Animation Movies - Where To?

If we take a look at the recent releases, there is no major movie based on 2D animation. Is 2D animation worn out, or just not commercial enough? Even if those classic animations are always a pleasure to watch, you have to admit that the modern animation is more attractive. They are more real, and people seem to love that. If we take a look at the box office, we see 2 animation movies in top 10 (Shrek 2 and Finding Nemo) with 1,7 billion dollars revenue. That is amazing. And for both movies CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) was used.

So, why do studios use CGI, and why do we like it so much? I tend to say, that from the film fan’s point of view, it’s the story that makes the movie so attractive, because, anytime I would like to see a movie like Shrek, with real actors, scenes, and other real stuff. But it’s the story that does all the trick. From the creators’ point of view, it is cheaper. Because, with today’s special effects, anything is possible with real actors, and they can’t deny that. But, like I said, it’s cheaper than physical methods, such as constructing elaborate miniatures for effects shots or hiring a great deal of extras for crowd scenes, and because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using any other method. It can also allow a single artist to produce content without the use of actors or other contributors to the project.

The first studio to release a fully computer-generated feature film was Pixar, with their Toy Story. The movie was a major box office hit, generating $360,000,000. Pixar is also “responsible” with other successful animation movies, such as Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life or The Incredibles. The other real competitor for Pixar is DreamWorks SKG, with Shrek, Shrek 2(this is the animation that generated the largest income for an animation movie, over 880 million dollars), Antz or Chicken Run.

Now that I mentioned Chicken Run, this is a very interesting animation, because it’s not like the other. For this movie Claymation was used. What exactly is Claymation? Well, in clay animation, each object is sculpted in clay or a similarly pliable material such as plasticine, usually around an armature. As in other forms of object animation, the object is arranged on the set, a shot is taken and the object or character is then moved very slightly by hand. Another shot is taken and the object moved slightly again. To achieve the best results, a consistent shooting environment is needed to maintain the illusion of continuity. This means paying special attention to maintaining consistent lighting and object placement. Even if Chicken Run was not a huge hit, DreamWorks used Claymation again, for the remake of Wallace and Gromit.

So, no matter what techniques the creators use, it seems that the 2D animation days are gone and computer-animated movies become more real with every release, breaking revenue records.

Clay Animation

Clay animation is also known as Claymation and is in fact a registered trademark created by Will Vinton Studios to describe their clay animated movies. The term is now commonly used to refer to all stop motion animation, which is 3-D, as opposed to traditional animation, that is not.

Clay animation is growing in popularity around the world. Schools around the world are using clay animation movies to make teaching easier. Students are actively encouraged to use their artistic and creative talents, while using this technology to tell a story. Clay animation is appealing to a broad variety of learners. For instance, language skills are being taught using clay animation. Logical and mathematical skills are being taught using clay animation, involving digital photography and video editing technology.

Clay animation helps to make learning more fun. It encourages students to collaborate during a project. Not only youngsters, one would agree that anybody would have fun making characters move on a screen. Clay animation also works on the basic principle of persistence of vision. Persistence of vision creates an illusion of movement, whereby you feel that the objects are moving. You can easily create a simple clay animation with as little as two images using this principle. All you need is a PC with the requisite software to get started.

You can find vast amounts of information on clay animation from online resources. In fact, you can create your own clay animation by following the steps mentioned in most of these online resources. There are no limits to what your imagination can do with a little bit of knowledge on clay animation. Alternately you can also enroll yourself with institutions who can teach you clay animation professionally.

Basics of Desktop Wallpapers

What is not to like about desktop wallpapers? Besides the idea that it is absolutely free to download in your computer, the designs are truly captivating and beautiful. Desktop wallpapers are offered online via hundreds of sites. And to make it easier for people to choose their preference, they have been categorized for quicker searches and downloading.

Here is a list of the categories and what images are affixed in them.

