Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints (puppet animation) or plasticine figures (clay animation or claymation) are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to as pixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation.

Types

Given the relatively simple way that stop motion animation is created, it’s the animators’ own ways of working with their chosen subjects that spark joy on the screen. The emergence of different styles of stop motion breathes new life into the technique as a whole throughout cinematic history.

Claymation involves the sculpture and frame-by-frame manipulation of clay-based characters or objects. The most famous examples of this technique are cheese-loving, multi-Oscar-winning duo Wallace & Gromit along with other projects from Aardman Animations and the Stateside seasonal specials traditionally produced by Rankin/Bass.

Pixilation applies the same technique to humans, who presumably suffer sore muscles after each shoot as they’re tasked with making only minute movements between frames. One example of pixilation which made waves in the British music scene was the music video by The Maccabees, to accompany their song ‘Latchmere’.

Cutout-Motion means taking two-dimensional objects (usually from paper) and animating their movements. The pilot episode of foul-mouthed phenomenon South Park was created in cutout-motion, a laborious process which co-creator Matte Stone described as “hell on this earth” - and which thankfully they’ve developed on into a system they find more comfortable.

Puppet Animation is another specific stop motion creation, involving the crafting and manipulation of puppets to produce a certain charming kind of animated aesthetic. It’s most famously used in the work of Laika, the studio behind cinematic successes Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings.

Silhouette Animation combines the use of cutout-motion and clever shadow play to produce fascinating frames of action. Pioneered by European studios during the 1920s, it’s perhaps most famously used in the work of Lotte Reiniger, whose prolific career included more than 70 silhouette animation films retelling old folk tales.

History of stop motion animation.

The proliferation of ‘snap-it-and-forget-it’ via digital cameras and smartphones has brought the potential for stop motion into households across the world, but as the 20th century dawned the art form was reserved for those with the budget and time to painstakingly produce it.

Beginning with what’s thought to be the very first entry in the genre, The Humpty Dumpty Circus was released in 1898. Creators J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith used a variety of children’s toys - long before Woody and Buzz arrived on the animated scene - to depict the hidden lives of circus performers.

Wladyslaw Starewicz was another pioneer of the form, producing a series of works throughout the 1910s and 1920s, most notably Lucanas Cervus. The title, from the Latin for ‘stag beetle’, used a variety of wee beasties which Starewicz had taxidermised into an all-star cast. The results shocked audiences into thinking the animator had trained them to wander about on hind legs, carrying household objects around as these characters do.

Willis O’Brien was the mastermind behind the animation for the cinematic icon King Kong in his 1933 big screen adventure - but O’Brien mastered the trade for a film released in 1925 called The Lost World. Based on the Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name, the film depicts a cast of explorers in search of a band of dinosaurs which still roam the earth, mixing mind-blowing effects and some clever film editing.

O’Brien mentored a man whose work would go on to define this era of special effects in cinema. Ray Harryhausen was a one-man machine whose work on the likes of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and 20 Million Miles to Earth propelled 1950s cinema into a pulpy golden age. Later work on The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Clash of the Titans (1981) is absolutely essential viewing.

As the medium evolved it spread further into the mainstream, including TV and music videos. Aardman Animations was responsible for globe-gripping examples of both. They created the claymation character Morph, first seen interacting with British broadcasting legend Tony Hart on our screens each week before getting his own series. Aardman was also the effects team behind Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer - a whirlwind of stop motion effects encapsulated into the video for one pop song and a touchstone of 1980s nostalgia.

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