Stop Motion Animation

After doing a stop motion video for my final project, I have found a whole new appreciation for it. My 1 minute and a half took forever, and to imagine even making an entire movie is just unfathomable. These are just some of the great stop-motion films that have been made, and now watching them I can't even imagine the process and patients that went into making them. With that being said though I really enjoyed making my stop motion video, the end result being able to make anything come to life, to be animated, is such an interesting concept and I am so happy I got to mess around with it. Seriously though next time you watch an animation like this, I hope you realize just how much blood sweat and tears went into because it's quite the process.

Can't stop Stop-motion

After seeing such a wondrous stop-motion film like Anomalisa a few weeks ago it got me thinking about some of the other stop-motion and claymation films I know and love.  I grew up with Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, all of which are definitely geared towards kids, and even as a young adult I still find so much charm in the style of animation (even though I would never have the patience for it). Some of the stuff I've seen in recent years is absolutely wonderful.  My favorites include Wallace and Gromit's the Wrong Trousers, Community's Christmas special called Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas, and Coraline, Corpse Bride, and Nightmare Before Christmas.  (Why is that creepy directors decide to do stop-motion animated pieces?) That thought right there made me want to venture onto the other side (for some unknown reason) and see just how creepy stop-motion can be. One of the films that Mike suggested I see was called The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, something that I can't entirely process even after seeing it.  I'm not sure what to think of it...  But I'll let you form an opinion on it by posting it here, the video upload option wasn't working.


What was intriguing about this film was that it was made by using a combination of model stop motion, and a technique called pixilation, which is essentially animating the human actors frame by frame.  At first when I saw that option I wondered why they didn't just shoot the humans in full video and just drop every x number of frames, but after thinking about it the pixilation technique would allow the humans to appear consistent with the animation style of the models.

Stop-Motion: Then and Now

Stop-motion is a creative form of film making where several pictures are put together to simulate one fluid motion, similar to regular filmmaking, except stop motion usually uses inanimate objects that must be moved by hand for every single frame. Stop-motion is appreciated simply for the immense amount of time it takes to create. In the height of production for the feature film Chicken Run, it took 1 week to put together just a minute and a half of footage. The entire production took over three years.

Today I'd like to to share two stop-motion videos, one very old and one very new. The new one, made in 2012, is called Proteigon. It combines the use of stop-motion and After Effects to create a very visually stimulating piece. Not to mention the song is awesome and fits perfectly. 

Okay, so pretty cool right? Now watch this video. This one was created in 1930. It may seem pretty corny and poorly made at first... but keep in mind this is 1930 and the just the idea of stop-motion is mind-blowing to a lot of people. They also did not have After Effects or any other fancy programs to touch up their work. Just raw pictures being taped together. The most impressive part starts at 1:45 if you want to skip ahead.

It blows my mind that they were able to do this in 1930. Even though the new one looks cooler and is (in my opinion) more entertaining, the older one is by far more impressive. Because stop-motion is so much more work then regular film making, it's seen as novelty content. If you want to dress to impress, go stop-motion. 

Changes in Claymation

I assume that pretty much everyone grew up with the animations of Wallace and Gromit, but it could just be me. Whether or not this is true however, the style of Aardman animation and claymation has some how found a way into each of our lives, whether it be Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, or Flushed Away. Some of the Aardman group have even worked on animations used for Pee Wee's Playhouse and most famously crossed over with DreamWorks.

Chicken Run

Wallace and Gromit

Flushed Away

I bring Aardman Animation Studios up because they have created a new stop-motion feature called The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Now, Aardman studios is known for their use of stop-motion clay animation, but they still incorporate CG additions. Flushed Away was Aardman's first completely computer-animated movie, yet the designers maintained the look of the classic stop-motion clay animation. The video below shows the process of stop-motion that Aardman uses for such films like Wallace and Gromit and now The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

In a few different interviews with Peter Lord and Peter Baynham (Director of The Pirates! and the co-writer of Arthur Christmas, another mainly CGI feature), they discuss the plots and animation techniques used to create the two movies. In addition, this article from Online Animation Magazine previews both movies.

I find it very interesting how an animation studio incorporates traditional animation techniques, like stop motion, along with computer generated animation in order to reach their end goal. Using both techniques they can incorporate the best of both animation worlds. Plus, in an age where most all of the younger audience is used to computer animation I find it quite endearing that the directors are making a movie that will attract the older audience nostalgic for stop-motion.