1. 3D displays wonderful animations of things. Examples are 3D mushrooms, linux 3D wallpaper, 3D beautiful lion, gravity pull, fire escape, the edge of hell, and more.
2. Animals are images that provide a feeling of sweetness and warmth. Cuddly animals include sweet poodle dog, cute little puppies, one dog with two cats, and white dog playing with cat.
3. Anime is playing with ordinary images and putting together real and computer-generated artistry in one. Few examples are Naruto 24, Silent Hill Anime, and Night Eyes.
4. Bollywood features Indian actors and actresses sporting their hottest looks. They are Kareena Kapoor looking hot, Hrithik Roshan bollywood star, and Sexy Katrina Kaif.
5. Cars are a man's best friend. But even sporty girls love the elegant cars, too. Drool over Z Art Porsche Boxter, Techart Porsche, or Porsche 911 2007.
6. Cartoons are designed for both the kids and child-at-heart grownups. Cartoons showcase the fun images of Pink SpongeBob, Tweety, Spiderman, Pooh, Nemo, and the Care Bears.
7. Celebrities present a beautiful collection of photos from your favorite celebrities such as Beyonce, Angelina Jolie, Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria, Paris Hilton, and more hot celebs.
8. Christmas is an array of designs that reminds you of the season anytime of the year. Find Mickey Mouse in a Santa in Holidays wallpaper. Imagine yourself in the image of Santas Lap.
9. Computer shows mostly colorful renditions of the logos of Microsoft and Apple brands.
10. Fantasy is like the Anime category. Images are from toying of other images, resulting to a different creative design. Check out the beautiful sunset at Pastel Sunset. Other designs are Mercury Rising, Poseidon Cinema, Planetary Night, and Rainy Season.
11. Flowers extend fragrance in visual form. Love the White Flower, Red Tulips, Yellow Flower, and other stunning flowers in full bloom.
12. Games are definitely for certified gamers. List includes Mario, Tomb Raider Legend, and racing games.
13. Girls are photos of fashionably chic icons of the entertainment and sports industry. Some of them are the Sex in the City girls, Maria Sharapova, Zhang Ziyi, Spice Girls, and other top models.
14. Holidays are images of events of the heart such as Passing Love, Valentine's Party, or Scary Halloween Party, and just about any holiday celebrated in life.

There are still other interesting images and photos to suit your taste such as that from the Military, Motorcycles, Movies, Music, Nature, Places, Ships, Space, Sports, and Zodiac. Each category offers a certain kind of satisfaction upon successfully downloading them in your computer. But the thrill of finding the perfect desktop wallpaper definitely depends on you.

There Is Something Different About Clay Animation

When you consider all the many types of animation that are being used for advertising these days clay animation is the one that people seem to enjoy the most. It is the kind of creative stuff that people remember long after they have seen it. In the world of advertising where the general idea is to get people to remember the product you are advertising, clay animation can be a goldmine.

We all remember the California Raisins advertising campaign in the eighties where a lovable bunch of clay animated raisins danced their way into the hearts of Americans nationwide. The California raisin industry had been in a slump for some time until they decided to use clay animation with an aggressive advertising campaign that included a series of television commercials featuring a group of raisins dancing to the Marvin Gay hit I Heard it Through the Grapevine. These commercials just had a certain look to them that can only be classified as eye candy. The colorful, three dimensional clay figures and the way they moved on the television screen created a unique look that had people glued to their seats during these spots. They were an instant hit and they brought the California Raisin industry back in the money so to speak.

There have been a lot of technological advances made in the animation industry over the past few decades. Computers have made the process of creating animation much simpler these days. During the 20th Century all animation was done completely by hand, by human beings one frame at a time. Now there are computer programs that you can buy for about a hundred dollars that will literally animate for you. This has created a dramatic increase in people who are creating animation. This animation is showing up more and more these days in television commercials and promos.

