The Efforts of Claymation

When was the last time you guys say claymation? Well I gave it a quick youtube search and it produced a whole assortment of videos, from amateur animators to a Wallace and Gromit ad. Like stop motion a lot goes into making a claymation and claymation characters feel and act as if they were real people. There're many different aspects that go into creating a claymation character, like the basic design and the execution of sculpting them. The precise motion that happens within each frame is both time consuming and necessary for the animator to get completely right. Below is both the amateur animation that I found (which is charming and short and kind of funny) as well as the Wallace and Gromit ad that aired sometime in the 2000’s.   For how time consuming claymation is, the efforts really do pay off in the end.

White Winter Hymnal, Beautiful Clay Animation

I stumbled across this animated music video a few years ago simply because I liked the song White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes, however I couldn't be happier that I did. Every time I hear the song I think about this "simple" and beautiful animation, directed by Sean Pecknold. It is a claymation that was carefully constructed with gorgeous textures in the materials and also fittingly uses and animates all organic materials. The palette of the film adds to the atmospheric feeling that the animation and diffused sense of lighting provide, only to be complimented by the music.

There are great moments that have stayed with me, like the animated snow melting into puddles of water with the play of light reflecting as clay flowers sprout from the ground (starts at 1:19). The video tells a simple story about time that is whimsical, beautiful, saddening, and overall very cinematic.