Editing Gertie the Dinosaur (section)

== Production ==
[[File:Winsor McCay (1914) Gertie the Dinosaur - Gertie carries MccCay in her mouth.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white drawing from an animated cartoon, with small crosses marked. A dinosaur lifts a man in its mouth.|McCay used [[Printing registration|registration marks]] in the corners of the drawings to reduce jittering.]]

''Gertie'' was McCay's first piece of animation with detailed backgrounds.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=168}} Main production began in mid-1913.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}} Working in his spare time,{{sfn|Heer|2006}} McCay drew thousands of frames of Gertie on {{convert|6+1/2|x|8+1/2|in|cm|adj=on}} sheets of [[rice paper]],{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}} a medium good for drawing as it did not absorb ink. Since it was translucent, it was also ideal for the laborious retracing of backgrounds,{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|p=29}} a job that fell to art student neighbor John A. Fitzsimmons.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}} The drawings themselves occupied a {{convert|6|x|8|in|cm|adj=on}} area of the paper,{{efn|This was in the 1:1.33 [[aspect ratio (image)|aspect ratio]] that was standard for film at the time.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|p=29}}}} marked with registration marks in the corners{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|p=29}} to reduce jittering of the images when filmed. They were photographed mounted on large pieces of stiff cardboard.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}}

McCay was concerned with accurate timing and motion; he timed his own breathing to determine the timing of Gertie's breathing, and included subtle details such as the ground sagging beneath Gertie's weight.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}} McCay consulted with New York museum staff to ensure the accuracy of Gertie's movements; the staff were unable to help him find out how an extinct animal would stand up from a lying position, so in a scene in which Gertie stood up, McCay had a flying lizard come on screen to draw away viewers' attention.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=171}} When the drawings were finished, they were photographed at [[Vitagraph Studios]] in early 1914.{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=110}}

[[File:Gertie stacks of drawings.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A black-and-white film still in the four corners. Three men in the center stand by a table on the right stacked with thousands of sheets of paper.|McCay's assistants preparing the thousands of drawings for the film, in a still from the film's introduction]]

McCay pioneered the "McCay Split System" of animation, in which major poses or positions were drawn first and the intervening frames drawn after. This relieved tedium and improved the timing of the film's actions.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=171}} McCay was open about the techniques that he developed, and refused to patent his system, reportedly saying: "Any idiot that wants to make a couple of thousand drawings for a hundred feet of film is welcome to join the club."{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=171, 261}} During production of ''Gertie'', he showed the details to a visitor who claimed to be writing an article about animation. The visitor was animator [[John Randolph Bray]],{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=171–172}} who sued McCay in 1914{{sfnm|1a1=Sito|1y=2006|1p=36 |2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=172}} after taking advantage of McCay's lapse to patent many of the techniques, including the use of [[Printing registration|registration marks]], tracing paper, and the [[Mutoscope]] action viewer, as well as the [[Traditional animation#Animation loops|cycling of drawings]] to create repetitive action.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=172}} The suit was unsuccessful, and there is evidence that McCay may have countersued—he received [[Royalties|royalty payments]] from Bray for licensing the techniques.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=174}}