Unit 33 Assignment 1

Stop Motion animation 

Stop Motion Animation uses different principles which are called Time, Gravity, Overlapping & Followthrough, Arcs & Poses, Anticipation and Secondary Action. But however you can take the option of not following ALL the principles in your work and this depends on the style and genre of the animation you have decided to create. 

The TIME aspect means the number of frames per second. For example the fewer frames used would mean that the movement of the motion picture would look unprofessional, making the clay, live action or objects move like they're 'shuffling' and seem 'jumpy'. However the more frames used make the characters feel more realistic and trick the eye into thinking that they're actually moving. The trick is to use 24 frames (pictures) per second to ensure that the film has a high standard quality, the human eye retains an image for 1/20th of a second, giving the illusion that a still image is animated.

ARCS AND POSES adds reality to the animation. For example, the audience needs to be able to relate to the models in a way that they need to have human qualities about them, otherwise it won't work. The models should have hand gestures whilst speaking to express what they're saying, this could also be referred to as Secondary Action as this is when a character emphasising movements to make them seem more realistic and dramatic. The model should move their bodies in the way that humans do and should react to diegetic sound like 'cars beeping' whilst the character is crossing the road, they should acknowledge and respond to sound. Sometimes however this  principle may not be followed due to the creators intentions of the animation.  

OVERLAPPING AND FOLLOWTHROUGH  this also adds human qualities and realistic values towards an animated character. As we know, in real life people don't do everything at the same speed. For example of following this principle would be if your character is going to get onto the bus they'd be walking whilst swinging their arms, possiblily speaking whilst buying a ticket and handing money over to the bus driver, but this is not all done at the same speed, they might pause and move more human like and realistically.

GRAVITY is an interesting principle in a stop motion film. Some stop motion animations ignore this principle to add humour. But in other cases when something falls the object will hit the floor, when a character is pushed over they'll hit the floor, following this rule is an important part of stop motion animation. 

The Phenakistoscope developed in 1832

Zoetrope developed in 1833

The Praxinoscope developed in 1877

Willis H. O'Brien developed in 1886

Kinetoscope developed in 1889

Ray Harryhausen developed his first stop motion in 1938

Jan Svankmajor developed in 1950

FANTASY ACTION AND ADVENTURE FILM

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958

Target Audience - Fantasy, Action, Adventure fans

Claymation and Live Action

Created by Nathan Juran

ADULTS

Lee Hardcastle developed in 1985

CHILDRENS ANIMATION 

Pingu 1986 

Claymation 

Created by Otmar Gutmann

CHILDREN

Modern Technology in Stop Motion developed in 1989

HAND SEWN STOP MOTION CLIP 2000

Doo Bee's Striptease (stop motion animation)

Animated, directed and produced by Nuni Weisz & Doron Assayas

Target Audience: Teens & Adults 

Doo Bee's Striptease Analysis 

    

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

Real Life animation 

Target Audience: Adults and Teens

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie analysis 

STOP MOTION MUSIC VIDEO

Taylor Swift 2012 We Are Never Getting Back Together lyric video

Target Audience: Teens

Real Objects

Big Machine Records

We Are Never Getting Back Together  2012 Analysis 

2D STOP MOTION 

UNITED AIRLINES: Paper Heart 2013

 Created by Duck Studios / Santa Monica

TEENS AND ADULTS

LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Stop-Motion Feature 2013 

Created by MICHAEL HICK 

Target Audience: Children and Teens

1. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad Analysis 

Nathan Juran's claymation/live action stop motion film is the genre Fantasy, Action and Adventure, which means we would expect to see mythical creatures, weapons and fights and battles, exciting and unusual experiences. The quality of the cinematography in this stop motion is quite old and out dated. CGI wasn't invented in the 50's so to create this kind of character for a motion picture, would have to be done by claymation stop motion.

