"Also called stop-action photography, stop-motion cinematography. a special effect, carried out while shooting, in which the performers stop their motion and the camera is stopped while an object or performer is added to or removed from the scene, with camera movement and action then resumed for the remainder of the scene: used to create an illusion of sudden appearance or disappearance of persons or objects." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stop+motion
Stop motion animation as a cinematic technique dates from around 1900, a time were various animation techniques were being created and as people experimented with the new media of film. However, animation as a medium actually predates cinema. People have always had a fascination with the illusion of movement eg. Plato's allegory of the Cave, were figure view the movement of shadows cast by a fire. It was through a fascination and experimentation of animation that people were led to invent the medium of cinema. One of the earliest animation devices was the Zoetrope (1833), which is actually predated by the Victorian device the Thaumatrope (1824). In the 1870's it was Eadweard Muybridge numerous experiments with photography in an attempt to show movement in animals and humans that led directly to the development of cinema. There are several examples of early pioneers of stop motion,
"Pioneer narrative film-maker Edwin S. Porter and his use of stop motion dolls in his short, The Teddy Bears (1907)" and "Leon Gaumont (1864-1946), who was awarded a French patent for stop-motion animation (stopping and starting the camera while a change is made in the scene being filmed) in 1900." ( Animation Art, P12)
For most of the 20th century, stop motion was the main technique used for special effects in films until CGI was later developed and perfected. Some of the main icons of stop-motion animation were Willis O'Brien who created the special effects for films such as The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933), and Ray HarryHausen, O'Brien's successor in the medium.
Ray harryhausen
Harryhausen has created many iconic creates and monster throughout his career but many agree that his most famous animation sequence was in "Jason and the Argonautes"
"In what is probably Ray Harryhausen's finest film, Jason and the Argonauts(1963), there is a stunning episode in which live- action star Todd Armstrong fights a skeletal army, born from the scattered teeth of a Hydra......It is a breath taking sequence of screen magic which has inspired many animators including Aardman's Peter Lord and Dave Sproxton"" (Cracking Animation, p46)
My favourite scene of Harryhausen would be the fight between Kali and Sinbad in "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". I thought the synchronized movements of the stone statue fighting several opponents was very impressive.
I have always found that Harryhausen's creatures felt more realistic and believable within his films than the CGI monsters and creatures in todays films. It's even more amazing that he animated most of his animation sequences by himself, since he preferred to work by himself. For example in a radio interview on BBC radio 4, he explain how he painted out the strings in every single frame for his UFO sequences,
Harryhausen used a complex method for his animation "The process involved elaborate setups that sandwiched the stop-motion animation models between glass matte paintings or optically matte foreground elements and rear-screen- projected background plates" ( Animation Art, p159)
The problems I would have using this method would be trying to get the resources together for the models and the setting.
Jabberwocky - Jan Svankmajer
Another famous stop-motion animator I have researched is Jan Svanmajer, an artist and filmmaker from the Czech Republic. I think his method of stop motion animation would be more suitable for this project. He brings life to different objects creating surreal and grotesque animation sequences,
"Svankmajer's films play on universal phobias: dark cellars and empty houses; dead things- such as ox's tongue- that look uncomfortably human; and dangerous things such as nails, scissors and broken glass." (Cracking animation, p27)
Considering my budget and timetable for this project, I think this method of stop-motion would be more effective. Of course the overall imagery of the animation will hopefully not be as dark Svankmajers films.
Svankmajer has used themes of childhood within two of his animations, Jabberwocky (1971) and Alice (1988),
In Jabberowcky, for example, the theme is one of the struggle between fantasy and reality....Before the young boy becomes the suited young man, he has to put away the things of a child for those of manhood. Svankmajer is obviously ambivalent about given his acknowledgement of the roots of the imagination and art in childhood, while at the same time knowing that this is also an escape from what he sees as the cruelties, fears and anxieties of that stage of life" ( Svankmajer, The Communication of Dreams, p18)
I like how he uses the poem Jabberwocky as a bases for a theme, but then comes up with his own view of the story. The film itself is made up of random occurrences between the objects in the room. The narrative is deliberately disjointed throughout the piece but the interesting visuals invite the viewer to engage with their own imagination. Svankmajer put himself in direct opposition with mainstream animation such as Disney.
Alice- Jan Svankmajer
Alice was the first Svankmajer animation I saw as a child and it greatly influenced me with its surrealistic characters and settings. Svankmajer again uses the Lewis Caroll story as a basis and constructs the film from his own memories and imagination.
My favourite sequence in the film is the scene introducing the cards. The scene combines numerous types of animation, such as stop motion, cutout, traditional drawn animation and live action footage.
Svankmajer never restricts himself to a technique in his film, but rather uses what is necessary to convey his work.
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