Styles And Techniques Of Stop Motion Animation
This weeks lesson we focused on the style and techniques of stop motion animation. We looked at the 5 different styles of animation:
1. Model
Model animation refers to a style of stop motion animation that uses animation and mixes it with live action footage. The purpose of this technique is to merge a fantasy and ordinary world together. For example, the movie king Kong uses this technique.
2. Cel
2. Cel
Cel animation is the most basic style of stop motion the characters are drawn on plastic transparent sheets and painted to create a very traditional type of animation. The example animation below is a Cel-shaded animation.
3. Time lapse
Time lapse animation is often referred to as time lapse photography. The technique is where you use a camera and set the frame rate to a low speed and take a set of photo and then speed them up to create the illusion of the moving animation. The video below is an example of a time lapse animation where the producers have shown an apple decaying. to make this time-lapse you would set the apple and camera up and take photos of the apple every couple of days and then edit it and play it back to see the apple decaying in just few minutes or seconds when in reality it would take 1 -2 weeks.
Time lapes are usually used commonly to show flowers, trees growing or to show the decay of animals, fruit or plants. although the effect of timeless actually speed events up, the actual time lapse itself looks as f it is sone in slow motion.
The above video is a time-lapse of a flower blooming which shows the flower growing in a fes seconds when in reality it would have taken a couple of days. there are many different types of time lapses such as pregnancy time lapses, space, starts or aurora borialis time lapses all of these are basically produced using the same technique of setting up the camera and either taking a picture every day or couple of days or by in the case of the space or starts or aurora borealis time-lapse the producer would video the event and then edit it to make it seem as if it is going faster.
4. Pixilation
This stop motion animation technique uses lie actors as the subject of the animation. The technique requires the live actors to frequently change poses whilst each frame is created. Through research I came across a popular music video by cold play that used this animation technique.
5. Lego
This stop motion animation technique uses lie actors as the subject of the animation. The technique requires the live actors to frequently change poses whilst each frame is created. Through research I came across a popular music video by cold play that used this animation technique.
5. Lego
Lego animation, also known as a brick film is created by using Lego bricks or other plastic toys. The animation is created by using a still digital camera e.g DLSR. The images caught can then be adjusted to create allusions ans effects. Through the editing process the images are made into and animations. This can be done by stop motion editing software. below is an example of Lego animation.
As well as learning about the 5 areas of stop motion animation, this weeks lesson also focused on animations for a teen/adult audience. We had to choose 3 animations with adult themes and humor and research the techniques that were used to create these animations.
The Simpsons
My first choice was the Simpsons. The reason for this is because the Simpsons is created by using traditional 2D drawings. However, the producers/creators (Matt Groening/James L Brooks) sometimes use 3D animation in the later seasons. The animation has used the the same technique of Cel animation for 14 seasons. However the producers recently changed the technique to digital ink/paint. The change was not consider a positive change by the create Matt Groening who complained that the technique was to complicated for the animations timing and composition. The first video below is a clip from one of the earliest episodes of the Simpsons and the one below that is a clip from a recent episode. You can notice the difference in quality. For example, the earlier video is not a focused and sharp as the later one. also the colours are more vivid in the later episode.
Season 1 clip
Season 12 clip
South Park/cut out animation
The second animation I chose to do was south park because the animation itself looked different to most other animations. the reason for this is because south park uses stop motion cutout animation techniques. This was inspired by the Monty python's flying circus, created by Terry Gilliam. The effect this technique is designed to give a a kind of paper cut out of the cartoons. the animation was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Although it still gives the same effect, over the years the animation technique has been changed and produced by computer animation. This technique took the cut out techniques place because it was a quicker method to use. However, the the production company still requires a chain of animatics.
This animation technique is quite simple regarding the use of primary colours and basic shapes that are used. For example, most of the adults will be the same shape and size and most of the young kids will be the same shape and size, making the animation very simple. Unlike Cel animation, this technique does not allow the characters to move smoothly and we often only see the characters from one angle. This gives the effect of stiffness to the characters which we can see through the way they walk and move around.
