Stop Motion

ストップモーション / 1898– / Technique / Animation Techniques

Moving puppets and models one frame at a time to give matter life. The faint tremor of handwork and the presence of real materials remain a charm CG cannot replace.

Stop Motion — Willis O'Brien, The Lost World 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Willis O'Brien, The Lost World 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Stop Motion — Dinosaur and actors composited in The Lost World 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Dinosaur and actors composited in The Lost World 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Stop Motion — Puppet from the Polish puppet animation Smok Barnaba (1977) — Wikimedia Commons / CC0 — Puppet from the Polish puppet animation Smok Barnaba (1977) — Wikimedia Commons / CC0 · CC0

At a glance

Visual cues

Frame-by-frame shooting
Real models and textures
A faint tremor
Miniature lighting

Best used for

Food and household product ads that must keep the feel of real material
Shorts and music videos where the warmth of handwork is the point

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Dictionary entry

Type: Build the lettering as a physical object and light it with the set
Composition: Shallow depth of field, with the miniature scale left visible
Material: Fabric, clay and paper chosen to hold up under close inspection
Caution: Smoothing away every tremor and fingerprint until the result is something computer graphics would have produced faster and cheaper.
Further study: Willis O'Brien / Ray Harryhausen / Laika and Aardman today

Related entries

Cel Animation (セル・アニメーション)Same Animation Techniques lineage.Compare Stop Motion and Cel Animation
Rotoscope (ロトスコープ)Same Animation Techniques lineage.Compare Stop Motion and Rotoscope

Cite this entry

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Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/stop-motion
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