Animation Techniques : Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion animation involves using objects to create the illusion of movement, this is done by photographing the object frame by frame. This type of animation can be done through both comuter methods and traditional methods, however traditional methods tend to be preferred as it requires less money and time.

These are the different types of stop motion animation:

Puppet animation
This process involves using puppet figures that include an armature inside the body to keep the puppets movement in control. the puppet is usually put in a specifically made environment that is a part of the set of the animation. When using more then one version of the puppet, the process is then known as Puppetoon.

A good example of Puppet Animation in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" produced in 1993


Clay Animation 
The process of this animation involves using clay to create figures, the figures may be equipped with wire to support a particular pose for the figure. It is usually combined with stop motion animation to make.





A good example of Clay Animation in "Wallace and Gromit" produced in 1989


Strata-cut Animation
This process involves using a long spread of clay and slicing it into thin sheets, each sheet contains a frame of imagery and when sliced the camera is set to capture the frame of each slice, as a result conveying the movement and visual imagery inside the clay

Cutout Animation
This process involves using a two-dimensional material and moving it to create a nice effect, the material choice is often either paper or cloth.

A good example of this is seen in "South Park" produced in 1997



Silhouette Animation 
The process of this animation is very similar to cut-out animation, the only difference being that the material is back light so that it can be viewed as as a silhouette.










A good example of this is "Princes et Princesses" produced in 2000


Model Animation
The process of this animation involves a combination of techniques as a way to create an interaction between animation and the live action setting. To do this effects such as inter-cutting ans split screens are used to smoothly transcend and combine the two.










A good example of this is seen in "King Kong" produced in 1933


Go Animation
This animation is very similar to "Model Animation" with the concept of wanting to combine two different dimensions together. The difference being that this process focus more on creating a motion blur in between the frames.










A good example of this is seen in "The Empire Strikes Back" which was produced in 1980


Graphic Animation 
The process of this animation involves manipulating flat graphic material such as photographs or magazine pages to create movement.

Brickfilm Animation 
This animation technique involves using brick toys to make an animated film, the most popular type or toy used being Lego. This type of animation is commonly used in websites like YouTube, due to how easy it is to do with equipment that is available and affordable to all.

Pixilation
This animation technique involves using people as characters and manipulating their presence with effects such as showing them to appear in one frame and then disappear in the next.









A good example of this is seen in "The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb" produced in 1933.