Wallace
and Gromit – Clay Animation
One of the most renowned stop motion animation
producers are Aardman Animation. This production company are known for creating
numerous clay based stop animations such as Shaun
the Sheep, Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit.
The process involves building the scene(s),
characters, props as well setting up the lighting equipment and camera
equipment. Once the scene is populated then a shot is taken with a camera. This
is usually with a specially adapted movie camera, or as Aardamn Animation have
recently accomplished shooting a feature length stop motion animation using 50
Canon DSLR cameras, taking over 1 million photographs.
As a character or prop moves another shot needs to
be taken. Each shot is a frame, so the equation that I created in the blog for
the flip book animation also applies here although Wallace and Gromit: The
Curse of the Were-Rabbit was shot at 24 frames per second and has the duration
of 81 minutes.
24 frames per second x 60 seconds (per minute) x
81 minutes (length of movie) = 116,640 shots
Of course, the total number of shots does not
include the ones that were edited out, or had to be re-shot. There is also the
time element one has to consider as Aardman Animation use clay and this
material is malleable, meaning that every movement has to be changed and every
facial expression modelled before a shot can be taken. This is a very time
consuming process.
As well as Clay Animation there are other forms of
stop motion animation. Here are some that I have found which have impressed me.
Cloud
Bread – Cut Out Animation
This animation is a cut out animation. This is
where the creator will use flat objects such as cardboard, material or
photographs. As stop motion animations are similar in how they are produced, in
the sense that each time something moves whether that be a prop or the
character another shot is taken, because of the materials and technology used
the aesthetic is very different.
9
Months in 1000 Pictures – Photography
This heart warming stop motion has used
photographic images to capture the story. One photograph has been used for the
background to set the scene which has then been overlaid with the other images
which tell the story. Despite its warmth there are some issues in which could
have been addressed. Whenever something happens from the edge of the “moving”
image it appears in the middle of the composition. An example of this is at
2:01 when a dog being walked appears in the scene.
Animated
in Bed – Pixilation Animation
Live actors are used to create this style of
animation. Numerous images are taken with a slight variation in body position
for each frame. One would imagine that this is a very difficult procedure as
the trust on the actor would have to ensure that they remain in that position
until the director is satisfied with the shot they need to capture. This is a
very well accomplished stop motion.
Deadline
– Post-it Note Animation
Using over 6,000 Post-it notes this animation
certainly has the wow factor. The design of the animation created using
Illustrator, pre-animated in Flash and then was created by sticking Post-it
notes on the wall and moving them for every shot. What impressed me other than
the sheer brilliance of this stop motion animation is that it only took 4 days
to shoot! Before I saw the making of video I initially assumed that this would
have taken a significantly longer time.
Although being inspired in some ways, now that I
have looked into how stop animations are created and the time consuming process
involved I have to consider whether I have the patience and tolerance to be
able to carry out such as task. When it comes to things like this I don’t feel
I do have the tolerance and patience as I like to just get on with it. Bearing
in mind the stop/start procedure of and the constant attention to the very
finest detail would send me insane and it is because of this reason I will not
be considering a stop-motion animation for my project, despite being impressed
with the examples I have seen above.
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