STOP MOTION ANIMATION

What is Stop Motion?

Stop Motion Animation is a type of animation that consists of objects moved in different places, and then captured as a photo at different frame rates to be then played as a continuous sequence to give an illusion that the object is moving depending on the frame rate, for example a slow frame rate 2 frames per second would make the animation run slow compared to 10 frames per second making the animation look fast.

Here are some examples of rules needed in animation as a whole.

History of Animation

The first kind of animation was founded around 5,000 years ago. An Egyptian burial chamber

showed a sequence of images drawn on the walls of wrestlers fighting.  Images like these were found all around the world consisting from being painted onto walls or on pottery to tell storys. For example an Iranianian pottery that was dated around 4th millennium was discovered and on each discovery they had pictures of wild goats jumping. This inspired many people around the world and slowly animation began to evolve to what it is today.  

Stop Motion genrally is a technique that requires patience and to be able to create an animation over a couple of days rather just one day because, stop animation is a very  time consuming and animation that can not be rushed due to the length of motion needed to create a smooth animation. Animations can consist of 300 images all with a sequenced patter that is then sequenced together to give an illusion of movement. 

Stop Motion animation has a every long history in film. It was often used to show as if by magic was appearing through the usage of stop motion and creating the illusion of movement. Stop motion techniques were created by Albert E Smith and J Stuart Blackton for creating the Vitagraph's The Humpty Dumpty Circus and it was created in 1897 in which the a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life.

In 1902 the film Fun in a Bakery Shop used the stop trick techniques in the ''lighting sculpting'' sequence. The French trick maestro  Georges Méliès used true stop motion to produce moving title- card letters for one of his short films, but he never used this technique on his other stop motion films.

The Hunted Hotel made in 1907 is another stop motion film by J. Stuart Blackton and this stop motion film was a huge success when it was released to the public.    

Different types of Stop Motion Animation

Clay animation involves sculping and animating a character mainly made out of clay. Here is an example of a clay mation video piece created by Eric Fogel "Celebrity Death Match".

Toy-Mation

Toy-mation uses a toy, such as an action figure or a Lego figure as the model used for animation. Here is a lego animation called Matrix Trinity Help.

2-D Clay Animation

In 2-D clay animation, a flat clay character is laid on a flat surface such as a table and made to look like he is standing. Here's an example from a short Marc Spess made using 2-D claymation.

Paper Animation

Paper animation utilizes the same concept as 2-D clay animation. The only difference is that the animator uses paper cutouts instead of a clay figure. Here is a great animation, made by Megan Brain for a United Airlines commerical during the Summer Olympics.

A well known stop motion effects and director is a man called Ray Harryhausen, Born June 29th 1920-2013. Ray was an American visual effects creator and producer for well know films that consisted of stop motion animation. For example Ray uses skeleton characters within the techniques of stop motion, Then projecting the animation on a back drop and was acted over to produce a layer and a stop motion CGI effect when he created The clash of the Titans. Here is a list of fils that Ray has helped create or produce using the elements of stop motion animation.

Nick Park born in Preston, Lancashire, another stop motion artist born 6th December 1958. Nick is famous for his well known clay mations such as Wallace and grommet. Also well known for Shaun the sheep and his feature film chicken run.  

 

 Tools of Animation

• Zoetrope created by William George Horner 1786-1837. William was a British Mathematician who created the Zoetrope. The Zoetrope is a device that rotates a line of images all with different movements and a black shutter. This gives an illusion of movement as the Zoetrope rotates. Here is an example of a Zoetrope that i came across during my trip to Birmingham at the Sea life Center.

• The Phenakistoscope created by a Belgium Physicist Joseph Plaeau in 1801-1883. Joseph was most know for being the first person to demonstrate the illusion of moving image in small increments of motion that was spaced with slits.

• The Thaumatrope which was created by a British Physician born 1785-1856. He was well known for his big invention which was used to demonstrate persistance of vision to the Royal College of Physicians. This device worked by an image on either side of an object and has string on either sides. When the Thuamatrope was spun it would create a small illusion of movement/ Animation.

The flip book created by John Barnes Linnet in 1868. A flip book consisted of a book mostly filled with springy pages that had an animated sequance of images printed on each page. The spectator would bend the pages of the book so that each page would pass by and then the image on each page would create a short illusion of animation.

Here is some stop motion terminology

3-2 pulldown: Digital process required to extend 24 'fps' to 30 'fps' when converting from 'PAL' to 'NTSC' for US viewing.

Accent: In timing a scene or shot, the most important action is called the accent. In animating, the most emphatic pose of an action is the accent. Both are often related to the soundtrack, eg. the downbeat of a conductor's baton.

