The history and Development of Stop Motion Animation

Pioneers and the technology which has innovated and changed animation.


The Thaumatrope:

Its creation: The Thamuatrope and its creator are quite mysterious, the general consensus i that it was either John Ayston Paris or Peter Mark Roget although the creator hasn't ever been 100% confirmed, it was first shown in 1824 at the Royal College of Physicians, Paris used it to demonstrate persistence of vision and showcase he invention to an audience. John Ayston Paris is generally accepted as the creator of the Thaumatrope although it has never been confirmed, the public see it as him as he was the first to showcase it to the public

How does the Thaumatrope work?

The Thaumatrope is a toy which has a double sided disk attached to a piece of string on either side  of the device so that it can be spun round to create an illusion the the pictures on either side of the circle are combined and form one picture due to persistence of vision creating the illusion that the pictures are combined.

Here is a clip of the Thaumatrope in action:






Phenakistoscope:

The Phenakistoscope first began as a theory in which was recognised  by two people both Euclid of Alexandria and Isaac Newton, however, it was finally fully created in 1832 by Joseph Plateau. The word Phenakistoscope comes from the Greek word Phenakizein which has the meaning of deception as it deceives your eyes and makes you believe what you're seeing is in motion.

How does the Phenakistoscope work?

The Phenakistoscope is a disk in which has multiple images at a different stage which ultinately loops back round to make you believe what you are seeing is fully in motion, once the disc is spun it is reflected in a mirror, this gives the image that what you are seeing is in motion, this is actually similar to a very modern format, the: .gif.

Here is a Phenakistoscope in action:




Zoetrope:

The Zoetrope is a 19th century optical toy which involves a drum with a series of pictures inside which can be viewed through slits in the drum, this gives the person the impression that what they are viewing is a continuous movement and not still images.

A very primal variation of the Zoetrope first came to be around 100 BC by Chinese inventor Ding Huan, However, the drum of modern, more recognisable Zoetropes was first first created in 1833 by British born mathematician William George Hunter.

How does a Zoetrope work?

A zoetrope works by placing a strip of images inside the drum and spinning the drum, the viewer then has to look through the many slits on the outside of the drum and with the correct lighting what they will see before them is the illusion of continuous movement when in reality they are just viewing still images.

Here is a Zoetrope in action:



Praxinoscope:

A Praxinoscope is a combination of pictures inside a metal drum however, these are reflected via a prism which has 12 mirrors, these mirrors flash a clear image of the picture when it flashes past it, this works by the drum being rotated rapidly and the images being reflected in the mirrors.

The Praxinoscope was created by: Charles - Emile Reynaud in 1877, however, he first get the idea in 1872 and 5 years later turned into practical entertainment for everyone. He decided to showcase his invention via public performances through long strips of hand painted frames.

Here is an example of Praxinoscope in action:



Kinetoscope:

The Kinetoscope was deigned by Thomas Edison and William Dickson in 1891, it was designed for the individual to view a film one at a time through a window in the top of the machine, the video is made up of a series of images via a film reel at 46 frames a second with one single bulb used to illuminate to give the illusion the image is moving.

It was unveiled to the public at the Brooklyn institute of arts in 1893.

Here is an example of a Kinetoscope in action:




The developers of these pieces of technology and what did they use them for?:


George Pal:


George Pal is a famous Hungarian stop motion animator, he is most famous for his solo work with the: Puppetoons which were child friendly stop motion animations, it is thought that Pal was extremely ahead of time, this is due to the sheer amount of effort and detail he put into every single one of his pieces of work, with each second having 100's of movements, His excellence was finally recognised in 1943 when he was awarded an: Honorary Oscar for his work with the Puppetoons and other pieces of his work,

20 years after his first Puppetoons short, he worked on the cult-classic movie: Time Machine, he was responsible for the movement of the time machine and the illusion that the character was indeed travelling in time.

       George Pal (1979)


Here is a Puppetoons short, showing Pal's work:



Willis O'Brien:

Willis O'Brien was an American stop motion animation artist. He had always had an interest in Dinosaurs and was fond of them from a young age, he would later base the majority of his work on Dinosaurs due to his childhood love for them.

Any piece of spare time Willis had, he spent sculpting marble Dinosaur sculptures, this finally lead him to being hired as a Draftsman for an architects office, A fun fact is he also had a career in Boxing winning 9 matches and only losing once!

