Unit 33 Stop Motion Animation Task 1

The Pioneers of Stop Motion Ray Harryhausen – Harryhausen was famous for his work in stop motion animation where he further improved the way it could be captured and animated. He worked on films such as Jason and the Argonauts and Mighty Joe Young. Harryhausen invented Dynamation which was his unique way of capturing animation that could be used with an already captured piece of film. He did this by placing a projection screen (with image being projected on) behind his animating table. He then put some glass in front of the camera and the animating table which he would draw mattes on to then combine two images into one. Willis O’Brien – O’Brien was the man behind the animated dinosaurs in The Lost World and King Kong. O’Brien was praised for his animation techniques and skills as it was this that made the film famous. He would study apes and gorillas to get a realistic feel for Kong and created the animation with a flawless smoothness (flawless at the time). The animation was so well done that Kong moved and acted in a human way where he would reach for the face of the dinosaur he was fighting and would wrestle enemies to the ground. He inspired pioneers such as Ray Harryhausen and Phil Tippett which is why Harryhausen worked with him on Mighty Joe Young.

Key Films that use stop motion King Kong – The stop motion animation used in the 1933 rendition of King Kong was advanced for its time and made it a huge success. The model of Kong was 1 inch to 1 foot scale and 4 copies were made for different scenes. The models were made with realistic materials like latex, rubber and rabbits fur. Small bendable wires, metal levers, hinges and an air compressor were used to control the face and it’s expressions. A non- articulated arm and leg were made to be mounted on a crane for scenes involving actors getting picked up and stood on. Ray Harryhausen was the man behind the animation of King Kong, he came up with the idea of using mattes so there could be scenes involving both actors and stop animation models. Jason and the Argonauts – Once again Harryhausen stunned audiences with his stop motion animation knowledge and skills by creating realistic mythical creatures. The battle scene with the skeletons is a key scene and has become famous as Harryhausen’s patience made the scene look like the skeletons were actually there fighting Jason. Talos the mythical beast that Harryhausen animated was voted the 2nd best film monster of all time by Empire magazine. The number 1 spot went to King Kong. James and the Giant Peach – Produced by Tim Burton, this film incorporates stop motion animation with Burtons gothic touch to give stop motion a creepier feel. The film was split into live action scenes and stop motion scenes with few scenes involving both, this was to cut costs and for ease of filming. The film was a huge success and the stop motion fit well with the Roald Dahl novel.

Animators who redefined stop motion Jan Svankmajer – He gained reputation for his distinct use of stop motion animation incorporating it with surrealist yet funny images. Svankmajer had unique techniques that recurred in his other stop motion films for example exaggerated sounds especially for eating scenes which was a subject that fascinated him. He incorporated fast motion and live action scenes in films together to again give it a surrealistic feel. Tim Burton – An accomplished director and animator Burton was made famous for his dark, gothic twists on films. ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is one of his most famous stop motion films and broke one of the basic rules of stop motion animation, eyes for expression. Burton wanted characters that had no eyes to come to life and because of the lack of expression it fit well with the gothic style of the film. Willis H. O’Brien – Known as a stop motion pioneer because of such films as ‘The Lost World’ and ‘Mighty Joe Young’. O’Brien (with help from Marcel Delgado) created sculptures using metal animatronic armatures to represent a skeleton and rubber for the skin; for King Kong he used rabbit skin as the fur. O’Brien wanted the dinosaurs in ‘The Lost World’ to seem so realistic that it looked like they were breathing so he designed a bladder that could be inflated and deflated.

Contemporary filmmakers Aardman Animations - Aardman studios are widely known as one of the best model animation companies in the world. The company has an array of awards under it’s belt and never fails to release programs that are well written, captured and edited. Aardman Animations was founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton in 1972 when they were at school and the first character they made was Morph in 1976. Aardman looked to have an adult audience for their model animation and soon used the idea to characterize real people and capture the humour, insight and sensitivity of the general public (Creature Comforts). Quay Bros – American influential stop motion animators that are identical twin brothers. Their films normally have a dark, moody atmosphere with the characters being puppets assembled from different parts to add to the surrealism. Dialogue isn’t a major part of their filmmaking style and usually have no dialogue scenes apart from background multilingual gibberish to have the creepy feel that their films radiate. Their short film Street of Crocodiles had received a critical reception from viewers and this success gave them the freedom to experiment further.