Anticipation: A movement that anticipates a specific action, often in the opposite direction of the intended action. Eg. when a golf player is about to to hit the ball, the backswing anticipates the main action.

Arc: The path of an action. Most movement follows some kind of arc, as opposed to a straight line from A to B.

Aspect Ratio: The relationship of width to height of a film or video frame. Specific examples include: Standard Widescreen cinema format is 1.85:1; High Definition TV and Widescreen TV is 1.77:1 (or 16:9 width to height); Regular Television (aka Standard Academy) is 1.33:1 (or 4:3). For a lot more information about aspect ratios and projection.

Bar Sheet: A chart marked up in frames and seconds on to which the 'track breakdown' can be transferred by the Editor. This is often used by the Director to plan scenes/shots.

Boiling: Movement of lines or fluctuating colour, sometimes a deliberate style but often due to inaccurate inbetweens or uneven application of colour.

Bouncing Ball: A preliminary animation exercise to study weight, timing and the basics of 'Squash and Stretch'.

Breakdown: The middle drawing or pose between two keys.

COSHH: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. These regulations are very important in Model Making and Stop Frame.

Camera Shake: Vibration created by filming artwork or models with calibrated degrees of camera movement in alternating directions.

Clean up: Cleaning up or re-drawing the rough animation, referring to models sheets to ensure that the animation is 'on model', and preparing artwork for scanning or tracing.

Comp-ing: Compositing or combining various elements to create the final image.

Cycle: Continuous action created by repeating a sequence of drawings or images, typically used for walks and runs. Cycles are also used in Effects Animation, eg. rain, snow, flags, etc.; in fact, anything that is repeated action.

Describe the Curve (aka follow the arc): Follow a path of action. See 'Arc'

Dope Sheet (proper name: Exposure Sheet. aka: X Sheet or Worksheet): Chart used by Director and Animator to time out action, identifying the numbering of the animation and giving all instructions relating to action planning, animation levels, camera moves, exposures, etc. There is one Dope Sheet for each 'shot or scene'.

To Dope: To enter information on to a 'dope sheet'.

Double bounce: In a normal walk cycle, there is only one pose per step in a downward position. For a double bounce, there are two down poses per step which gives a syncopated type of movement. (e.g. Mickey Mouse.)

Extremes (see 'Keys')

Facility House: Post-Production Company

Fettling: Trimming and making seams on models or puppets after the moulding process.

Doubles (aka Twos): Creating one image to be exposed for two frames of film. The standard way of working for good drawn animation. See 'Singles' for examples of when not to use Doubles.

Field: In 2D drawn animation, the area of the drawing to be seen by the camera is referred to as the field size. The format of the field depends on the screen ratio at which the material is being shot.

Field: A very basic explanation for the meaning in video is that there are two fields for each frame of film. One field contains the odd scan lines of the frame, the other contains the even scan lines. When run at the correct speed, a complete image is seen. (UK television runs at 25 fps, i.e 50 fields per second; U.S. television runs at 30 fps, i.e. 60 fields per second).

Animation then and animation now

Animation during 1980s was very old fashioned and during those time animation was very limited because of the technology during those times. An example of animation during those times is a video clip from Clash of the Titans which was created By Ray Harryhausen.

Todays animations consist of a variety of technology and can feature many skills such as CGI to create an illusion of clay motion or the usage of visual 3D effects to bring the animation to life. The two different links between then and now is that we have become more advanced in our technology to create more animation from a variety of skill sets. Here is a latest example of a stop motion animation from Youtube called Iron man vs Bruce lee which consists of stop motion and Green screen CGI.

By using my influences that i had researched in my sketch book i was able to create my own stop motion piece. I was influenced by many Youtubers such as Counter656 and Mike diva.

With these two main influences i was able to structure my own animation. Rather than just creating a stop motion using a DSLR and editing each image frame by frame, I found that i was able to create a stop motion animation by using an application from my phone. From this i was able to export the file from my phone to Final Cut Pro X to create a smooth stop motion. To make the animation more effective i added music (DUBSTEP) to help structure the animation more better. Here is the Stop motion piece i created for my stop motion animation assignment.

For another one of our assignments we were given a piece of footage shot by our tutors and was given a task to set the footage into an order using EDL login sheets and a script to maintain guidance towards making the video, Using techniques we have learn't from past assignments we were able to use these techniques to give our video clip more of a professionally approach. The Techniques used in this is, Cross cutting to one clip to another to make it a continuous scene e.g a close up angle to a mid angle. Also using sound bridges to over lap the sound with the clip for example a talking conversation over the phone and instead of cutting the clips when two people are talking, sound bridges enabled us to put the sound (conversation) on the same clip.

