Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence(could be done with dolls,clay, Plasticine,effects,photos) its terminology is"a device for automatically stopping a machine or engine when something has gone wrong" written in The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary done in 1993.
An example showing how stop motion is done in the industry
A
standard animation for a movie would take probably takes approximately 1240 frames
a minute. People also usually storyboard these animations first. Because 24 frames
make a second it is clear that you need 24 photos x 60 to get 1240 to get 1
minute worth of stop motion animation, how much more TV shows and feature length
films which are over the 10 minute mark.
Example of different types of lip syncs
Animated characters appear to speak in a prerecorded track of dialogue. The lip sync technique to make an animated character appear to speak involves figuring out the timings of the speech as well as the actual animating of the lips/mouth to match the dialogue track.
Planning
This is my opinion on how people planned out there stop motion works
- First thing you do is brainstorm your visuals
Applying plenty of ideas for what you want to do.
- Secondly you create your storyboard and script for stop motion
Using you script to give you ideas for your storyboard
- Thirdly Take correct shots so you don't have to edit them
One of the ways camera shots are used in stop motion
- Fourthly add audio to give emotion and connect a story
Using audio in final cut pro
- Lastly consider an output
To transfer your stop motion video onto
ARTISTS
It was often used to show objects moving as if by magic. The first instance of the stop motion technique can be credited to Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton for The Humpty Dumpty Circus which began at 1897, in which a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life.The first animated piece created in 1878 of a race horse which was done using a linear camera, which was done by Eadweard Muybridge. He made this horse in motion by using a zoopraxiscope that he had invented, This device was later regarded as an early movie projector, and the process as an intermediate stage toward motion pictures or cinematography which gave an impression of someone horse racing. What i liked about this was how accurate the movement was, too get that illusion o animation, i generally thought it was genius because the animator made several photos and combined them all in one altogether to get fluent stop motion animation.this was done so well that audiences such as myself would believe it was actual film recorded instead of different photos combined into one.
1907 haunted hotel made by Stuart Blackton (he uses natural objects and moves them about with a camera). What I liked about this gives me an impression that a ghost is moving the objects around, however i felt the music doesn't fit in well with the video and needed to be more deeper toned, but no the less i felt this was a early demonstration of creating illusions on screen, it was presented in a tight close-up that allowed budding animators to study it for technique. even though i felt the music was kind of misleading i would presume the audience what be amazed at how these items were moving by itself, because this has never been portrayed before at that time on screen. this is used to keep the audience intrigued of items moving by them self.
Wladyslaw Starewicz 1911(the ant and the grasshopper puppet animation using dead animals). What i liked particularly about this was the story telling, of the two creatures(grasshopper and ant) communicating with each other which looked casually, where I think would be difficult during the early 20th century, with the story telling and the puppets it gave the animation a sort of purpose to watch from start to finish,instead of watching something in amazement on how the objects were moving.
the audience at that time would have thought it was amazing for insects to move about in human ways and attributes (of an averages persons lifestyle). The objects(backdrops) used in this scene were used to match the nature environment of insects.
Example of the Humpty Dumpty Circus
In 1902, the film Fun in a Bakery Shop used the stop trick technique in the "lightning sculpting" sequence using clay models, they did this to ease its re-positioning. French trick film maestro Georges Melies used true stop motion to produce moving title-card letters for one of his short films, but never exploited the process for any of his other films.the sort of material they would have used may be armeture models or puppets, i don't necessary like this particular piece however i respect the early development of it. The circus objects and models surrounding other objects, really set up the mood for fun.
An example of a Stop Trick From the Film Sherlock Holmes Baffled, this was done to depict a sort of magic trick, this was done through a Microscope which worked in a similar process as a mutoscope so that the director could remove the frame were the dark figure appears in, then make the person disappear however the man stays the same.What i have liked about it was it was an early stop motion trick which was done in a different way(a cheap was to display magic) to how i would portray stop motion with just normal camera. this is ironically used to 'Baffle' the audience into saying 'how is that possible'.
One of the earliest clay animations was the "Modeling Extraordinary ", which dazzled audiences in 1912. December 1916 brought the first of Willie Hopkins' 54 episodes of "Miracles in Mud" to the big screen.
Example of the clay animation Modeling Extraordinary
what i liked about this image in particular was how Hopkins combined painting and real life with stop motion altogether.i believe it does what it does to shock the audience.
Example of clay animation Miracles in Mud 'Suzy Snowflake'
is were a moving female clay model is moving about with backdrops, with snow flakes floating around the front screen, then music is played over it, what I liked about this is that the music Suzy snowflake therefore creating the story altogether.it was created by 'Wah Ming Chang'.
Willis O'Brien
In the turn of the century, there was another well known animator known as Willis O' Brien, he is most admired for his work on the lost world done in 1925 and King Kong done in 1933 , a milestone of his films made possible by stop motion animation. what i liked about both works done by O'Brien, was that he separated what was real , and what wasn't real(models through sculting and applied with effects) and combined them together.
An Example Of King Kong
what i liked about king kong was how william separated the scale(shown here)of the backdrops and included armeture models together.(uses chroma keying)
An Example of The Lost World (uses chroma keying and armeture clay models).
