Video Essay. Stop Motion Animation.

Since people were able to draw there is proof that we have been attempting to
create the illusion of motion on archeologic artifacts. Examples from the
European renaissance show decorated pots that when spun can give the illusion
of motion. In 1603, a device called the magic lantern was invented to project
images from a sheet of glass. This is considered the first ever form of projected
animation. In the early 20th century, characters such as Felix the cat and Gertie
the dinosaur were invented using hand drawn animation, these are considered
the first ever cartoons. Walt Disney used drawings to create well known
characters such as Mickey Mouse which is still a big hit in todays television.
The first stage of animation was created by pioneers. They created hand held
devices which used perception of image to give an illusion of movement.
Because the human eye retains images for around 0.04 seconds after seeing it,
when multiple images are shown in quick succession it can give the illusion of
movement. In the early 1800s, Joseph Plateau created the Phenakistocope. This
was a hand held device which consisted of two disc mounted on an axis. One of
the discs had hand drawn images around the circumference and the other had
multiple slots. When the two discs were spun they created the illusion of
movement. This meant one person could view the movement at a time and it
was viewed directly from the device. There was no use of models or frame rates,
however, the speed it was spun at decides the fluency of the images movement.
Another early pioneer of animation, William Horner created a slightly more
advanced version of the Phenakistocope called the Zoetrope. This device
consisted of a drum with an open top. It had a strip of paper around the inside
with hand drawn images and slots in the side. When the drum was spun the
illusion of movement of the images could be seen by multiple people through the
slots. However, this was still a hand held device and didnt involve models or any
recording/ projecting equipment.
Animation was then developed further by introducing models, taking pictures
and experimenting with frame rates to make a film. Willis OBrien who is best
known for his film King Kong, was one of the first people to make models for
animation. He even used rubber bladders which could give his models the
illusion they were breathing, and ball and socket joints to make the models move
as realistically as possible at the time. OBrien studied things such as lighting to
create appropriate shadows and highlights in his films. He also worked on used
green screens to mix animation with real actors to create one film. This was a
real development from the pioneer stage as the perception of image had been
turned into films that people could watch and enjoy in an easier way than the
hand held devices shown in the pioneer stage.
Ray Harryhausen is an example of another animation developer. He worked
closely with OBrien, and took advice from him on things like model making.
Because of the rise in popularity of animation due to the advance of technique,
making animation films became an expensive task. Therefore, Harryhausen
tended to have a low budget for his films. This meant he couldnt have wellknown actors in his films but allowed him to have more creativity when he was
making them. It is as a result of this that he created some very interesting and
popular monster animation films. Harryhausen took pictures of his models one

frame at a time and sometimes worked all night using a foot petal to take the
photo, just so that he wouldnt forget which frame he was up to.
Todays animations are much more advanced than they were in this phase of
development. The Brothers Quay are an example of improved contemporary
animators. Frame rates had become understood and therefore there was a
higher amount of frame rates per second which meant the film became much
more fluid and more realistic. Models are much better made and other things like
removable facial feature were made to make the emotion of characters more
believable and fluent. The Brothers Quay created weird creepy animations which
heavily involved materials like metal nails, dolls heads and blood. They show a
significant improvement between how animation was in the development phase
and the contemporary phase as their films are much more fluid.
Another example of a contemporary animator is Tim Burton. Tim Burton is an
animator like Walt Disney who draws pictures and turns them into animation. In
1982 he released an award winning short film called Vincent. This film is a good
example of his style of work. Burtons films show an even more improved
development of frame rates as his films flowed much more realistically than The
Brothers Quay. Technology had improved and the quality of his films is much
higher than the quality of any animators I have previously talked about. Many of
Burtons films are very well known and popular to this day, for example The
Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and James and the
Giant Peach. His work has a distinctive style and he adds a creepy touch to
stories to make them more interesting and aesthetically unique.
Stop motion animation is used in a number of different types of media, for
example Films, TV programmes, channel idents, advertising and music videos.
This style can give something a new and original touch and make it more
interesting for the viewer to watch. From the beginning of animation to now,
people have always shown an interest in this unique form of media.

