Bouncing ball (music)
The bouncing ball is a virtual device used in
The bouncing ball is mainly used for English language songs in video recordings, however, in Japan, a similar device is used where the text changes color as it is sung, just like in karaoke.
History
The bouncing ball technique was invented by
In early Song Car-Tunes such as "Margie" and Irving Berlin's "When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam'" the ball is animated, looking like a beach ball clumsily hitting the words without precise timing. This awkwardness was eliminated by filming the ball live over printed lyrics, and the ball attached to a black baton that "bounced" a white disc over the tops of the lyrics.[2] The movement was captured on high-contrast film that rendered the stick invisible.[3] The ball would usually appear as white-on-black, though sometimes the ball and lyrics would be superimposed over (darkened) still drawings or photographs or even live-action footage.
While the Screen Song series started out employing standard songs such as "
The Mills Brothers appeared in three Screen Songs: "I Ain't Got Nobody" (1932), "Dinah" (1933), and "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba" (1933). Lillian Roth appeared in "Down Among the Sugar Cane" (1932) and "Ain't She Sweet" (1933).
By 1935, the Screen Songs series capitalized on the new Swing Era and featured appearances by a number of the Big Band Orchestras. This series of films was more commercially oriented with the films being booked a week in advance of live appearances of each orchestra. From 1935 to 1938, the "Screen Songs" featured the orchestras of Abe Lyman, Richard Huber, Hal Kemp, Vincent Lopez, Joe Reichman, Dick Stable, Nat Brandwynne, Hal King, Shep Fields, Gus Arnheim, Jay Freeman, Jerry Baline, Bert Block, Frank Dailey, and Jimmy Dorsey. Although a popular attraction, the Screen Songs series was retired after nine years.[4]
The Screen Songs were revived in 1945 starting with "When G.I. Johnny Comes Home" and continued into the early 1950s using an animated ball with a bounce cycle rendered on Pan cells
References
- ^ Pointer 2016, p. 82
- ^ Pointer 2016, p. 68
- ^ Maltin 1980, p. 89
- ^ Pointer 2016, pp. 105–106
Bibliography
- Pointer, Ray (2016). The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer. ISBN 978-1-4766-6367-8.
- Maltin, Leonard (1980). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. ISBN 978-0-4522-5993-5.