Stop-motion Animation

Stop motion animation is animation that is captured one frame at time, with physical objects that are moved between frames. It requires the animator to physically alter the scene, shoot another frame, physically alter, shoot again and so on and so forth. When you play back the sequence of images rapidly, it creates the illusion of movement.  Stop-motion is used all the time for movies, tv adverts, tv series and many more.

There are several different types of stop-motion animation. The first was the hand drawn images produced by the likes of the Walt Disney Company such as Snow White or Aladdin. As time has moved on Disney have come to use Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), another form of animation.





The most well-known type of stop-motion animation is 'Claymation'. This is where we use 3D objects

or characters sculpted from clay or other moldable material, and then taking a series of still pictures that are replayed in rapid succession to create the illusion of movement. One of the most famous 'claymation' productions in the UK is Wallace and Gromit.

 



 Another example of stop-motion is Cutout animation. This is where animations are created using 2D materials such as card and paper. South Park is one of the most famous Cutout animations.      
 Stop motion can be very time consuming to make but the end results are well worth the effort. Not having to hire actors to physically star in movies, stunt doubles, special effects etc, cuts costs of movie making. Those working on stop animation movies will be spending time rather than money.