While computer generated animation is showing up in television commercials and promos like never before, only a few clay animation spots are being seen. This is due mainly to the fact that clay animation is an extremely labor intensive form of animation. There is a huge amount of pre-production and production work involved with this type of project. There are many miniature sets and sculptures that must be made and every frame of animation must be planned out thoroughly before it is shot. Each figure must be manipulated into different positions and filmed one frame at a time using a hands on technique that involves moving the clay figures and replacing them with different ones. This effort creates the illusion that the sculptures are alive, and this is what gives it the unique attraction. These figures are three dimensional, made of clay and look as though they could almost exist in the real world.

With any advertising project that is undertaken more labor means higher production costs. With that in mind most advertisers opt for the cheaper and faster computer animation. The down side of these other types of animation that are fast and affordable is that repetition leads to a disinterested audience. This is the last thing any advertiser wants when they spend a bunch of time and money on a television commercial.

Clay animation may cost a little more to produce but the effect is well worth the money. Any product that is advertised with a commercial or promo of this type can often see great results from their efforts. In recent years Fox Sports used a clay animation promo campaign to advertise their NFL shows. They had Terry Bradshaw and the gang in clay running around doing crazy stuff and the results were magnificent. Today their NFL shows are some of the top rated sports shows on television.

There are many impressive computer programs available these days that will allow animators to produce top quality animation for television commercials and promos. But there is one inherent drawback to this wonderful technological revolution and that is the fact that animation created using these techniques all begins to blend together after a while. Too much of a good thing is never a good thing. Also, there are a lot of behind the scenes television shows these days that explain exactly how computer animation is produced and this can have a dulling affect when the viewer sees the animation later on. It is like someone is pulling back the curtain and exposing the mystery for all to understand. There is some loss of the suspension of disbelief from the viewers when they realize that computers are the wizards that produce the spectacular effects they see with most of the animation on television today.

When a clay animation promo or commercial comes along it usually captures the attention of television viewers. There is a certain mysterious attraction that keeps people watching whenever one comes on the screen. The California Raisins, Chicken Run, Wallace and Grommet and The Nightmare Before Christmas are all examples of eye candy clay animation that have garnered great critical and financial rewards. While these projects may have cost a little more than the average animation project to produce they proved to be well worth the effort. They are all animated classics that are household names.

The next time you see some clay animation on television record it and then play it back one frame at a time. As you are watching each frame you should realize that an actual human being had their hands on the figures moving them meticulously between each frame. There is a lot of effort involved in this process, and it really shows in the final product. Viewers take notice when they see it, and they remember it long afterwards. In the world of television advertising where most of the animation looks the same, clay animation is a breath of fresh air that stands out from the rest of them.

Japanese Animation Movies Are A Part Of Life That We All Should Enjoy Seeing

The world of animation has many different types of animated movies for you to watch. Some of these will be movies that are suitable for children. Others will be ones that adults can watch. You have yet more animated movies that can be watched by the entire family. It is into this category that you will find Japanese animation movies.

These many Japanese animation movies that you will see will provide you with all of the enjoyment that you want to see. As you watch these animated movies you will marvel at the different worlds that open to your senses.

Movies are a part of life that we all enjoy seeing. There are many different types of movies that you can see. The various Japanese animation movies will have all of the action and excitement that you are accustomed to. In addition to these scenes of action you can see humor and other emotions that will make you laugh, cry and feel triumphant as the movie progresses.

As with most of the animated movies that you will see today the Japanese animation movies are based on the desires that people have with regards to entertainment. This means that when you are watching some of these animation based movies you will be able to see exaggerated emotions being shown on the faces of the various characters.

You can also see a number of different vehicles and other non-human characters. These characters and objects will bring a contrast to the more human aspects of the Japanese animation movies. There is an interesting fact that you may like to know about the various animation movies that you sometimes see.

While there are many original idea Japanese animation movies some of these will be taken from the popular anime and Manga series. These movies can be entirely new stories or they can be an extension of the program series that is currently airing.

As with a number of movies and animated movies you can find your favorite Japanese animation movies being shown on the internet movie channels, DVD and video forms. There are other times when you can see previews for the newest Japanese animation movies on the preview section of animated cartoons.

