Introduction

Animation

Animation comes in many shapes and forms. It is essentially the Illusion of movement by displaying varying images in a sequence. The frequency of the changes between images is called frame rate, or frame frequency and the higher the frame rate, the more fluid the movement.  
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The first silent films used only 14-24 frames per second, which made for some jerky movement. Today 24fps is the standard, however television usually has a higher frame rate - which varies around the world. Some notable television shows purposefully lower their frame rate for the look, such as Breaking Bad, The Game of Thrones ans 30 Rock. The Hobbit was filmed in 48fps, which both ads to realism (hence why the Avatar sequels will also be shot in 48fps) but was also critiqued for looking like a television show.  
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Different forms of animation:

+ Hand Drawn - traditional animation. Cel drawings, full animation (convincing movement), limited animated (less detailed, cartoony) and rotoscoping (tracing live action).  

+ Computer Generated - 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional

+ Stop Motion - puppet, clay, cut-out, model, object animation. 
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Disney's Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston of the famous 'nine old men' wrote a book called 'Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life'. This is considered to be the animation bible. The goal is to animate convincing realistic movement that breathes life into creatures and characters by giving the illusion that they adhere to the basic laws of physics.

These are the 12 Basic Principles of Animation

by Frank and Ollie

1. Squash and Stretch

(weight, flexibility.)

2. Anticipation

(viewer expectation or a sense of being one step ahead.)

3. Staging

(Clarity of what's important - obvious and clear intent of where an audiences attention should be.)

4. Straight Ahead Actions and Pose to Pose

(Drawing out a scene frame by frame until the end, and Key Framing.)

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

(A term of explain the natural movement of a body, how some parts will follow, drag, or catch up to others, and how timing of different movements is seperate, example: one does not uncross their legs and scratch their arm at exactly the same time.)

6. Slow in and Slow out

(Animation is more convincing and natural when more emphasis is put at the beginnig and at the end of a movement, hence either more frames are added, or more attention to the drawing is crucial at these parts.)

7. Arcs

(Natural movement tends to follow an arched trajectory, whether it be an arm movements of the throw of a ball.)

8. Secondary Action

(Reinforces a primary action - only if, however, it emphasizes the primary action. If it is distracting, then it should be left out.)

9. Timing

(Speed of animation due to frames per second.)

10. Exaggeration

(to avoid static animation but is still 'true to life'.)

11. Solid Drawing

(Volume, density, weight, three-dimensionality, lighting and shadow etc.)

12. Appeal

(Character charisma - interesting, engaging characters. Still very much applies to antagonists.)

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The Animation Podcast gives some very interesting interviews with famous animators at Disney Animation Studios as well as some other helpful information. 
Some Highlights:
+Principles of animation - what makes animation interesting and entertaining.

+Animation Timeline - an interactive look into the history of animation - warning, many links are old and don't work, but the info's there any how.
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+ Walt, Bambi and the Multiplane Camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHTlUGN1zw









+ Watch Glen Keane draw out a scene, using traditional cel animation. Showing the importance of the unexpected, and treatment of weight and movement even on a very basic level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHbA6lG79Eo