Reader Question What Is Pin Animation

James asks:

"This animation I saw once looked like it was drawn with black ink pens and it was kind of stark and weird and a little wobbly, but then when they pulled back they showed it was this thing that looked like a bunch of nails, and they moved all the nails and it made the picture. What is that? What is it called?"

This technique is known as pin animation, or pinscreen animation, and is the basis for those fun pin art toys that let you create an impression of your face...only on a much, much larger scale.