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Stop motion is an animation technique where objects are physically manipulated in tiny increments on multiple individually photographed frames.
When all those photographs are displayed in a rapid sequence or played back, you get the illusion of motion.
Anything can be stop-motion animated this way, but traditionally, puppets with movable joints were the preferred subjects.
Stop-motion has arguably been in use since the mid-1800s, even before the advent of film itself!
With the rise of digital and 3D technology, this has morphed into a realistic-looking animation style, but the term applies.
There are several different types of stop-motion animation, but one prevailing style, the one with physical models being manipulated.
The most common types are puppet and claymation, using poseable models with armature wire skeletons.
However, other kinds include:
1. Zoetrope: The earliest form of stop motion animation, predating film itself.2. Pixilation: Stop motion using live actors rather than models or photographs.
3. Cutout animation: Using flat cut out materials like paper, fabric or photographs.
The animated television show South Park was originally created with cutout animation method, although today they use computer animation and mimic the original style as closely as they can.
It should be pointed out that today, a common animation style is to closely mimic the unique stop motion look and style in regular 3D animation.
This has become common enough today that the term “stop motion” can also refer to the visual look and style of traditional “real” stop motion animation with physical puppets and models– except it’s all digital.
So just to clear things up, let’s look at some examples of both traditional stop motion animation as well as the 3D animation style that mimics the same to great effect.
Animation is simply exploding and ever-changing.
With the advent of improved technology, artists are experimenting and doing things previously impossible.
Like this delightful animated video for Emirates, created by industry legends Buck.
They seamlessly blended traditional animation with 3D stop motion models.
They bring us a playful take on an annoying issue in airline travel: rambunctious noisy kids who don’t like flying.
We’ve all been there!
By going for a light-hearted and jovial tone, the video is careful not to offend anyone by being sympathetic to all parties, while revealing their solution: more entertainment options to keep kids happy.
And that makes everyone happy!
We couldn’t do a blog on stop motion without including at least one music video.
And there’s no better example than Peter Gabriel, a pioneer of the music video format, who made several videos in this style.
Similar to the previous video, Sledgehammer blends multiple styles of video and animation to create a deliberately jagged, bizarre experience that’s a fun watch overall, and perfectly suits the song too.
Pizza Hut takes their pizzas very seriously.
And nobody likes lukewarm or cold pizza.
So they went all out and invented the Hot Pouch, a special package to keep pizza hot and fresh from the oven right up until the moment they ring your doorbell.
Of course, an invention like this needs to be announced to the world.
But in order to really sell their revolutionary offering, they partnered with Giant Ant to put out a video.
And not just any boring traditional ad, they went with animation for maximum punch.
Animation really has the power to tell any story in a way that grabs even a passive audience’s attention, holds it, and delivers information that remains fresh in their memory long after they’ve watched it.
Earlier we mentioned that a common thing today is 3D art that mimics the look and feel of traditional stop motion.
Well here’s the opposite: the company Playful made a traditional stop motion that looks so clean and fluid that you’d mistake it for really well-done 3D!
We had to watch the making-of video before we could believe it.
Playful’s clever and beautifully done animated video for Hatso is just genius-level handcrafted stop motion.
We can’t stop watching it!
Another example of mixed media, Oddfellows crafted this energetic and goofy animated video blending traditional and stop motion animation.
It’s seamless while also highlighting the Prego product at the same time.
The sharp script really ties it all together, too.
Going back to fully traditional stop motion animation, this stunning and fun video for Samsung by Malcolm Handley just blows us away.
It’s energetic, fun, attention-grabbing and says so much while saying not much at all.
This is yet another example of what we mean when we say that animation is more art than science.
Conventional wisdom would tell you to create an animated video that explains all the features and tech specs, especially since the product is a solid state hard drive.
But this video does nothing of the sort, opting instead to “show, don’t tell” by using an active skateboarding character to hint at how tough, rugged and portable their SSD drives are.
Animation is such a powerful and versatile tool for communicating ideas that it’s almost like people are still figuring out how to put it to use.
Have you thought about what it can do for you and your brand?
It’s never too late to get started. Drop us a line and find out today!
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