William o Brien uses chroma keying with blue screening so that the stop motion of the models were done separate to the people acting. why this was done is to get a sense of real material to keep it looking real and believable. what i liked about williams work is that 'black and white' made things harder to spot the difference if you thought it was real or fake and william did a great job portraying.Objects used(backdrops) in William O Brien's were heavily focused on displaying adventure and fantasy when it came to creating his stop motion pieces
what i liked about king kong was how william separated the scale(shown here)of the backdrops and included armeture models together.(uses chroma keying)
An Example of The Lost World (uses chroma keying and armeture clay models).
William o Brien uses chroma keying with blue screening so that the stop motion of the models were done separate to the people acting. why this was done is to get a sense of real material to keep it looking real and believable. what i liked about williams work is that 'black and white' made things harder to spot the difference if you thought it was real or fake and william did a great job portraying.Objects used(backdrops) in William O Brien's were heavily focused on displaying adventure and fantasy when it came to creating his stop motion pieces
Ray Harry Hausen
O'Brien's protege and eventual successor in Hollywood was Ray Harry Hausen. After learning under O'Brien, Harry hausen would go on to create the effects for a string of successful and memorable films over the next three decades. These included It came from Beneath the Sea done in 1955, Jason and the Argonauts in 1963, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1974 and clash of the Titans in 1981. What i personaly liked about Ray Harry Hausens works is like O'brien he separated what was real, and what wasent real(models through sculpting and then applied them with effects) and combined them together and transferred it onto film in both black and white and colour.
An Example of "It came From Beneath The Sea"usage of armeture models
An Example of "Jason and the Argonauts" done by Ray Harryhausen (usage of armeture clay models with blue screening)
An Example of "the voyage of simbad"1974 done by Ray Harryhausen(usage of armeture clay models with blue screening)
An Example of "the voyage of simbad"1974 done by Ray Harryhausen(usage of armeture clay models with blue screening)
An Example Clash Of The Titans 1981 done by Ray Harryhausen (he used armeture clay models and chroma keying with blue screening)
Similar to William O Brien, Ray harry Hausen uses using chroma keying with blue screening so that the stop motion of the models were done separate to the people acting. why this was done is to get a sense of real material to keep it looking real and believable. i in particularly liked how the models looked more believable in physical form and not computer generated as we see things today. by using metal work and Armeture, it makes the audiences believe that creatures of any shape will have a firm body. The objects used in his films were majority very 'sea' based and gave a setting for ancient stories.
Similar to William O Brien, Ray harry Hausen uses using chroma keying with blue screening so that the stop motion of the models were done separate to the people acting. why this was done is to get a sense of real material to keep it looking real and believable. i in particularly liked how the models looked more believable in physical form and not computer generated as we see things today. by using metal work and Armeture, it makes the audiences believe that creatures of any shape will have a firm body. The objects used in his films were majority very 'sea' based and gave a setting for ancient stories.
Nick Park's wallace and gromet- A Grand Day Out(1989)
This was one of the first stop motion animations Nick Park did for Wallace and Gromet which he did using Claymation models.the models were formed with plaster cine with metal skeleton. why they do this ? is so the hands and joints and legs move in a fluent manner. this is also one of my influences for my stop motion because it shows the pathway of using clay models effectively. the objects used in this scene( referring to metal tough objects) gives me the impression of tough work in the job place.
Works done by Henry Strick
Coraline made in 2009(blend of stop motion and CGI which helps it flow better)what i liked about this was The CGI combined with clay models helped the voice acting work extremely well it also helps the audience look at the characters and relate to them more because of this. This brings out the illusion of true fluent stop motion animation combined with its solid material.The CGI also helps the flow of lip syncing with the stop motion models. the objects in this films backdrops display a genre of 'children's literature' due to the mellow colour of the grass.
Nightmare before Christmas made in 1993(full stop motion) what i liked about this was a sense of animation being improved over the late 20th century, were movements seem a lot more solid with it clay animation, I love the objects in this scene especially the moon and clouds at night, it gives a sense of dark colours, for example this image , were it is a combination of black and blues to create this fitting scene due to the Gothic approach of the characters, due the themes of this film people can relate towards the clay models(look dead) in the film. lip syncing for the models would have been used remodeled for each shot taken
Paranorman made in 2012,(uses a blend of stop motion with CGI) like the film Coraline what i liked about this animation was how fluid that animation was, you could tell it was Stop-motion but it had actions which were more CGI orientated and flowed well with voice acting. in terms of the models are firstly made into clay then the animator creates a computer generated field, yet still depicting the look of clay models, this brings out the illusion of true fluent stop motion animation.with combination of solid material. The CGI also helps the flow of lip syncing with the stop motion models(like Coraline). the objects around him or backdrops display haunting mood, do to the dim light showed applied with long wooded trees.
Examples of my Stop motion
The music video inspired to creating my stop motion 'vanessa carlton' 1000 miles
In these as shown in the images of what i did using plasticine to create models(with failed paint skin) +fabric and stings, for clothing and looks, also paper to create the mouth movements, I have included photography for my sky and clouds, then created buildings using cardboard,then using pen to draw out each building shape.I created a car (shown on this fourth image) were it includes elements of cardboard which is a shoebox with two rubber wheels which are supported with 2 wooden barbecue sticks , then all stuck together with tape and glue.
I also created a 2d stop motion using flash(one of the examples in the last image) were i scanned related pieces to my stop motion onto the scanner and world them up in photoshop , then imported them onto adobe flash , were i mainly used Tweens to get the animation process quicker. the objects i have used for this are a blend of hand drawn, modeling and pictures which i wanted to create to display a genre called 'childrens literature' however it uses mature themes.