The earlier seasons of south park were animated by coral Draw. However, the animating software used to create the show has changed several times over the years, such as power animator, Maya and Motion (Apple software). Due to the changes over the years, like The Simpsons, you can see the difference in quality by comparing an old episode to a new one.
Season 3 clip
Season 12 clip
Celebrity Death Match
For my last animation I decided to use celebrity death match because it is very different from mainstream animations. The reason for this is because the animation technique used is a claymation, also knowen as model animation. This technique is very familiar to me as we have made out own practice claymation in lessons. The claymation/ model technique is interesting because the entire cast is made out of clay and made to move by simply taking frame by frame shots of very small movemnts and then playing them through as a film. This gives the illusion that the character are moving. Audio can be added in sepratly and carefuly edited in to make the sound be in sink with the moements by the characters. The show was created by Eric Fogel in 1998 but was cancelled in early 2003. However in 2005 the show made a comeback.
Referring back to how the show was made, the animation was produced in the cuppa coffee studios. Below is a clip from one of the episodes where you can see a clear example of model animation/claymation.
As well as learning about the 5 areas of stop motion animation, this weeks lesson also focused on animations for a teen/adult audience. We had to choose 3 animations with adult themes and humor and research the techniques that were used to create these animations.
The Simpsons
My first choice was the Simpsons. The reason for this is because the Simpsons is created by using traditional 2D drawings. However, the producers/creators (Matt Groening/James L Brooks) sometimes use 3D animation in the later seasons. The animation has used the the same technique of Cel animation for 14 seasons. However the producers recently changed the technique to digital ink/paint. The change was not consider a positive change by the create Matt Groening who complained that the technique was to complicated for the animations timing and composition. The first video below is a clip from one of the earliest episodes of the Simpsons and the one below that is a clip from a recent episode. You can notice the difference in quality. For example, the earlier video is not a focused and sharp as the later one. also the colours are more vivid in the later episode.
Season 1 clip
Season 12 clip
South Park/cut out animation
The second animation I chose to do was south park because the animation itself looked different to most other animations. the reason for this is because south park uses stop motion cutout animation techniques. This was inspired by the Monty python's flying circus, created by Terry Gilliam. The effect this technique is designed to give a a kind of paper cut out of the cartoons. the animation was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Although it still gives the same effect, over the years the animation technique has been changed and produced by computer animation. This technique took the cut out techniques place because it was a quicker method to use. However, the the production company still requires a chain of animatics.
This animation technique is quite simple regarding the use of primary colours and basic shapes that are used. For example, most of the adults will be the same shape and size and most of the young kids will be the same shape and size, making the animation very simple. Unlike Cel animation, this technique does not allow the characters to move smoothly and we often only see the characters from one angle. This gives the effect of stiffness to the characters which we can see through the way they walk and move around.
The earlier seasons of south park were animated by coral Draw. However, the animating software used to create the show has changed several times over the years, such as power animator, Maya and Motion (Apple software). Due to the changes over the years, like The Simpsons, you can see the difference in quality by comparing an old episode to a new one.
Season 3 clip
Season 12 clip
Celebrity Death Match
For my last animation I decided to use celebrity death match because it is very different from mainstream animations. The reason for this is because the animation technique used is a claymation, also knowen as model animation. This technique is very familiar to me as we have made out own practice claymation in lessons. The claymation/ model technique is interesting because the entire cast is made out of clay and made to move by simply taking frame by frame shots of very small movemnts and then playing them through as a film. This gives the illusion that the character are moving. Audio can be added in sepratly and carefuly edited in to make the sound be in sink with the moements by the characters. The show was created by Eric Fogel in 1998 but was cancelled in early 2003. However in 2005 the show made a comeback.
Referring back to how the show was made, the animation was produced in the cuppa coffee studios. Below is a clip from one of the episodes where you can see a clear example of model animation/claymation.
