2. WHAT IS STOP
FRAME?
Stop Frame: Stop motion (also known as stop action or frame-
by-frame) is an animation technique used to make a physically
manipulated object appear to be moving on its own. Aardman
has made this technique very famous; this company has been
producing stop motion animation since 1976 when Morph first
appeared on TV. 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 joints or clay figures
are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning.
Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation
or “clay-mation”. Not all stop motion requires figures or models;
many stop motion films can involve using humans, household
appliances and other items of comedic effect.
3. WHAT IS FRAME
RATE?
Frame Rates: Frame rate, or frame frequency, is the
frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique
consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally
well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and
motion capture systems. Frame rates can effect how the
production can be viewed, this can be the difference between
it being very smooth and the jittering. Jittering within the
production can also show you where the frame starts and
finishes, this effect can sometimes work well but there are
times this doesn‟t work well.
4. WHAT IS PERSISTENCE
OF VISION?
Persistence of Vision: Persistence of vision is the
phenomenon of the eye by which an afterimage is thought to
persist for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second on the
retina. Persistence of vision is a relationship between the eye
and the brain, almost as if we are being tricked into believing
what is going on with the animation on screen. The image
below is an example of this technique, it almost appears as if
there are multiple coins when in fact it is only the one moving
at a fast rate.
5. PIONEERS – WILLIAM
HORNER
William Horner was an animator pioneer who created one of
the original animations of the zoetrope in 1834. A zoetrope is
a device that produces an illusion of movement from a rapid
succession. This allowed animation to be viewed easier due
to the slits in the side which allowed the person could look
inside and produce a better effect than the phenkitascope.
6. PIONEERS - EDWARD
MUYBRIDGE
Edward Muybridge, in 1878, took 20 simultaneous
photographs of a horse jumping. These photographs
shocked America when they were first released as they were
the first of the time. This form of photography would usually
have taken a minuet, he used a more developed camera
allowing him to take 1 picture every 0.5 seconds. This
allowed him to take the 12 quick image. After developing
these images he was looking through and then repeated this
with a bit more speed which made it appear as if the images
were moving.
7. DEVELOPERS – RAY
HARRYHAUSEN
To those who do know him, his name stands out as a
landmark in the history of a genre and cinematic art, the art
of dimensional stop-motion animation. Ray made his name
known by developing fantastic stories and creatures based
on legends and mythology and creating a unique genre of
fantasy films during the 1950‟s, 60‟s and 70‟s that took the
movie making world, and the public, by storm.
8. DEVELOPERS - JAN
SVANKMAJER
One of the great Czech filmmakers, JAN SVANKMAJER was
born in 1934 in Prague where he still lives. Svankmajer made
his first film in 1964 and for over thirty years has made some
of the most memorable and unique animated films ever
made, gaining a reputation as one of the world's foremost
animators, and influencing filmmakers from Tim Burton to
The Brothers Quay.
9. CONTEMPORARY
ANIMATORS – TIM BURTON
Tim Burton is an American film director, film producer, write
and artist. He is famous for his dark, quirky-themed movies
such as Beetle Juice, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride
and Dark Shadows. He is also known for blockbusters such
as Pee-Wee‟s Big Adventure, Batman and Batman Returns.
was Burton's first full-length stop-motion film as a director,
featuring the voices of Johnny Depp, as Victor, and Helena
Bonham Carter (for whom the project was specifically
created) as Emily. In this film, Burton was able to continue
using his personal quirky styles and trademarks, such as
complex interactions between light and darkness and of
being caught between two irreconcilable worlds.
10. CONTEMPORARY -
AARDMAN ANIMATIONS
Aardman was founded in 1972 as a low-budget project by
Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who wanted to realise their
dream of producing an animated motion picture. One of there
very first productions was morph. Leading up to the
millennium they had created a whole range of different stop
motion animations. This also includes advertising. In 2000
they then produced there first full-length feature movie
„Chicken Run‟. This was a giant hit for Aardman and since
then they have produced and worked on more movies such
as Flushed Away.
11. BROTHERS QUAY
Stephen and Timothy Quay are American identical twin
brothers better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay
Brothers. They are influential stop-motion animators. They
are also the recipients of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Set Design for their work on the play „The
Chairs’. They reside and work in England after moving here
in 1969 to study at the Royal College of Art in London. There
body of work includes „Punch and Judy (Tragical Comedy or
Comical Tragedy)‟ in 1980 and „Rain Dance‟ which was a
small film for Sesame Street in 1990.
12. DIFFERENT
TECHNIQUES
Stop frame: Stop frame animation is a long process of
photographing a model, moving it a miniscule amount, then
photographing it again. Finally, you string the photographs
together and the tiny movements appear to be action. This
form of animation is the simplest to use and is great for
beginners.
Cut Out: Simple animation used on TV is usually a
combination of cutout and collage techniques. Cutout
animation uses, literally, models or puppets that have been
cut from drawing paper or craft paper. The pieces are then
arranged loosely, or connected by fasteners and then
arranged. Each pose or move is captured, then the model is
repositioned, and shot again.
13. DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
CONTINUED
Rotoscoping: Rotoscoping is used to capture realistic human
movement by drawing over film footage of live actors. Perhaps
this sounds like cheating, but adding an artist's vision to the
movements of a human actor can create a unique storytelling
medium that is just as stylistic as any other form of animation.
Cel Animation: When someone says the word "cartoon," what
we see in our head is usually cel animation. Cartoons today
rarely use the pure cel animation of the past, instead employing
computers and digital technology to help streamline the
process.
CGI: Computer Generated Imagery is also used for 2D and stop-
motion animation. But it's 3D CGI animation that has become a
popular form of animation. Beginning with Pixar's Toy Story, 3D
CGI animation has raised the bar for the images we see on
screen.
14. DIFFERENT FORMATS
Animations come in several different formats, this includes:
Music video‟s – E.G Sledgehammer
Cinema - Feature length films E.G Corpse Bride & Chicken
Run
Channel Idents – Defines or is important to the brand of the
channel and acts as a moving image for that season
showings. E.G Cbeebies use the moving images to make the
channel appeal to a younger audience, during seasons such
as Christmas they will make the logo more Christmas
orientated.
Advertising – Stop animation is used in certain brands of
advertising to make something appeal more, usually used
within children‟s TV as it catches their attention. E.G Xbox
and Amazon
