Historical to Modern Day Stop motion Amy Howard, Sèana Anderson and Maddy Caulfield

History of Stop Motion

The Humpty- Dumpty Circus The film Humpty Dumpty Circus was created in 1898, directed J. Stuart Blackton and produced by Albert E. Smith. It is said to be the first (know) stop motion animation film that features puppets. It is said that Albert E. Smith conceived the film ideas and used his daughters toy circus as props and shot the acrobats and animals in barely changed position a frame at a time.

The Humpty Dumpty Circus The film has unfortunately been lost to time, there is no footage available. There are only a few screenshots remaining of the time and it is unlikely to ever be found. The film has been put in the Guinness Book of work records as the first ever stop motion short film.

Wladysław Starewicz/ Ladislas Starewitch(vich) Born: 8th August 1882 Death: 28th February 1965 Birthplace: Moscow to a polish family Name Change: The Russian Revolution caused Wladysław to emigrate. He fled to Paris, arriving in 1920 where he became known as Ladislas Starewitch(vich). Job: Animator/ Director. Hobbies: His childhood passion was entomology.

Wladysław Starewicz/ Ladislas Starewitch(vich) Wladysław Starewicz/ Ladislas Starewitch(vich) made many stop motion film. One of his first films was Lucanus Cervus/ The Battle Of The Stag Beetles which used insects as puppets. The film Starewicz is best know for is his masterpiece call Le Roman de Renard/ The Tale of the Fox 1930, It is said that the films level of detail and subtlety is outstanding especially for the time it was made. The Puppets which Starewicz called Cinè Marionettes where capable of fantastic facial expressions and varied greatly in size. The smallest puppets where 1 inch tall and the Lion King was the tallest puppet standing nearly 3.5 feet.

Claymation Claymation is an early concept of stop motion, the animated object is created from a malleable substance such as clay or plasticine. German Animator Oskar Fischinger is the pioneer in the art of claymation (also known as clay animation) in the 1920’s, 30’s paving the way for the 90’s to catch up and produce vast amounts of films and shows out of claymation. The first ever clay animation stop motion movie was released was a movie called Modelling Extraordinary.

Different Materials and Process’s for Making Puppets

’Tulips Shall Grow’ by George Pal used replacement puppets for each movement in 1942

This would no longer be used in the industry because it would be expensive and time consuming, but in a big production it would be very common to have more than one model for a character, for example Jack Skellington in ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ had over 400 different heads. This has translated into 3D printing, replacement heads and body parts. ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ used 3D printing replacement heads Example: London based company DBLG made a two second animation called ‘Bear on Stairs’ using only 3D printed models. It took them 4 weeks to complete. Although 3D printing for stop motion is not practical now, it is becoming more and more used as the technology progresses.

Wire Armatures

Pros: They are cheap, relatively easy to make, are not restricted to joints which is good for non- human or other characters, can be made quickly so would be good for a background character, and can also make very thin characters. Many different materials can be used on top of the wire eg. Foam, latex, wood, super sculpy, plastecine. More flexible so therefore more freedom with what you can create cheaply and quickly. Cons: Down sides would be they break easily if moved too much If the puppet is bigger than about 12 inches it might not be strong enough to support the weight of the materials. If it is covered in latex or a resin, once the wire breaks it is almost impossible to salvage.

Plug In Wire Armatures One way to avoid the frustration of eventual breakage is to use ‘plug in’ joints, arms, and legs. This way if they do break you can replace them. This is kind of a half way point between wire and ball and socket. The pros of this are the ability to replace parts, but the cons would be that the puppet is heavier, will be more expensive, and would have less flexibility.

Ball and Socket Armatures

Pros: They last much longer, they can be made out of different materials such as steel, aluminum, or brass. They are manufactured with laser cutting, Sintering (compressing a material into a certain shape using heat or pressure), 3D printing, or completely hand crafted. In a big production the armature may be tested on a computed first, to check for movement of the joints. Generally a combination of all of these techniques will be used. Can be made a lot larger than a wire armature, because it is stronger and more robust Cons: The cons are obviously the price aspect, they can be very expensive, and not appropriate for a smaller production. The puppet will need holes in order to get access to the joints so they can be tightened and loosened. They will be heavier and bulkier compared to a wire armature, making a thin, skeletal character may be harder (but of course not impossible) Will take much longer to make and produce multiple armatures. Generally require more time, money, and effort.

3D Printed Armatures Pros: Probably the most expensive way of making an armature, but this is something that is becoming a big part of the animation industry as the technology improves. The pros of this are than you can print as many as you want and they will all be the same, they are light weight and can be designed digitally. It is mostly used for prototypes at the moment, it is a technique used by Laika first in ‘Coraline’.

Stop motion studios over time. Stop motion studios have developed over time in similar ways, weather they use Claymation or the replacement method. Why? Efficiency Cost/ funding Materials Pipeline In Segundo de Chomón- ‘El hotel eléctrico’ it shows everyday objects being moved as if by magic. (shown in image 1) Even though it’s one of the earlier stop motion films, it was developed from a FX stand point and played an important part in moving toward stop motion feature films. Image 1- Actress in ‘El hotel electrico’

The Nightmare Before Christmas. In 1993 the limits of stop motion were being pushed again, this time on a more technological front. This included the camera shots and lighting. For The Nightmare before Christmas a studio had to be created, in 1991 the team moved into a studio space to start pre-production. ‘We had to create a company to do this’- Kathleen Gavin (1993). In 2005 director Henry Selick moved on from The Nightmare Before Christmas to Coraline. By this point the technology had once again developed. Image 2

Pipeline structure. For The Nightmare Before Christmas pipeline was inconsistent with the industry standard, demonstrated in Image 3. Whilst the order of the work at stop motion studios is fairly standard, by now, it doesn’t mean that it might not change or overlap. In various studios the time taken on each part could be different, but at the very least the basic ones will be included. Storyboarding, concept and design, construction. Image 3.

Image 4. Model making process for Chicken run. Aardman. Although Aardman uses a similar pipeline, their stylised look is different, meaning that they had to overcome different issues to maintain it. Although they were founded in 1972 it wasn’t until 2000 when they created their first feature film, ‘Chicken Run’. For them the big issue was creating chickens using plasticine, their most common material. ‘In plasticine, you can’t do feathers, you can’t do thin legs that are going to weigh a ton’ – Peter Lord (2000) Combining silicone and plasticine caused the issue of hiding the lines between the head and the body. Much like Laika, Aardman have also progressed to include CG into their films. In this case with the model making. This goes to show how stop motion has adapted to include CG without removing the handmade style. Image 4. Model making process for Chicken run.

‘Bad Jubies’ at Bix Pix. Director Kirsten Lepore of ‘Sweet Dreams’ and, recently, the stop motion episode of Adventure Time’s ‘Bad Jubies’ commented in an interview about the differences and challenges she found when going from working independently, on her own projects, to working with a studio to make a 2D animated TV series into 3D stop motion. ‘It’s a little scarier, and feels high stakes’ –Kirsten Lepore (2016) Along side adapting to working as part of a team other issues included: The time frame Size of the team Translating 2D characters into 3D Image 5.

Conclusion. Throughout history stop motion hasn’t stopped evolving, at some points almost collapsing, however, it is still a growing medium that’s becoming increasingly more prominent in feature films as the bigger studios set new standards. Despite this, the work with smaller studios, like Bix Pix, shows that there is still plenty of room for episode based productions.