The stages that we went through from creating the video editing footage is first, getting the footage that my tutors recorded then getting hand outs of the script and the EDL sheets, then we logged each clip that we needed from the video using the script as guidance and was able to recorded and EDL what we were thinking stage by stage. Then using the logging sheet we then selected which clip we needed to import into Final cut pro were we were then able to edit the clips using the techniques we were taught, working as a team of four my group was able to put ideas across and communicate with each other so that we all had input to the final piece, an idea we had was to import a music piece I had on my phone to act as a ringtone in on of the scenes of the footage. Finally once the video footage was edited and complete we exported the clip to convert into a quick time file were it was then converted to a playable format for any use e.g internet use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ-03JnWwuY Ending 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNuqbF5piL8&feature=plcp- Ending 2

3 shots of different scenario's People, Traffic and Death meaning Grave yard each clip is meant to link with the other, we used a technique called cross cutting which from one clip it cuts straight to another clip leaving a almost continues editing effect, For example the kulsov effect it shows emotions of different frames linked to another.  this is all meant to link with a sequence such as  People walking to cars meaning danger to the end result of death i.e grave yard. 

The video of Spaghetti hero we created from a video and produced. The process of making the film took a lot of time but we were able to use techniques that we have learn't in class to produce our final piece of the video. We used cross fades and continues scene cutting which we were able to cut from one scene and to another with it seeming as if it was shot at a different angel.

 

Pioneers of video

The main Pioneers of video production are:

Lumiere Brothers- The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France, in 1862 and 1864, and moved to Lyon in 1870, where both attended La Martiniere, the largest technical school in Lyon. Their father, Claude-Antoine Lumière (1840–1911), ran a photographic firm and both brothers worked for him: Louis as a physicist and Auguste as a manager. Louis had made some improvements to the still-photograph process, the most notable being the dry-plate process, which was a major step towards moving images.

George Albert Smith- George Albert Smith (4 January 1864, London – 17 May 1959) was a stage hypnotist, psychic, magic lantern lecturer, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, who is best known for his controversial work with Edmund Gurney at the Society for Psychical Research, his short-films from 1897-1903 which pioneered film editing and close-ups, and his development of the first successful colour film process, Kinemacolor.

Cecil Hepworth- Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s at his Walton Studios. In 1923 his company went into receivership.

Edwin Porter- Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an American early film pioneer, most famous as a director with Thomas Edison's company. His most important films are Life of an American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train Robbery (1903).

D.W Griffths- David Llewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance (1916).

Lev Kuleshov- Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov born on 13 January 1899 – 29 March 1970 was a Soviet filmmaker and film theorist who taught at and helped establish the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School.

Sergei Eisenstein- sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein  23 January 1898  – 11 February 1948), was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage". He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1924), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1927), as well as the historical epicsAlexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958).

Alfred Hitchcock- Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980)  was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen while remaining a British subject. 

Why we edit

The main purpose of editing is to produce a small short clip or of a movie from clips they have produced or of clips they have gathered. Editing clips origanated in 1890s by one of the key influences within film making and editing. Thomas Edison.

Before the widespread use of non-linear editing systems, the initial editing of all films was done with a positive copy of the film negative called a film workprint (cutting copy in UK) by physically cutting and pasting together pieces of film, using a splicer and threading the film on a machine with a viewer such as a Moviola, or "flatbed" machine such as a K.-E.-M. or Steenbeck. Today, most films are edited digitally (on systems such as Avid or Final Cut Pro) and bypass the film positive workprint altogether. In the past, the use of a film positive (not the original negative) allowed the editor to do as much experimenting as he or she wished, without the risk of damaging the original.

Kuleshov Effect

Kuleshov effect is when a short footage of some ones emotion is repeated 3 times and 3 different clips are combined together with the emotion to show what that person feels through each scene. The experiment itself was created by assembling fragments of pre-existing film from the Tsarist film industry, with no new material. The effect was created by The Kuleshov effect takes its name from Lev Kuleshov, an influential filmmaker in the mid-twentieth century Soviet Union, who illustrated it. 


Kuleshov edited together a short film in which a shot of the expressionless face of Tsarist matinee idol Ivan Mosjoukine was alternated with various other shots (a plate of soup, a girl, a little girl's coffin). The film was shown to an audience who believed that the expression on Mosjoukine's face was different each time he appeared, depending on whether he was "looking at" the plate of soup, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire or grief respectively. Actually the footage of Mosjoukine was the same shot repeated over and over again.