Stop-Motion Animation

Have you ever seen your toys come to life, or watched the world seem to paint itself?  Well, it may not be possible in real life, but stop-motion gives you the opportunity to create things straight from your imagination.

What is stop-motion?

Stop motion is an animation technique.  It is a series of photographs of an object moved frame by frame in small increments of time.  These frames are then played together as a video, making objects appear to move on their own. This technique is so much fun because it allows you to manipulate props limitlessly.

When did this begin?

Stop-motion has been around almost as long as actual film.  One of the earliest uses of stop-motion animation was by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton (1897) in "The Humpty Dumpty Circus."

Stop-motion began by animating static objects and later involved clay, called "clay-mation."  You may have seen this kind of animation in the california raisons commercials, or if you've ever watched the cartoon Gumby.  This type of stop-motion uses plasticine, a non-drying clay that is easily malleable and retains shape well.

Stop-motion animators have utilized a wide range of props. One of the most iconic examples of puppetry stop-motion is King Kong (1933). People are commonly used as the props in stop-motion animations as well called pixilation.  This is a live-action form of stop-motion using live actors being posed and manipulated rather than objects. Many commercials cleverly use pixilation, like the new kindle commercial series.

Stop-motion lends itself to a lot of creativity.  Currently, movies are using this technique mixed with basic 3D film techniques to create impressive films like Coraline (2009). 

Stop-motion is utilized in many categories including movies, music videos, commercials, and TV shows. 

How can I do this?

It's fairly simple, and a lot of fun:

1. Come up with a great visual story

2. Set up your camera in a stable place

3. Take pictures, making minor adjustments to the props between each shot

4. Play the frames together

If you don't have a movie program like imovie, or Adobe Premiere Pro, you can download the

Stop Motion Studio app FREE! this weekend from the app store.