References:
Cotterill, C. and profile, V. my complete (2011) Early pioneer: Joseph Plateau. Available at:
http://animationgeek.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/early-pioneer-joseph-plateau.html (Accessed: 8
November 2016).
In-text citations: (Cotterill and profile, 2011)
EarlyCinema.com (no date) Available at: http://www.earlycinema.com/technology/zoetrope.html
(Accessed: 8 November 2016).
In-text citations: (EarlyCinema.com, no date)
EarlyCinema.com (no date) Available at: http://www.earlycinema.com/technology/praxinoscope.html
(Accessed: 8 November 2016).
In-text citations: (EarlyCinema.com, no date)
Eadweard Muybridge (no date) Available at:
http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/person/180/Eadweard+Muybridge.html (Accessed: 8 November 2016).
In-text citations: (Eadweard Muybridge, no date)

Bibliography

'Artist of the Uintas' (2009) Willis OBrien stop-motion photography. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PjgxnyyQo (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Brighton Cinecity (2008) Street of Crocodiles excerpt. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNOfsJz4TjA (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
DistantMirrors (2013) Phenakistoscope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJQAck27l6s (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
epicfantasy (2015) Make a Phenakistoscope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQVdTXEo2qM (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Filmman Cine Mix (2013) The Harryhausen chronicles. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y19kfPCFHWY (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Jo Ward (2012) Zoetrope animation toy of A galloping horse | Zoetrope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBg6dAE3mI0 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
magicalmotionmuseum (2012a) 1867 Milton Bradley Co. - Zoetrope series no. 1 (12
early animations). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG6ywByMAyE
(Accessed: 18 November 2016).
magicalmotionmuseum (2012b) 1915 Willis H. OBrien - the dinosaur and the
missing link (essential edit). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RClif87GM1A (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Mat Bergman (2006) The Ray Harryhausen creature list. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9kmjW73-v4 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Mati Kettell (2013) Peel - E4 TV Ident (stop motion). Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3egCTZMGi_A (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Oren Lavie (2009) Her morning elegance / Oren Lavie. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
petrover (2006) Vincent - Tim.Burton.Short.Animation.1982. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQcBKUPm8o (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Raffi Asdourian (2012) The Quay brothers interview. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuW-RchDq2Q (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Robbie Jardine (2013) Wallace and Gromits cracking contraptions complete series
with behind the scenes (2002). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mbBO-hiF8wE (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Sony Pictures DVD (2013) Tim Burton sits down with Ray Harryhausen. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLMi-zQvL4 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
teajay74 (2009) Target dreaming girl commercial. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IVgo9WEUEc (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
Citations, Quotes & Annotations
'Artist of the Uintas' (2009) Willis OBrien stop-motion photography. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PjgxnyyQo (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
('Artist of the Uintas', 2009)

Brighton Cinecity (2008) Street of Crocodiles excerpt. Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNOfsJz4TjA (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Brighton Cinecity, 2008)
DistantMirrors (2013) Phenakistoscope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJQAck27l6s (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(DistantMirrors, 2013)
epicfantasy (2015) Make a Phenakistoscope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQVdTXEo2qM (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(epicfantasy, 2015)
Filmman Cine Mix (2013) The Harryhausen chronicles. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y19kfPCFHWY (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Filmman Cine Mix, 2013)
Jo Ward (2012) Zoetrope animation toy of A galloping horse | Zoetrope. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBg6dAE3mI0 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Jo Ward, 2012)
magicalmotionmuseum (2012a) 1867 Milton Bradley Co. - Zoetrope series no. 1 (12
early animations). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG6ywByMAyE
(Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(magicalmotionmuseum, 2012a)
magicalmotionmuseum (2012b) 1915 Willis H. OBrien - the dinosaur and the
missing link (essential edit). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RClif87GM1A (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(magicalmotionmuseum, 2012b)
Mat Bergman (2006) The Ray Harryhausen creature list. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9kmjW73-v4 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Mat Bergman, 2006)
Mati Kettell (2013) Peel - E4 TV Ident (stop motion). Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3egCTZMGi_A (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Mati Kettell, 2013)
Oren Lavie (2009) Her morning elegance / Oren Lavie. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Oren Lavie, 2009)
petrover (2006) Vincent - Tim.Burton.Short.Animation.1982. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQcBKUPm8o (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(petrover, 2006)
Raffi Asdourian (2012) The Quay brothers interview. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuW-RchDq2Q (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Raffi Asdourian, 2012)

Robbie Jardine (2013) Wallace and Gromits cracking contraptions complete series
with behind the scenes (2002). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mbBO-hiF8wE (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Robbie Jardine, 2013)
Sony Pictures DVD (2013) Tim Burton sits down with Ray Harryhausen. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLMi-zQvL4 (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(Sony Pictures DVD, 2013)
teajay74 (2009) Target dreaming girl commercial. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IVgo9WEUEc (Accessed: 18 November 2016).
(teajay74, 2009)