Since there are many different tastes for animated movies you should understand that there are many different Japanese animation movies that people can see and enjoy. For movie lovers these Japanese animation movies can be the best way to spend their time. At the end of the movie you will feel as if you have returned from another world.

Animation Production in India - A Global Opportunity for Outsourcing

India's animation sector is witnessing a major boom. Overseas entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India. Other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games.

So what makes India a hub for animation? Why is the sector experiencing exponential growth? for this, we take a look at what makes India shine in the world of animation.

India has a vast base of English speaking workforce: Animation, which requires familiarity with the English language, benefits when the work is outsourced to India. A number of animation companies in the country are also creating skilled manpower for the animation market through various training programmes.

Presence of good studios: India has the second largest entertainment industry in the world, after Hollywood. Animation studios in the country provide a large supply of low-cost, high-quality software engineers. A number of Indian animation companies have set up hi-tech studios (equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software) to execute overseas projects.

Low cost of animation services: The main reason why foreign entertainment firms are flocking to India is the cost advantage the country offers. For instance, in the US, animators can cost about $125 an hour; in India, they cost $25 an hour. Toonz Animation offers animation at 25 per cent to 40 per cent lower rates than other Asian studios and much lower than those of American studios.

A new outsourcing fever has gripped India.

Global entertainment majors like Walt Disney, Imax, Warner Brothers and Sony are signing up huge contracts with Indian animation companies.

And cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Trivandrum have emerged as the country's major animation hubs.

The total cost for making a full-length animated film in America is estimated to be $100 million to $175 million. In India, it can be made for $15 million to $25 million.

Major US animation studios and producers are realizing this huge cost advantage that India offers.

"Due to changing viewing habits, channels or networks are being forced to bring down licence fees. As a result, the volume of work has been dropping.

In this situation, India's advantage of low production costs could be a boon to the domestic animation industry," said Margaret Dean, Sony Pictures' head of family entertainment group and a consultant to various animation studios in the US, during a recent India visit.

According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the total revenues of the animation production services sector in India were estimated by between $200 million and $300 million in 2004.

Nasscom estimates the animation sector grew at a rate of over 20 per cent last year. "Demand for animation production services from India is growing with the emergence of an organised animation production sector, with state-of -the-art of work required for international TV program production, at substantially lower costs," a Nasscom report said.

Last year, a Nasscom study on the animation industry showed that the global animation production market is set for major growth. The study, which is based on multiple statistical projections on the market, from segments such as industry sources, Pixel Inc and Arthur Andersen (Study on the Entertainment and Media sector) forecast that the global animation market would generate revenues worth $50-70 billion this year.

But which are the countries that India is competing with in getting animation outsourcing?

"Primarily, we are competing with China. But even here, our quality standards are much higher than Chinese studios"

And cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Trivandrum have emerged as the country's major animation hubs.

A slew of companies across these cities have dedicated themselves to the outsourced world of animation and special effects. These include Toonz Animation, Crest Communications, Maya Entertainment, VRS RED Entertainment, Silvertoon Studio, UTV Toons, Zee Institute of Creative Arts, 2NZ Studios, Pentamedia Graphics, Prasad Studios, Acropetal, JadooWorks, Color Chips and Heart Animation.

Experts say the future of animation in India is bright. "India has great stories, good cartoon characters from mythologies, good artists and technicians. Above all, we offer a competitive price, which nobody can match."

Finding Nemo: The History for Kids Parties

Finding Nemo was inspired by a combination of a trip to an aquarium, memories of growing up by the ocean, and the writer’s own experience of parenting challenges. Finding Nemo tells the story of life in the Great Barrier Reef, and how Marlin a widowed clownfish parent sees his son (Nemo), get scooped up by a diver that requires him to go searching for him. Marlin feels he has to go after Nemo, not only because he is the only remaining child Marlin has, because Marlin is a big overbearing. Marlin realizes that Nemo has a deformity, known in the film as the Lucky fin, and that others can be mean to Nemo because of it.

