Rotoscoping Special FX Research

Rotoscoping is mainly an animation technique used in film and TV. Rotoscoping is an technique in which animators  trace over original footage frame by frame for use. Furthermore using the Rotoscoping technique can create different moods and atmospheres within a video project. Rotoscoping is always used over the whole canvas to create the video moving effect throughout the canvas and all over it.

Example of Rotoscoping Moving Image

Rotoscoping is a classic Animation technique dating back to the early 20th Century. The technique was created by Max Flescher who used it in a majority of his animations and projects. Rotoscoping was first used in Max Flescher's series Out of the Inkwell in 1915. With his brother Dave Fleischer dressed in a clown outfit as the live film reference for the character Koko the Clown. Max Patented the method as his own in 1917. Fleischer used Rotoscoping in a large number of his later cartoons and animation projects most notable being the animation of Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (1939). Walt Disney went on to use Rotoscoping later on after it was founded, an example being in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. From Snow White onwards, the rotoscope was used mainly for studying human and animal motion rather than actual tracing.

A good example of a film that was based around using RotoScoping would be the 2006 film directed by Richard Linklater called A Scanner Darkly. Brief Plot, The US has lost the war on drugs. Substance D, a powerful drug causing bizarre hallucinations, has swept the country. In response, the government develops an invasive, high-tech surveillance system and a network of undercover informants.
The Film featured a running time of 100 minutes as a result of that the film took over 15 months to animate to rotoscope over a step by step process. The animation phase was a trying process for Linklater who said, "I know how to make a movie, but I don't really know how to handle the animation." He had gone the animation route because he felt that there was very little animation targeted for adults.

A Scanner Darkly Film Screenshot

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Scanner_Darkly_(film)