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.

Anomalisa

Last weekend I attended a special screening of the film Anomalisa followed by a Q&A with the animation supervisor for the film, Dan Driscoll. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the film is an incredible and beatuiful stop motion animation that has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Anomalisa tells the story of a man who is stuck in a mundane world, only to fall in love with the only person who can bring color back into his life. The narrative reveals the mysterious and dark workings of the characters' worlds around them but the film ends ambiguously, leaving me wondering and with numerous unanswered questions.

While the story itself was unique, the animation was the highlight of the film and Driscoll shared many interesting aspects of the animation process. I was particularly intrigued by the careful attention payed to the movements and mannerism that would be executed for each physical action taken by the animated characters. Driscoll revealed the very slow process of shooting only a few frames per day, which only was possible after months of planning for each various individual scene. This attention to detail was evident in the animation, bringing the figures to life and adding a sense of humanness to the silicone "people" that one would never expect.

Drawn to Animation

I, like many, have grown up watching some form of animation, from classic Disney and Pixar films to Spongebob. I’ve always thought about the difference in production time between two-dimensional animation and stop motion animation. The two offer completely different feels, especially two dimensional because of the vast amount of artist styles that can be employed. Well I guess the same can be said about stop motion and and three dimensional and just about any type of animation. The fact that animation can range in not only content but style as well is very interesting to me and a reason I chose to at least learn a a little about it.  

I’ve always felt more connected to stop motion animation, only because my skills with a pen and pad aren’t as great as skills with a camera and figure. Growing up the animation in Henry Selick’s “Coraline” or Tim Burton and Michael McDowell’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas" has always mesmerized me and on many occasions I have thought about making them myself. (I’ve realized I might not have the patients for it, although now I’m in an animation course that will be equally time demanding.) Watching these films now I think about the movement and precision and the dedication each person these sets must have. Recently I watch the film, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s “Anomalisa" and was completely astounded. When I first viewed the trailer I was amazed to realize that it was stop motion animation and not a live action film. (The trailer also lead me to believe the film would be taking a completely different turn than it actually did, but that’s a topic for another time.) Clearly during the film you knew the character weren’t live action humans from the line that splits the face as well as the the way the characters walk. It was a stunning film as strange as it was.

All in all, even though I seem to be stuck on stop motion, I do enjoy many different animation styles and I am excited to be learning new skills throughout the next couple months that I will hopefully develop beyond this course. 

Here Goes Nothing

I do not intend on attempting this.

I don't know anything about animation, but I do know that I like it and I'm excited to learn about it. Movies, shorts, title sequences, whatever it is I'm always amazed at how animated pieces are put together. I enjoy watching animated movies and then going back and learning from the 'behind-the-scenes' videos or 'the making of' videos. I have no previous experience with this stuff except for maybe the drawing classes I took when I was 10 (does that count?). I started using photoshop over winter break to learn about masking, layering, and some other basic techniques, but After Effects is on a whole other level.

But that's okay. I went to Cinemapolis with some friends a few nights ago and saw Anomalisa--now that looked like it was very, very difficult to make. In other words, I'm thankful that a lot of stuff we're going to be doing will be on a computer with a least a few presets, and that we're not creating sculptures that have to be manipulated to create every single frame of a film.

I know that I need to work on my drawing skills this semester. Before I create good 3D animation, I have to be proficient in 2D animation, which means I have to get better at drawing. I plan on getting my colored pencils this weekend and then starting from there. Arturo showed my Fiction Field 2 class last semester a video where this comic book artist talks about drawing as a skill, not a talent: something that anyone, with enough practice, can get good at. Of course I can't find the video now, but maybe he'll show us in class next week. I'm not exactly sure what to look for as I collect source material for my name animation, but I presume I'll figure that out shortly. 

Stop-Motion Animation of ‘Anomalisa’

When I was looking at the animated films nominated for best animated feature films for the Oscars, this one movie really caught my eye. I thought it was really cool to have a stop-motion animated film in general, and on top of that one that is nominated for an Oscar. This film is called Anomalisa and answers the questions of "What is it to be human? What is it to ache?". I think it looks like a really good film and something I definitely want to check out. I also thought the stop-motion was amazing in the trailer, I really haven't seen stop-motion done quite that well before. The stop-motion looks similar to our own world, but still has some unique differences. It will be a film to watch out for when the Oscars come about.