Nemo, because he wants to be accepted by his schoolmates, tends to rebel against his father’s wishes. It is during one of these rebellious moments that Nemo gets himself scooped up and the adventure of Finding Nemo has begun. Marlin teams up with Dory, the forgetful sidekick who helps Marlin accomplish the ultimate rescue of Nemo, but not until after both Nemo and Marlin have some pretty wild adventures. The storyline of Finding Nemo is good for children to view because it affirms the importance of listening to parents and authority figure. In addition, the studio made a concerted effort to keep the basics surrounding the ocean life and fish characteristics as close to realistic so as to make Finding Nemo a good learning experience for children to experience.

In 2003, when it was released Finding Nemo became a huge hit, grossing over three-quarters of a billion dollars. In addition, Finding Nemo won Oscars for the best animated film and had three additional Oscar nominations. The company that produced Finding Nemo, Pixar, sold the movie to Disney studios. There are many rumors that a sequel will eventually be released. Meanwhile, kids and parents today still can’t get enough of the cute little clownfish, making a Finding Nemo party an excellent choice.

9 - Movie Review

Shane Acker's new post-apocalyptic animated adventure 9 began its life as the young director's thesis project during his grad school days in UCLA's animation department.In that original incarnation, the film was an 11-minute silent short that plunged viewers into a desolate, destroyed world inhabited only by diminutive ragdolls loosely stitched together out of whatever odds and ends survived the

Animation Movie Clips

Movie clips containing animation, both solely and partly, can be classified as animated movie clips. In general, the best example of an animated clip would be a small cartoon film or a cartoon character in a normal clip.

Animated clips are used predominantly in advertisements. This is so because they are both different and eye-catching. However, movie clips from animated movies such as Shrek 2, Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2 were also released on the Internet as trailers.

An animated movie clip can be saved in all normal formats such as AVI and MOV, but the format SWF or shockwave flash is best suited for files containing animation. However, the drawback in using this format is that the user must have the shockwave flash runtime player installed.

Animation movie clips can be of two types: 2-dimensional (2-D) or 3-dimensional (3-D). A 2-dimensional animation clip is often created using traditional methods that involve drawing the characters on paper. Hundreds and thousands of individual frames are drawn and then transferred to clear plastic cells. These are then hand painted and filmed in sequence. On the other hand, a 3-dimensional animation clip is created mainly with the help of computers. The basic difference between the two, apart from the increased realism in 3-D, is that, in 3-D animations, the amount of time, labor and equipment required is far less.

Creation of animated movies has now become a large industry and provides immense employment opportunity to thousands of people. For those wanting to pursue creating animated movies as a career, courses in both 2-D and 3-D animations are taught in colleges across the United States. Learning basic animation can be exciting and a lot of fun. Just about anybody can create his own animated movie clips and release them on the Internet.

All About Walt Disney

Walt Disney was born December 5 1901, Chicago Illinois, USA.

Died December 15 1966, Los Angeles California, USA.
Walt Disney's Father was Elias Disney, his Mother was Flora Call Disney and his Wife was Lillian Disney.
Walt Disney was an American film producer, a director, a screen writer, a voice actor, an animator and a philanthropist.
The Walt Disney Company today, the company he co-founded, has annual revenues of an estimated US $30 billion, but how did that all happen? Well read on to find out a little more all about Walt Disney.
Born in Chicago, at age 5, Walt Disney moved to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. Here Disney loved to draw and play with his younger sister Ruth, in the pond, with the animals, in the trees.
In 1910 Walt Disney moved to Kansas City and began attending the Benton Grammar School. He graduated June 8 1911. In 1917 he began freshman year at McKinley High School, Chicago, Illinois and also enrolled in a night course at Chicago Art Institute.

