Pinscreen animation uses a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out of the screen by pressing an object. From the side, the screen is lit so the pinscast shadows. This method can create a wide range of different textures. In class, we had watched some pinscreen animations like “The Nose”(1963) and “A Night on Bald Mountain”. Although the story is kind of boring and creepy to me, I was very impressed by the sense of 3D in these films. It is no doubt that the artistry of the pinscreen animation is amazing. But you can also imagine that the making progress is tough and time consuming! It looks cool but also really hard to achieve. That’s why pinscreen animation is no longer a common way for animation in the industry. Maybe today we can use 3D printing to simplify the making progress, but there are so many digital methods which is a lot more convenient than making a pinscreen.
Hazel Wong
ANIM223 - HISTORY OF ANIMATION - FALL 2019 