P1. Rotoscoping

Definition:
Rotoscoping is a form of 3D animation which copies live action. This works by having a sequence of live action, and drawing over each frame to create an animated sequence.To create a rotoscope, you can either trace over the frames giving the film a traditional style, paint them on a arbitrarily, or use them to produce hold-out mattes for combining elements in a scene.

History:
The rotoscope technique was invented by Max Fleischer in 1915 who used it in his series 'Out of the Inkwell'. He then copyrighted it in 1917. His most known work for rotoscoping was his Betty Boop cartoons which he made in 1930, and Gulliver's Travels in 1939.
After this rotoscoping became more common, and was used in famous films such as Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and Warner Bros Looney Tunes. Rotoscoping continues to be used nowadays; an example of this is Scanner Darkly, directed by Richard Linklater and released in 2006.
Its also useful in VFX, as knowing how to rotoscope helps you take your visual effects to the next level, and can be used when creating visual effects.

Rotoscoping used in Scanner Darkly:
The reason Linklater may have chosen to rotoscope his film could have been to make it more unique/original. He could have also thought the different and wacky style would have suited the genre of his film, and contribute to it. Rotoscoping also makes it easier to add in visual effects and aviod special effects; for example, in the scene I watched Keanu Reeves cuts his finger, this blood could have easily been edited in post-production instead of using fake blood as a prop.The rotoscoping in this film also adds an eerie effect, an example of this is shown in the clip bellow, at 1:38 seconds; by them rotoscoping this shot they can then distort it slightly, again adding to the feel of the film.
By watching a few scenes in this film, I thought that the rotoscoping used was successful.The reason for this is because of the atmosphere it creates. I also think the way the characters have thicker black lines around them works well, as this way they are the main focus, and the background doesn't distract the audience. The actual rotoscoping itself was done successfully, as the characters move smoothly, as if it was the original footage.