August 21, 2003
by Philip Schweier

Backgrounds serve multiple tasks in animation. In storytelling terms, they provide a setting for characters, thereby enhancing the narrative as a whole. In addition, they provide an area of visual contrast for characters, and by manipulating the size of figures, one can add a depth of field.

While a challenging task, the opportunities for creativity are limitless. Undoubtedly, an important aspect to bear in mind when it comes to designing a background is the question of detail. Feature film animation typically uses greater detail, as certain settings will be used repeatedly throughout the movie. In short subject animation, it is often enough to simply convey the setting as a street, a home, an office, and one can get away with lesser detail.

Another aspect to bear in mind is "How appropriate to the subject matter is the background?" In other words, does one complement the other, and enhance the scene visually, or do they contrast in style. Animated cartoons based on fairy tales often used delicate watercolor techniques reminiscent of story books, while science fiction-oriented material often has a streamlined, futuristic design.

It is in the nature of backgrounds that they not dominate the visual field, unless they are to be the focus of the viewer. However, you may want the visual focus to be the background. It all depends on whether your intention is to portray two people against a beach sunset, or convey the beauty of the sunset, which incidentally happens to have two people on the beach.

A basic backdrop of color or texture can provide the necessary contrast for a character or prop. Any person with experience in graphics will tell you that cooler colors, such as shades of blue or purple, tend to recede visually, while warmer colors such red or yellow have an opposite effect. A brightly-colored character against a darker background naturally stands out, creating a visual punch. For example, an image of parrot flying against a blue sky has more visual impact than a blue dune buggy in a beach setting.

Another aspect of designing backgrounds lies in the rendering. Simple contour drawings combined with appropriate colors or textures will adequately convey an appropriate setting. For example, varying shades of green in organic shapes would suggest a forest setting.

Despite the visual effects certain colors may have on our perception, using an entire spectrum of color effectively is still possible. By muting colors, the background of an image can recede into a form of soft focus, much as it does in real life.

Also bear in mind the suitability of the background to the animated object or character. Does one complement the other, or do they fight for visual attention? Naturally, one would not want heavily textured backgrounds and figures in the same sequence, as they would visually clash, and may create difficulty in discerning figures from background. One of Disney's techniques in films of the 1950s and 1960s used backgrounds with a great deal of texture, offset by simplified character designs.

In this digital age, computer programs such as Photoshop can create simple backgrounds of texture or repetitive patterns, such as books in a library, or brickwork on a building. One can seamlessly blend or easily change such backgrounds during editing, and can greatly streamline what has traditionally been a labor-intensive process.

Even without the aid of a computer, one can produce effective backgrounds photographically. One method pioneered by the Fleischer brothers in the 1940s involved constructing miniature settings similar to those used in model railroads. These would then be placed on a large turntable that, when rotated by the animators, would create the illusion of passing scenery.

Obviously, a more realistic background may not work with a more cartoony figure. However, if the question is whether or not a rabbit belongs in an arctic setting, all I can say is that Warner Brothers has gotten a lot laughs out of sending Bugs Bunny to the North Pole.

Philip Schweier is an illustrator and a regular writer The Thought Bubble column published by The Comic Book Bin, Toon Doctor's sister Web site.

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