated characters or
objects in motion.
Flipbooks were one of the earliest forms of
animated imagery and motion picture technology ever in the world. Before there
were computers and television shows, people had to rely on flipbooks to see
moving images in action. Each flipbook page contains a picture of a person or
object in a slightly different position. Longer flipbooks have more drawn-out
action sequences compared to shorter flipbooks.
It is almost the same concept of how cartoons are
made. Illustrators design an image for each frame and then put all of the
frames together in sequence. Once the frames are played in subsequent order,
the illusion of animation is created. The only difference with physical
flipbooks is you must use your fingers to flip through the pages. Animators and
filmmakers use projection technology to make their illusions.
It takes a lot more work to convey a message or
story in a flipbook. Drawing the imagery on each page is time consuming
compared to writing the story in text format. However, the viewers will benefit
more because they don’t need to devote as much time to reading anything. They
can flip through the book within a few seconds to understand the basic message
of the story.
How to Hold a Flipbook
Speed is the key to making the illusion work
well. Some people are better at reading flipbooks than others. It requires you
to hold the flipbook properly, with one hand underneath the book and the other
hand flipping through the pages. On the flipping hand, your thumb and index
fingers do all the work. You use these two fingers to lift all the pages and
release them one at a time, but quickly.
Flipbooks don’t always read from the front to the
back. Sometimes you have to start on the back page and flip through to the
front page to get the entire animated image. It is easier to flip through the
pages when the books are smaller because your fingers have a better grip on the
pages. Bigger flipbooks with lots of pages will require you to use more than
two fingers.
Tushar Pillay (Author, Artist, World Record Holder and Engineer)
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