The way this character moves at 21 seconds we can tell that the time principle is being used, you can notice that the movement of the character is moving like 'shuffling' along, this could be due to the fact that the creators didn't take enough frames per second to create a more swift improved movements whilst walking. This effects the audience by making them feel less intimated by the monster, it seems quite funny and comical whilst I was watching the movement of the model and couldn't take it very seriously.  

At 30 seconds we can see that the OVERLAPPING AND FOLLOWTHROUGH  principle has been added to make the monster seem more realistic, when an arrow is thrown at the monster and hits him we can see him pull out the arrow and scream angrily and then pull the object out of his body and look at the arrow and then back at the real life human actors in anger. The character is doing his different movements at different speeds by pausing and staring at the arrow and then vastly becoming raged with anger. This is also using the Arcs and poses principle because the characters emontions are the same as a humans would be if he were to be hit with an arrow, by looking at the weapon the humans have used to defeat the monster he stares with anger and then retaliates to there actions like a person would do. This effects the audience by showing that the model feels the way we would about the situtuion he is faced with.

At 11 seconds in we see the model moving it's model to chase the humans, the humans react to non diegetic sound they hear from the model, this is using the arcs and poses principle. The monster figure roars so the real live action humans show that they're scared by this character. They are responding to sound and acknowledging that the monster model character is showing the audience that he is dangerous. 

2. Pingu 1986 Analysis 

The TIME principle is used at 48 seconds into the animation we can see that the character Pingu walks like he is 'waddling' walking with short steps in a clumsy swaying motion, I think that Otmar Gutmann purposely created fewer frames to make the movement of the character like this. It gives Pingu more character in this stop motion's case, for example it effects the audience by showing that he is a baby/child so he can not walk correctly just yet which melts the audiences hearts also the fact that he's a penguin and these animals don't walk like humans in reality. 

Also ARCS AND POSES principle is used at 4.31 into the video, we see the baby Pingu crying adding human quality to this character, the mother is comforting her son by rubbing his head and hugging him. This adds reality to the animation, effecting the audience by making them to relate to the models, when they we're upset as a child they're partners would comfort them. It is also using Secondary Action because Pingu is emphasising his hurt head to make the pain he is feeling more dramatic. He is reacting to something that happened to him, which was intended by the creator.  

OVERLAPPING AND FOLLOWTHROUGH principle is seen at 24 seconds into the video, the father character is doing multiple tasks at the same time, he is eating whilst also talking and becoming annoyed at Pingu. He is pausing whilst holding his knife and fork to speak to Pingu, he then proceeds to eat his food, this is a human quality and what most people do in situations of eating dinner with family. He is following through with his anger by banging his cutlery on the table, this also mades a more realistic value to the animation. This effects the audience as it could also be a message to children to behave at dinner time that the creator but there intentionally to teach young children a lesson. And it obviously works as this stop motion tv series was very popular in the 1980's.

We can see at 3.21 the GRAVITY principle being used, the ball is being thrown into the air and it lands back down on the ground ready to be kicked again whilst the models play a game of catch. It's an important rule of stop motion animation and is followed to add realism for the viewers because this is aimed at children. This effects the audience by making them believe that models of penguins play with toys like us humans do and helps us to relate to them to enjoy the programme and keep it innocent and sweet for children to be able to watch.

3. UNITED AIRLINES: Paper Heart

2 seconds into the video we notice the TIME principle being used and I can tell that there is a large number of frames per second being used to create a 'swift' movement between the two models. The models are made from 2D pieces of paper and they're moving in a very realistic human way, when the male character hugs the female you can notice her foot kicks upwards to add romance to the shot and makes the audience believe that they're really alive and moving with emotions and aspects of the secondary action principle can be seen by the way she kicks her hug up whilst being close to her loved one, its showing us that she is emphasising her movements and it's a very dramatic hug.

