A B I C Y C L E W H E E L L I E S H O R I Z O N TA L O N T H E G R O U N D , B E I N G SPUN WITH FINGERS AND THUMB . AROUND ITS HUB AND RIM ARE
DANCING
WAV E S
MADE
LOOPS, OF
TINY
PAPER
CYCLING AND
FIGURES
WIRE
AND
AND
BREAKING
PLASTIC
AND
A L L S E E M I N G LY P O S S E S S E D B Y M A G I C . T H I S I S . . .
A friend of Boneshaker recently sent us a link to a video of it in action, and we just had to find out more. Turns out the cunning bike wheel animation machine is the brainchild of Tim Wheatley, a first year student in Digital Animation at University College in Falmouth, UK. We got in touch and he told us his story.
camera that films at a slow speed (12 frames/second) to record it, and spin the wheel at such a speed that every 12th of a second, (every time the camera records a new frame), the wheel has moved on by one image. This creates an illusion of animation happening on the bike wheel, but it can only be seen through the video camera.
“My most recent project was a brief set by a tutor to create a short piece of experimental animation using a new technique that didn’t rely on computers. I had been looking at the work of various artists and animators and decided to take inspiration from one of my favourites, Jim Le Fevre, who creates zoetropes using record players. At first I wanted to do the same, but couldn’t find a record player – so I started searching for something else I could get to spin at a steady rate.
This first film (watch it at the link below) has just been an experiment to see what I can do with this bike wheel. I’m now working on a few other projects with the technique – the main focus is a longer film to enter into the animation and film festival circuit. I’m also attempting to attach a camera to my fully working bike so it will film my wheel as I cycle, as a joint project with sound artist and musician Lee Chapman. Lee’s creating a soundtrack for the piece and is using his bike to record sounds and make music. The project is well underway and should hopefully be complete before the end of the year.”
I have always cycled and always liked the idea of fixing up old bikes, so I’ve had an old bike sitting in the garden with broken gears and a rusty chain that I’ve never got round to doing anything with, so immediately it seemed the perfect solution. I detached both the wheels and started experimenting with bits of plasticine and cardboard to create my own zoetrope. The Cyclotrope has a cycle of 18 images spread evenly around the wheel, split up by the 18 spokes. I use a video
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LINKS http://vimeo.com/21016797 thecyclotrope.blogspot.com www.timwheatley.co.uk www.leechapman.net