Underlighting-The Glow you saw in Animation before Digital

I've read this article on TV Tropes on this thing called UNDERLIGHTING.

What is underlighting?

It's a technique where you use a combination of Cut outs behind the background and color gels to produce that glow.

The technique however is not new.... sort of.

Underlighting has been around since Animation started to fully use 3-Strip Technicolor in the late 1930s but the technique really gained momentum in the 1980s.

Probably because it was a favorite of Don Bluth since he wanted more innovation in his films compared to what Disney was doing in the 70s and 80s that drove him to leave the MOUSE HOUSE in 1979 after his test pilot BANJO THE WOODPILE CAT proved he can do animation on his own.

Why was Underlighting utilized to produce that glow?

Because although you can do it via the acrylic paint method with just the Gels, the glow was not convincing enough to justify it's authenticity of the glow.

Then it was discover nearly a century ago that one could use a combination of an opaque backdrop with a specific shape cut to allow that glow to happen.

The results are absolutely stunning when used properly.

And things like the eyes of the Great Owl as seen above,

or the eyes of Nicodemus in THE SECRET OF NIHM

are not the only things to use underlighting.

It can also range from things to Magic...

to weaponry like the Lightsabers from STAR WARS

To light sources like this scene featuring Medusa's Swamp Mobile from Rescuers

To computer screens such as this from DOUG

and yes, even title sequences such as the uber famous burning title for 

JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING

This title was accomplished by using an animation cel with the title drawn into it,

a fish tank to get that blueish glow, and lighting a garbage bag on fire.

While underlighting still exists to this day, the physical method of doing so however has been supplanted with the computer.

Why?

Because with off-the-shelf software like Toon Boom, Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, etc, 

it's made much easier to achieve the same underlighting techniques with not only greater flexibility but also to achieve your own sense of light texture that could not be done on the older standard.

Especially with live action films like STAR WARS.

When the Prequels and Sequel Trilogy came around, computers took over lightsaber effects though they still use physical lightsaber props for tracking purposes

Though the prequel lightsaber props had their share of problems where the bending of the blades are just as bad as in the original trilogy lightsabers where the blade can snap off the hilt.

And 2D Animation has largely abandoned underlighting as whole due to the level of excruciating attention to detail required to make it work so modern works don't utilize underlighting anymore.....

well.... sort of.

The glow is still around but it's mostly limited to things like the EVAs in the rebuild movies.

But I think the most often I see the glow used in modern animation is with depiction of the sunlight or any light source thought that's mostly used in ANIME

Why is this technique still championed in ANIME?

Because the Japanese Animation Executives remain faithful to hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation, unlike the animation executives we have here in the USA and CANADA where they only allow ALL-CGI or puppet rigs in our animations.

As for if my own concept series MARYLANDIA will actually use the digital method of underlighting? Right now, that's not an easy thing for me to say but I will state that I did experiment with glow effects on PHOTOSHOP in the past.

Here are some examples:

Glow for the lights

Glow for the natural light shining through the trees

Glow for the sunset..

Pay no attention to Hayden's sullen look due to a lost Blue Shirt.

Glow for the Flashlight in the back.

However, just like with Disney's 1937 Multiplane Camera, I don't encourage the use of underlighting very often because I saw my old artwork and here's the issue:

Readability.

I want my characters to read very well on the screen but when you have a light source that becomes the spotlight, you lose focus with your animation characters.

For example:

There's this scene of Eliza right here but she's hard to read due to the heavy lighting I put here.

Compare that above to this one below:

This one has another OC Character called MARY.

I too used heavy lighting but I took liberties to make her read better due to using proper lighting and diffusion techniques.

So here's a challenge for all you wonderful REAL ARTISTS out there:

Try taking your characters and applying the similar underlighting techniques as I've shown and demonstrated on this blogpost.