Aside actors gracing our screens to bring stories to life, down to listening to tales by moonlight told by our grandparents, there are other means to bring in the wow factor.
For the love of “Moana”, “Coco”, “Spider Man into the Spider Verse”,” Naruto Shipudden”.
These are but a few animation loved by both young and old people alike. Aside watching movies, Anime has won the heart of many in which I am not an exception. Personally I am a “Coco” fan.
“I’m nodding and I’m yessing , I’ll count it as a blessing that I’m only un poco loco”. That is an excerpt from one of my favourite songs in the animated movie.. If it yours too, I hope you joined me in singing. If not, what is yours?
For today, Stop motion animation is the center piece. If you think stop motion animation is the same with traditional anime, you are in fact wrong. This type of animation differs from regular/ traditional Anime(short form for Animation) though similar.
Animations according to Studiobinders it is a method of photographing successive drawings, models or even puppets, to create an illusion of movement in a sequence.
Because our eyes can only retain an image for approximately 1/10 of a second, when multiple images appear in a fast succession, the brain blends them into a single moving image. In traditional animation, pictures are drawn or painted on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed.
On the other hand, Wikipedia defines Stop Motion Animation as an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frame is played back.
A Brief History
Stop motion did not become popular as stop motion, but as an advancement of techniques in the Silent era (1895-1928). A very long time ago right? This is to say that man has been looking for ways to entertain, tell his stories and also make cool cash.
During this period, the principles of animation and other special effects were mostly kept a secret, why? They were trade secrets. No body wants a rival. So they were private, to prevent competitors from using the techniques, and most importantly to keep audiences interested in the mystery.
You know how curious you get when you cannot explain some certain actions by entertainers, for example magicians. This curiosity sustains your interest. A similar effect was created.
Stop trick is a technique that where the camera is briefly stopped during the account of making a scene to make a change prior to when shooting commences. During this stoppage, the change is altered out of the film and it seems like a continuous action that is sudden, realistic yet puzzling.
French trick film pioneer Georges Méliès professed to have created the stop-trick and promoted it by utilizing it in a significant number of his short movies. He apparently utilized stop-motion activity in 1899 to deliver moving letterforms.
21st Century Stop Motion Anime
The 21st century has introduced a new and more convenient way to display stop motion. Unlike the previous trend, when stop trick involved manual efforts, with technological advancements, modern-day anime involves the use of a computer.
As interesting as stop motion sounds, it requires patience because it is time-consuming.
The Process
The basic process of animation involves taking a photograph of your objects or characters, moving them slightly, and taking another photograph. When you play back the images consecutively, the objects or characters appear to move on their own. You understand the gist now right.
Aside using this for creating movies, individuals have utilized this option in making breathtaking and fascinating ads. I came across a few on Instagram and I loved it. You can try it out too. We see stop motion all the time and don’t even recognize it. I am sure after this post, you should be able to.
7 Stop motion Animated Facts You Probably Don’t Know
1. The Longest Stop-motion Film
The longest stop-motion film is LAIKA’s Kubo and the Two Strings, with a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes. It was nearly beaten by Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs which fell short by only 1 minute!
2. The Smallest Stop-motion Film
The smallest stop-motion animation ever released was in 2011 and involved moving individual atoms to create the animation! Each frame was around 45 by 25 nanometres in size!
3. The Smallest 3D Stop-motion Animated Character
The smallest 3D stop-motion animated character was only 0.3mm tall. Each model was 3D printed on a micro-scale and photographed using an electron microscope.
4. Nick Park’s Pet Chickens
The two main characters of Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run, Ginger and Rocky, were named after co-director Nick Park’s childhood pet chickens!
5. Sets and Stages
A mammoth 130 sets were built for the film Coraline, spanning over 52 different animation stages. This covered an area of around 183,000 square feet!
6. The First Stop-motion
The very first stop-motion animation ever captured was The Humpty Dumpty Circus and was produced way back in 1898!
7. First Stop motion Puppet Animation
The first stop-motion puppet animation was produced in 1906 by a Russian ballet choreographer named Aleksandr Shiryaev. The film consisted of paper mâché figures moved around 7,500 times to convey a dance sequence. It wasn’t created as a new art form, rather as a way for the choreographer to record his dances to film.
There you have it. The hard work that goes behind the scene. Well, now you know. Stop motion is quite big in the entertainment industry with studios that specialize in this art of creation; Scary Cat Studio, The Cayman, 20th Century Animation etc.
Its Friday, get the popcorn rolling and relax to your favourite anime on screen. Whilst watching, remember to appreciate the brains behind it.