At 9 and 18 seconds into the video we can see the ARCS AND POSES principle being used, the female is kissing her boyfriend and also shaking hands with a business colleague to add more reality to the animation. For example, the audience is relating to the models because when we say goodbye to our partners we would kiss them goodbye at the airport and in a working environment we would act professional and shake hands during big events. Its also showing that the models are using hand gestures to express what the narrative of the story is. Plus the way that the female model moves her body is very realistic. Although there is a surreal element to the story, she takes out her heart and hands it  to her boyfriend, this isn't something that the audience can relate to and makes the model seem more dramatic but this could have a deeper meaning that some viewers may find interesting and maybe to relate towards.

At 43 seconds in we notice the OVERLAPPING AND FOLLOWTHROUGH principle we can see the model showing that she is shocked because of a bird flying through her heart, and staring off into the distance As we know, in real life people don't do everything at the same speed. For example of following this principle would be if your character is going to get onto the bus they'd be walking whilst swinging their arms, possibility speaking whilst buying a ticket and handing money over to the bus driver, but this is not all done at the same speed, they might pause and move more human like and realistically.

At 50 seconds into this video we can see that the GRAVITY principle is being used to show the model in an aeroplane flying to a different place, this is following the rules of gravity because we can see that she has to use the same principles of getting to other places in the world that we do. This is using realism and helps us to relate to this character, even though there are some elements of surrealism when she takes her heart out and gives it to her loved one. The creator could make it even more surreal and give the character the ability to fly or transport herself, but this is also an advert for a flight agency and it helps promote the airline by showing this stop motion model sat on a plane. This makes the audience want to fly with this airline maybe because of their different way of advertising their brand.

Old VS the new

Stop Motion has changed throughout the years and defiantly for the better. There has been a lot of improvement in technology such as high definition cameras and advanced software systems to give us better quality stop motion animations. For example if I take a look at the 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' in 1958 I can straight away spot the differences from a more modern animation such as 'United Airlines Paper Hearts'. There have been far fewer frames per second in 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' which is a huge disadvantage because it makes the model's movements not as 'smooth and swift' as the models movements in 2013. Also in the older animation the background drop isn't detailed and clear, which adds a grainy visual to the animation. However the background in the more modern animation is extremely much more detailed and has been thought a lot about with it's design and cinematography and has been given a large amount of attention by the creator. By having things going on in the background gives the audience a more enjoyable experience it's visually more entertaining because in real life if something is happening, they're is always something else happening in the background, other peoples stories and lives are happening in reality. There should be extras and more realistic things going on to add more of a believable story rather than nothing happening apart from background drop of a beach like we see in  the 1958 animation.

 Genre, Style and Audience

Claymation has different styles of animation, Claymation is more suitable for children because of its simplicity and it's history of famous TV shows such as Fifi and the Flowertots, Postman Pat, Pingu and films for example Fantastic Mr Fox. Wallace and Gormit. It was a very popular way to make entertaining media for children, the bright colours attract their eyes and the soft shape of the models are innocent for children to watch. Although they're are different genres of Claymation, for example King Kong is targeted for adults, it was much easier to create a monster like King Kong using Claymation before we had CGI and other high advanced technologies that we have today. Also a YouTuber who gained worldwide success is a man called Lee Hardcastle who is known creating remakes of scenes from films in his bedroom using low budget materials to create his amazingly talented Claymation animations  for example a good clay to die hard is an action animation parody from the film 'Die Hard', he uses surreal models such as cats to create a humorous and enjoyable action packed animation suitable for a older audience.   



Live action is also a different type of style, this type of style attracts a wide range of audiences and be relatable and  create an audience in all different age ranges and genders, which is simply based on the narrative on the animation. The her morning elegance animation relates to teens and adults, because it's more romantic and surreal narrative which children wouldn't understand but an older audience would be able to enjoy the stop motion. It's fascinating and takes a large amount of time and patience to be able to use humans to participate in starring in a stop motion rather than models because real people would get tired and bored of being used a 'model' so I think it takes a lot of talent to pull it off.