-Stop Motion Animation Definition-
Stop motion is an animation technique used 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. Dolls with movable joint or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay-mation. Not all stop motion requires figure or models; many stop motion films can involve using human, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. (sourced from Wikipedia- to highlight in detail what stop motion is)
-Main Forms Of Stop Motion-

Claymation:

Pixilation:

Cut out animation:

-Stop Motion (Flip Book)-

A flip book is one of the easiest and, if done well, most effective and instant forms of 'stop motion animation'. I used a standard 50 pages note book in orders to make this flip book, this means 50 frames, the more frames used and the minimal movement of the object between frames will give a smoother animation. The illusion of movement is give with 'stop motion animation' formats like a flip book as, according to scientists, the viewer will remember the previous frame therefore overall creating a moving image.

-Stop Motion (Claymation)-

Claymation is a form of stop motion using clay, the figures are made and moved for each frame to give the illusion of movement. Above is a claymation clip myself and and two other produced. It is in a simple form of claymation and under a very cheap budget. We used around 24 frame a second to produce a smoother image. After looking on youtube, we gained inspiration from watch other stop motion videos including blue tac from amateur animators. We found it hard keeping the clip consistent to give a smooth images, often the clay (blue tac) figures would deform and would ruin the flow of the work.

-Producers of Stop Motion Animation-

-Aardman-

Here is a quick video I produced explaining some key points on the history of Aardman.

Aardman brought stop-motion animation to the big screen in a different light, the films they produce are aimed at a child audience as they produce children's comedy animation, they same techniques Aardman use are also used in Tim Burtons 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', they both use the same techniques of stop-motion animation but differens uses of genre. The characters used in Aardman films are used to attract a children's audience, for example Wallace from 'Wallace and Gromit' is a comedic old man that is quite silly in a funny way with a dog with human like features. In order to produce quality clay-mation figures as character, the use of armatures under the clay is vital. In stop-motion, still frames are taken in sequence and the character is moved small amounts each frame to create and illusion of movement, the armature allows the character to be easily moved for each frame to give a smooth movement of the object, to do this in an affective and quality way, the armature is vital. The use of clay-mation is limited as it is key that the clay is smooth and does not get dirty to give the best affect and with 24 frames needs a second the process takes a long time. Aardmans film 'Chicken Run' look three years to develop and produce, with a budget of $45 million, they turned over a profit of $224, 834, 464, the film was a huge box office hit. To date, it is the highest grossing stop-motion animation move.

Sourced from: Wikipedia

Aardman's productions:

-Tim Burton-

Tim Burton is an American film director. He become famous for making dark, quirky themed movies, such as 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Frankenweenie' using stop-motion. Tim Burton also directer and produced non stop motions films such as 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' and 'Planet Of The Apes'. In order to produce movies such as 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Frankenweenie' Burton used the form of stop-motion animation, clay-mation to produce them. Just like Aardman, Tim burton uses stop motion, therefore the film is made up of still images, to create the illusion of movement, the characters are slightly moved for each frame of still image. Tim Burtons movies are often dark and gloomy and genred as a fantasy, the best and most well known example of this is  'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. The films Tim Burton produces and directs are aimed at a wide target audience from children to adults. The same as Aardmans films, Tim Burtons uses armatures to aid the illusion of movement when making stop-motion films. The limitation to this technique are they can not use real life sets, the sets must also be made to a small scale but must remain detailed to give a good affect. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' had a budget value of $18 million and turned over a profit of $75,082,668, this was a massive production as it was released in 1993.

Tim Burtons Productions:

-Brothers Quay-

Stephen and Timothy Quay, born in 1947, are identical twin brothers from America. The are considered as influential stop motion animators, however brother quay was highly influenced by Jan Svankmajer, so much they made a film to do with him- The cabinet of Jan Svankmajer. The majority of there films featured puppets made from parts off dolls and other organic and inorganic materials. The films would often  have a dark and moody feel to them, the films would also have no structured dialogue. The Quay's most famous work would be The Street of crocodiles, a 1986 stop motion short film consistent of 21 minuets long that was directed and produced by the Quays. The street of crocodiles would originally a novel written by Burno Schulz. The short films follows the adventures of a puppet.








Quays Productions: