STOPMOTIONESSAY– HOWSTOPMOTIONHASCHANGEDOVER TIME There are many ways in which animated TV shows, films and other type of visual animated media is displayed. One technique in animation that majority of producers, directors and film makers pursue is stopmotion animation, this consists of animation such as, Cut out, Claymation, Pixilation and Model and Object stopmotion. They all have different ways of expressing themselves but they all come under the same technique. In fact animation existed and was invented before film was ever made, and film really is a form of stopmotion. However it’s just played faster (24fps) to give an illusion to the movement. The first stopmotion that was made was called Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton -The Humpty Dumpty Circus that lasted about 2 minutes; the characters were models and objects, which came alive. Stopmotion Timeline After film had been invented stop motion became a way of creating movement of objects that normally did not move. For example the first successful ventures occurred in 1919 with the premiere of the part live-action/part animation Out of the Inkwell series of shorts, featuring the animated Ko-Ko the Clown character in a live-action world - one of the first animated characters. Ko-Ko climbed out of the inkwell and interacted with the human animator. It was rotoscope and it made be more lifelike by tracing motion picture footage of human movement. There was a development of the different techniques of stop motion from early films for example ‘The cameraman’s Revenge by Wladyslaw Starewicz is an early example of model and objects which in the 1900swas said to be a developed in detail and smoothness compared to 1800sanimation. Wladyslaw Starewicz used real but dead beetles, which is why the movement of the beetles are so smooth, also to make it seem real that beetle are there actual size. The target audiencesare people from a upper class becauseback then going to be the cinema was expensive and a treat for those who couldn’t afford upper classfamilies who go to the cinema is what it is targeting. However, Willis O’Brien King Kong was a clay/model animation, it was the first major example of stop motion as ‘special effects’ cutting edge technology using ‘back screen projection’ to make the stop motion models and actors appear on screen at the same time. Compared this to cameraman’s revenge there is very much a different, firstly there is a 21 year gap of these two animations and technology has developed and has enriched, but this also may come down the budget the King Kong budget was £411, 983 allowing them to spend more on there film then cameraman’s revenge. This is becausein the 1930sHollywood and cinema was a ‘mass’ entertainment form for 1000’s of people. Another difference is the lighting stayed consist throughout and there was no colour to be able to change that so it made it seem real for King Kong but for the cameraman’s revenge the light constantly changesbut into colours like yellow, blue and pink its so that it can engagesand be more interesting with the audience. The cameraman’s revenge used a lot of objects and models, making it seeprops as big as the beetles are for example when the male beetle opens up the suitcase the suitcase is as big as him. However with King Kong the use back screen projection making King Kong bigger then the humans around him. The sound for Camera’s man is
classical calm vibe throughout it helps tell the story of what’s going on as the beetles can’t speak. The King Kong sound usesthe same method but the sounds are more intense and is in synced with the action that is going on. For example, when the man cuts the big rope trying to get away from the lizard, the sound then changesand the camera pans up to King Kong and there is a loud bang. The set for King Kong majority of the animation is in the background projections and only maybe one or two pieces of the set with the actors. The audience for King Kong would be mainstream but film fans mainly targeted also this was the time were fairly new as a massmedia form, and were shown in the cinema. Ray Harryhausen made ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ this was made 30 years after the making of King Kong. This is similar becausethis film was also made by back screen projections, however they did it differently, in King Kong the actors would act in front of the screen, unlike Jason and the Argonauts they would film the actors fighting and then later edited creating clay monsters to be over the footage. Jason and the Argonauts some parts look flat especially in the skeleton fight, but then the skeletons when fighting look 3D. The budgets was similar to King Kong a high production of £645,900,which is why they have projectors, and are able to have a fight and to create the set or have money to go on location which is another difference King Kong was filmed a studio. The development of technology as increased so therefore Claymation has enhanced and now the frames per second are more smoother moving at 24fps which is film level. Stars Wars Empire Strikes Back this was the next big animated film the for Hoth scene, the budget for the movie was a massive £11,620,800,with this budget they could get the upgraded technology and use it in there fight scenes. You can see that it was a high production film becausethey blended action with the robots and it’s so smooth we are unaware of how they merged together. The CGInow has taken over animation and now they are there main technique. The FPSfor the Hoth scene is a little jumpy but they could get away with it becauserobots and machines speaking slowly and moving slowly. The target audience are for ‘geeks’ who have an interest in sci – fi but with it being a worldwide hit its reached everyone and turned mainstream. The outcome of the film profited £348,167,156. Other films of animation are cut out animation and pixilation. Examples of cut out animation are Terry Gilliam TV sketch show Monty Python, South Park, Pigeon Street, The Adventures of Prince Achmed. South Park is a cut out, the movement of there bodies have unlimited movement of just bopping up and down, however this brings the humour out which doesn’t take its self to seriously. The camerawork is static and only smoothly pans and zooms and changeslocation when needed. The set is a backdrop for the characters to make it more interesting inside of a white plan background. The characters are flat drawings. The sound in South Park is only the voices of the characters becausethey are the main priority of the show. Another example of cut out is Monty Python Killer Car episode, it similar to south park with the backdrop and with unlimited movement of the characters. Also similar is the FPS which is 12 – 15fps. Also similar is the camera is static with pans and zooms like South Park. The set is a cut out scenery of London and the countryside. The sound in the animation is voiceover and produces the noises himself but there were extra noises made by objects like the eyeball dropping. Neighbor pixilation that was made in 1952. The movements for the animation is smooth, the FPSis around 13 – 16 fps. The camera work is static throughout until they go to different shots. The set is very plain; there isn’t a lot there with only two cardboard housesand fences. The sound in the animation is just one solid sound to create a mood and thee sound to flow with the action so that it makes sense. Peter Gabriel’s
sledgehammer a music video, the movement of the video is speed up so that it flows with the songs and the FPSbeing 27 – 37fps. Again the camerawork is static apart from when it changesshot to make excitement. The setting was constantly changing because the setting it to flowing with the music.