Stop motion is an animation technique in which a physically manipulated object appears 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.
Classic stop motion techniques include puppets, clay, pixilation (humans) and paper cut-outs, but the possibilities of material are as wide as the animators’ imagination.
The animation in “Kubo and the Two Strings” was created by meticulously altering the position of puppets frame-by-frame.
The puppets used in claymation also have an armature, but the malleable nature of clay gives this type of animation a unique quality. Aardman Studio has perfected the art of claymation with iconic works such as “Wallace & Gromit” and “Creatures Comfort”, but “Adam” – one of their very first shorts – already shows their deep understanding of clay’s potential.
Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” was the first animated long-feature film (over 10 years before Disney’s “Snow White”). She single-handedly created over 40 films with minutely detailed and back-lit paper cut-outs.
Pixilation is a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject by repeatedly posing while one frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame. Norman McLaren’s famous Acadamy Award winning “Neighbors” uses this technique to great comic effect.
Almost any material can be re-imagined as a subject for stop motion animation. “Bottle” and “Fresh Guacamole” are two recent and interesting examples.
– Anna Pinkas
