The other Multiplane Camera we sadly don’t talk about much anymore
I’ve talked about how Disney invented the multiplane camera to create the illusion of depth in his 2D animated films. But I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the OTHER multiplane camera that was developed around the same time! That would be Fleischer Studio’s “setback tabletop” process.
First used in 1934, this was an ingeniously simple way to have true 3D effects in a 2D animated film. Instead of filming down through flat panes of glass like Disney’s setup, Fleischer’s setup would be vertical. Animations cels were sandwiched between panes of glass in front of a miniature set that could be rotated and moved behind it frame by frame.
This resulted in some truly amazing scenes where characters looked and felt like they were walking through real 3D environments… because essentially they were! All of the backgrounds were hand crafted miniature sets and you could light them just like you would a real set and get all of the benefits of shadows and ambient light reflections.
Unfortunately it also included a lot of the same drawbacks. Lighting the miniature sets in a way that didn’t produce glare on the cels was challenging, as was keeping the lighting consistent across lengthy and multiple days of shooting. Additionally some of the details would be lost to depth of field focus issues.
There was also an inconsistent use of this technique. Some of the shots used in Fleischer films seem to use the Setback Process haphazardly and at random. They seemed to prioritize using it when it would look impressive rather than when it would be narratively important. As such they probably spent a lot of time and money creating sets and scenes that were mundane or could’ve been achieved in 2D, rather than focusing that energy on the moments where it would make more sense to use the technology.
Still, when used appropriately the atmosphere these scenes could create was impressive for the time. Popeye’s Sinbad the Sailor cartoon from 1937 is a particularly lavish production with quite a few shots that showcased the technology at its best.
Incidentally, If you’ve ever played the video game Cuphead then you likely be able to spot some homages to the setback tabletop process as the developers faithfully recreated it and used it in multiple stages. The rotating background scene in Pyramid Peril is a good example.
I will just never not be amazed by the many systems and process that animators created to get around the technical limitations of their time.
