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.

Honda Stop Motion Ad

This is a fantastic stop-motion ad that caught my eye. Stop-motion animation artist PES created this Honda ad, which features thousands of hand-drawn illustrations of the brand's cars and motorcycles. To produce this ad, designers had to hold pieces of paper up to the camera and constantly change the camera of the angle to create the motion. PES even received a 2013 Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film (Animated) for "Fresh Guacamole," which showed avocado dip being made with green clay and dice.

I really love this ad because of how creative and well put together it is. I like how the ad goes through many Honda models and has a different location/story for each. The sound effects also really add to the ad, it ties the whole thing together. I think more companies should make ads like this because it is unique and really catches the viewer's eye and attention.

Title Sequence using Cut-Out Animation!

Recently I revisited a title sequence for an old movie, but was reintroduced to the style of animation used in it. The title sequence for the movie "A Series of Unfortunate Events" uses cut-out animation, this style uses the techniques of stop-motion to produce the animation. The characters, props, and scenic background is flat, and is made by flat material such as paper, cardboard, or stiff fabric. Pictures can also be used to produce the different elements in the animation. 

I always thought this title sequence was so cool, but I didn't realize that all the elements such as characters, props, and background were all made out of cutout. It looks nothing like paper cut outs, and maybe that's why it was so surprising when I checked for what kind of animation it was. 

One of the things I hope we get to learn is cut out animation with the use of stop motion, it looks time consuming but I feel like its worth it. 

Stop-Motion Animation

When someone mentions animation, the first ideas that come to mind are works by famous companies such as Pixar and DreamWorks. Movies like How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek, and Finding Nemo have illustrated the power of graphical animation by developing complicated and concise fictional worlds. But, animation doesn't just stop with cartoon movies. Stop-Motion Animation provides an alternative approach to animation that utilizes all forms of media to create a polished project: still images, sound, video, clay figures (actors), set modeling, and the story-boarding process. One of my favorite stop-motion films, as a child, was Aardman Animations' Wallace and Gromit. Not only did the British stop-motion comedy consist of four short films, but it also included one feature-length film. The academy-nominated relationship, of the two main characters, grows over the course of the series as Wallace's new ideas are constantly met with Gromit's "unimpressed" body language and humorous facial expressions.

                 

This stop-motion graphics artist (below) decided to take the "Wallace and Gromit approach" a step further. With the recent release of Warner Brothers' The Lego Movie, YouTube user, "cheesybricks," takes a stab at his own version of stop-motion animation with the Lego theme in mind. In this short video, watch as the artist "paints with lego."

                     Video Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxy1fkrXmCI#t=85

This video really opened my mind to the possibilities that one can achieve in animation as a field of study. Perhaps, it will be something that I will pursue in the future. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy its prestige!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

This weekend I finally watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas". I know, I'm late to the game, but now I can see what all the hype is about. What a intricate and fantastic display of animation. As most of you know, this movie was released in 1993 and it was directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the tale of Jack Skellington, a resident of Halloweentown, a town that is perpetually Halloween, who wants to experience more of the world. After wandering around, he finds himself in Christmastown, which, as you would expect, is a town that is always Christmas. Excited by the change in scenery, he works to get the Christmas spirit into Halloweentown. This film was entirely stop-motion animation. A crew of over 120 workers worked with 227 puppets representing the characters seen in the movie. They worked on 20 sound stages (sometimes used simultaneously during filming). The movie amounted to 109,440 frames, which is truly incredible for a stop-motion film. Each main character had multiple heads in order to express a broad range of emotion. Jack Skellington had about 400 heads! I am so glad that I watched this movie and if you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it!

Using Science in Art

"Professor Fletcher's invention of the CellScope, which is a Nokia device with a microscope attachment, was the inspiration for a teeny-tiny film created by Sumo Science at Aardman. It stars a 9mm girl called Dot as she struggles through a microscopic world. All the minuscule detail was shot using CellScope technology and a Nokia N8, with its 12 megapixel camera and Carl Zeiss optics."


This technology can be used for Medical Doctor's everywhere, but also gives a new opportunity for art. The Cellscope technology can take almost any smartphone and turn it into a portable high powered microscope. Super cool stuff!

Childhood Memories Revisited

I was looking at the news yesterday and came across a headline about the death of Arthur Rankin Jr, 89 years old, on January 30th. It took me a while to figure out where I heard that name before, so I typed it into Google and I realized that this was the man (and his partner Jules Bass) responsible for the creation of one my greatest childhood memories: the stop-motion animation of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

For those of you who might not know what this is (shame on you!) here is a snippet:

Now that brings back some great memories of snowy days, christmas trees, and hot chocolate. I absolutely love this song. I was the type of child who went on movie sprees, not with different movies, but with just a single movie watched about twenty times over three days or more. It drove my brothers crazy. This specific movie was one that kept me entertained for a long, long time. It first aired in 1964 and I was born in the 1990s, so this just goes to show how successful this stop-motion animation was. It was sad to hear how one of its creators has passed on.

Arthur Rankin Jr. was also responsible for films like "Frosty the Snowman" (another personal favorite) and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." 

Rankin-Bass productions also produced hand-drawn animation, but was best known for a stop-motion animation technique called Animagic, which used small, wire jointed dolls instead of clay (see Los Angeles Times article reference HERE). In this article, it quotes Rick Goldschmidt, who wrote about the history of Rankin-Bass Productions, who states that Arthur Rankin was "... a great influence on the Tim Burton films and even more so on Pixar." This history of animation, from where it started to where it is today, is incredible to discover. It has come so far in so short a time and yet, even the old styles of animation are still admired and loved today. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is just one example. Other examples are squeezed into my movie cabinet on VHS. Disney created stories in a very different way for animation, as we saw in class with the video on the animation of "Bambi." This is so different from live action films, where the older they are, they are sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes less enjoyable because we are so used to the technology we have now. Yet, animation has never (at least in my personal opinion) experienced that problem. The characters that are created are unique, unforgettable, and lovable to the point where students in college still talk about them or go to the movie theatre to see them.

It is amazing to learn new aspects or details on things that you cherished in your childhood. These films were classics that inspired and warmed your heart to watch. This style of animation is rarely seen anymore, and no wonder since it takes a really long time to film stop-motion animation. Yet, the stories Rankin-Bass Productions told and brought to life visually are ones that will continue to be passed down through generations. 

By Amber Capogrossi