At the age of 16 Walt Disney dropped out of school to join the Army but as he was too young he instead joined the Red Cross with a birth certificate forged by his mother (to make him 17 and not 16). He drove an ambulance in France covered in Disney characters.
In 1922 Walt started "Laugh-O-Grams", selling short animated films to local companies in Kansas. The company ended but Walt still had the work he had begun on The Alice Comedies.
In Los Angeles Walt Disney set up "Disney Brother's Studio". He hired Lillian Bounds to ink and paint celluloid and she later became his wife. They married July 15 1925.
Mickey Mouse was created in 1928, his birthday be November 18, the release date of Steamboat Willie. He was originally named "Mortimer" but later christened "Mickey Mouse" by Lillian Disney. Mickey changed to color in 1935 and soon gained supporting characters like Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. In 1932 Disney received a special Academy Award for Mickey Mouse's creation.
Walt Disney worked on Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs from 1934 until 1937. This was the first animated feature animation in English and also Technicolor. The premier was December 21 1937 with a standing ovation. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs became the most successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 which today would be $98. Walt Disney then completed Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi.

Walt Disney started to draw plans for Disneyland, California, USA in the last 1940s. It opened July 17 1955 and is still open today. It is now called Disneyland Park and has been since 1998.
In 1964, Mary Poppins, Walt Disney's most successful film of the 60s was released.
Walt Disney World Resort, Florida began construction in 1967 and opened in 1971.
Walt Disney sadly died of lung cancer, after years of chain smoking, in 1966. His brother, Roy O. Disney carried on with the Florida project but died in 1971, just months after it opened.
Today, the Walt Disney Company owns, among other assets, two water parks, eleven theme parks, five vacation resorts, thirty nine hotels, eight motion picture studios, six record labels, eleven cable television networks, and one terrestrial television network.

Banshee

The Banshee (pronounced /ˈbænʃiː/, BAN-shee), from the Irish bean sí ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh).

The aos sí (people of the mounds, people of peace) are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Some Theosophists and Celtic Christians have referred to the aos sí as "fallen angels". They are commonly referred to in English as "fairies", and the banshee can also be described as a "fairy woman".

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a "banshee" is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan. The hag may also appear as a washer-woman, or bean-nighe, and is seen washing the blood stained clothes or armour of those who are about to die.

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seer or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophets attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, the keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and on Rathlin Island as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl".

The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.

Banshee in Irish mythology

In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, [ˈkiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː], "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "keeners" and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.

In later versions the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing. When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy.[1] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a woman who died in childbirth.[2]

Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, and often having long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids - stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red or black with a grey cloak.

Banshees are common in Irish and Scottish folk stories such as those recorded by Irish-American writer Herminie T. Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland as fairies and leprechauns. Banshees continue to appear in modern fiction that deals with mythology, folklore or the supernatural.

There is a similar spirit in Welsh folklore, known as the Hag of the mist.[3]

Stock Animation

Stock animation is one of the more popular forms of animation. Anyone looking for help with a project that needs animation can use stock animation. Stock animation has grown in popularity due to the increasing reach of the Internet and television. Stock animation is used to entertain and present information in an interesting way, so as to sustain viewer interest. In fact, many a company owes its profile presentation to stock animation.

Animation projects are time consuming and require a lot of creative output. With this being the case, the use of stock animation helps reduce the time and aids in increasing creativity required for completing an animation project. Stock animation is often the start for a project, as far as an animator is considered. Stock animation also goes well with other creative elements. You can now make your own DVD using stock animation. One can use stock animation for backgrounds, making certain sequences more interesting to view.

Stock animation comes in different formats like animated gifs, flash animation, and composite animation. The gif format, also known as the graphics interchange format, is used for some Web page animation. They can be found in literally thousands of Web sites on the Internet. These animations are considered annoying by some. The next most common form of Web animation is Flash, which is perhaps the most versatile and widely used form of animation as far as the usage. Stock animation for Flash, though expensive, is time saving and makes for excellent creative output. Composite animations are created by combining different animations together to create a single finished animation. They are used in television to a great extent.

Although there are different formats of stock animation, one can choose the right one suitable for one's project. One can get extensive information on stock information and the different types of software used through online resources.