Development of Stop Motion Animation

Historical Techniques of Animation

Magic Lantern

This is an early type of projector, mainly from the 17^th century the magic lantern, also known as the lantern magica was commonly used for entertainment purposes. In the 19^th century it was also used for educational aid. Many small versions were mass produced as toys.  “The magic lantern used a concave mirror in back of a light source to direct as much of the light as possible through a small rectangular sheet of glass” (Wikipedia)

Example:

Phenakistiscope

This was regarded the first from of moving images, it was out version of a ‘GIF’ animation which we now see on a daily basis, as they both work on a continuous loop, they are a spinning cardboard disk connected vertically to a handle, when it builds speed, you can see the images move

Example:

Zoetrope

The zoetrope is a circular device with pictures on the bottom layer which create the illusion, on the top layer there are slits so you can see inside the zoetrope while it is spinning this enables you to see the animation

Example:

Current Techniques of Animation

Claymation

Claymation is a type of animation that is very popular and is used in some very popular shows such as Wallace and Gromit. Claymation depends on the character and or background being malleable, meaning it can be shaped in different ways easily. This is done by the maker moves the character slightly and takes a picture, then moves them slightly again and take another picture; in a professional production the average amount of shots per second is 24 frames, this ensures that the movement is very fluent.

Example:

Pixilation

This is the process is very similar to Claymation, in the process where an actual person would move slightly and take a picture, and again, this will be put together at again 24 frames per second.

Example:

Visual development, e.g. narrative development, story boarding, treatments and pitches.

Tim Burton liked the Grinch and decided he wanted to do the complete opposite of a monster who finds Christmas and loves it, and wants to make his own one.

Story boarding was done by Joseph Ranft who made the first visual 'attack' on the film. The camera crews had a lot of swinging and moving shots. 

Frame rates required to create a smooth illusion of motion: 12 fps animation, 24 fps film, 25 fps television.

Technological developments, e.g. use of 3D printing

Cameras that automatically, pan, tilt, swing and focus to the shot they need, this is done through a remote

Model making techniques, e.g. armature, sculpting, 3D printing

Drawings were made and were sent to Greg olsen, to make them to scale to figure out camera angles. There are a team of 4 sculptors who make everything. Greg Dykstra sculpt them out of clay from pictures put together by the art department, they make 200 'puppets'. Jack has a different face for every sound and expression.

Set building and lighting

Deane Taylor the art director, designs the sets based on the story boards, they need to ensure when they have the quarter scale to see where they want the full scale to break up because all of it wont be able to fit on one stage as it wouldn't fit on one stage. They are lit like a normal movie, however with small lights, many of the scene needed 20 - 30 lights.

Audio production for animation, e.g. musical score, sound effects, voice over.

Music was composed by Danny Elfman

Editing of footage, titles and credits to a soundtrack, using video and sound editing software.

Pioneers and Developments of Stop Motion

Early Pioneers

Joseph Plateau:

Joseph Plateau was  Belgian physicist, and was one of the first people to demonstrate illusion. he used a phenakistiscope.

all the artwork in this piece, and the rest of his animation is very detailed, This ensures that his animation is as realistic as possible.

William Horner

William Horner was a animator pioneer who made the Zoetrope in 1834. Zoetropes are devices that give you a clear image though rapid spinning, which causes an almost fluent image. In this video you can see a zoetrope in action and you can see it is more fluent then a Penakistiscope.

Chritiaan Huygens

Christiaan was the true inventor of the Magic Lantern, "In a letter to his brother, Christiaan claimed he thought that it would harm his families reputation if everyone found out that the lantern came from him." (Wikipedia)

Developers

Willis H. O'Brien


Willis Harold O'Brien was an American Stop Motion Specialist and was a help in a lot of the major films of the time period, for example King Kong (1933) and The Lost World (1925).


Ray Harryhausen


Raymond Harryhausen was an American-British artist, designer , visual effects creator and producer, Ray was the creator of the stop motion technique called 'Dynamation'. "He also worked on many Great movies of the time period including Mighty Joe Young (1949) with Willis Harold O'Brien, which won the Academy Award For Best Visual Effects." (Wikipedia)

Jan Svankmajer

Jan Švankmajer is a Czech Film maker who has influenced many current film makers, His animation life really started from when he was given a puppet theatre for Christmas, and since then he had been very passionate for puppetry and stop motion. He has worked on many films, one of the most popular being Alice.

Contemporary Practitioners  

Tim Burton


Tim Burton is an American director, Producer, writer, artist and animator; he is known for his dark and gothic style, and is the director and animator for many famous films. Some being The nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

Aardman


Aardman is a British animation company based in Bristol, and is one of the most popular stop motion company, with a worldwide making of $973.2 million, you can easily see that everything Aardmen touches is a masterpiece.

The Brothers Quay

The Quay Brothers