This article was published as an element of a short animation unit when I attended college. I wrote a number of articles like this one, and often to a far greater degree of detail, but my enthusiasm for writing in this respect was not encouraged by my tutors. Eventually I transferred to an A-level course, feeling that my skills there would be more apt and support my educational approach in a more suitable way. Although in my opinion my writing abilities have improved markedly since I wrote this piece, it's nice to look back and appreciate the research I undertook.
Aside from its nonsensical and surreal plot , Yellow submarine has been heralded as a keystone in the history of animation. It broke barriers through the generally expected forms of media, integrating multiple techniques including collage (both photographical, and film inserts throughout) and traditional frame-by-frame animation. The expressive art style amalgamated with the free flowing aesthetics of the psychedelic colour palate and organically flowing lines.
For many sequences, the art-style flourished and changed drastically, which can be attributed the large team of distinctive artists (over 200 individuals) who worked on it - A key scene, of course, being the ‘Lucy in the Sky’ sequence, which involved the use of rotoscope.
Rotoscope is a technique in which an animator will trace over each frame of live action footage using a translucent medium (like glass) resulting in realistic movement and shape.
However, unlike a simplistic form of rotoscope, the sequence involves bold painted planes of colour incongruently on each frame, with the colour palate of
each frame changing and flipping, thus exciting the visuals and stimulating the subject matter. A short shot of a woman on a horse becomes a vibrant flurry of bursting colour and energy.
This particular sequence was the brainchild of George Dunning, the main director of the whole film, of which he then presented to artist Bill Sewell. Sewell developed over half an hour of rotoscope images, which was then condensed into the sequence length of the film.
Rotoscope, however, isn’t a one off in Yellow Submarine. Its first and perhaps more emotionally charged use appears in Eleanor Rigby, only with a more uniform and muted ambience. The visuals are also more static, but will sometimes involve a small element of traditional
animation, painted over on a glass panel to be separate from the background. For example, in the depicted image of the man in a helmet, a tear falls from his eye and drops to the bottom of the goggles. Once the tear seeps through the goggle it drops from the bottom. The contrast between the static photos and the single tear brings to mind clear themes of isolation and melancholia- as the tear makes its way through the already rather bleak environment like a signifier of unease and hopelessness.
Additionally, many clips in the movie involve live action placed furtively within the 2d environment. This adds dimension to the world building – emphasising the psychedelic, conceptual and dreamlike atmosphere of Yellow submarine.
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