Willis started his career in stop-motion animation after he sculpted a Dinosaur and Caveman, leading to his first ever short, this can be viewed, here:


After the release of Dinosaur O'Brien was hired by Thomas Edison to create even more stop motion films, these films were: R,F,D 10,000 B.C and Prehistoric Poultry (Both released in 1917).

O'Brien's most famous pieces of work were: The Lost World and King Kong, both of these films were huge in bringing a bigger audience to stop motion animation and inspiring other Stop Motion animators.

Here is a picture of O'Brien working on King Kong:





Ray Harryhausen:

Ray Harrhausen was an American born animator, born in 1920.

Harryhausen had a passion for animating after viewing O'Brien's King Kong and turned his early years into animating stop motion animations, O'Brien was kind enough to arrange meetings with Harryhausen to critique his models and tell him where he could improve, telling Harryhausen to take graphics classes to further his abilities.

Harryhausen worked with another previously mentioned animator: George Pal on his famous Puppetoons shorts, this was Harryhausen's first role in the animation industry.

Harryhausen's first role in Film was when he was hired as an assistant animator for the film: Mighty Joe Young, for this he was awarded an Academy award for best special effects.

Harryhausen's first film in which he was solely in charge of was: The Best from 20,000 Fathoms, it was a global success which really  pushed Harryhausen's career forward.

It was on this movie Harryhausen first usedhis invention: Dynamation, this split both the background and foreground of pre shot footage, this allowed him to animate both the foreground and background for a clip, ultimately changing animation forever.

Here is an example of Harryhausen's work on Jason and The Argonauts:






Phil Tippett:

Phil Tippett specialsed in stop motion and visual effects, he was responsible for the now infamous chess models in Star Wars IV, he made these using plasticine.

Tippett was also responsible for the AT-AT walkers as they were animated using stop motion.

Here is an example of Tippett's work:



Otmar Gutmann:

Gutmann was a  Swiss director and animator. born in 1937.


Gutmann is most famously known for being the creator of Pingu, a beloved children's stop motion animation. Pingu was awarded a Bafta due to Gutmann's work on the show. All episodes were edited using claymation in Switzerland.

Here is a clip from an episode of Pingu:






Tim Burton & Henry Selick:

Tim Burton and Henry Selick are both American born stop motion animators, both most famous for their work on: The Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Before these two were created, Selick worked on the classic film: James And The Giant Peach which shares a similar animation style to both Burton and Selick's future work.




Adam Shaheen:


Shaheen is an English born animator and television producer, he is the founder of: Cuppa Coffee studios, in which he develops unique and fresh programmes. Shaheen has produced over 200 adverts and received over 100 awards for his work, he has produced for global companies such as: Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney.

Here is an example of Shaheen's work:





The Brothers Quay:

The Quay Brothers are English born animators born in 1947.

They are the founders of Konick Studios,

The brothers are famous for producing dark and creepy animations, which are different to anything else anyone offers.

They animated using Doll parts and other organic and inorganic materials, deliberately partly disassembled, to put across their images in a more dramatic, real view.

The majority of their work features no dialogue at all, they are nearly almost dependent on the high scores they use throughout their work.

The Quay Brothers were inspired by polish animations they used to watch when they were younger.




Nick Park:

Nick Park is an English director and animator, who has worked on various different stop motion animation projects for the famous company: Aardman.

Aardman are famous for their stop motion animation pieces, however, have ventured away from stop-motion with their movie: Flushed Away. In which used computer generated images.

They have also made: Chicken Run and Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, both of which were big commercial successes.

Here is an example of Nick Park and Aardman's work:





Media Platforms and Audiences:

TV Programmes:

Television Programmes are a great way for directors and producers to get what they want to be shown out to the public eye, this is due to the sheer amount of variation available to them in terms of channels and ideas.


Here is an example of a Television Programme:




Celebrity Deathmatch is a stop motion animation in which was made famous in the 1990's, it is clearly aimed at the teenage/young adults audience, due to its pop-culture references and witty humour in which would not interest an adult audience. This is further backed up by the fact that it was broadcasted on the main Teenage television channel in the 1990's: MTV.

Here is another example of a Television Programme:



Pingu is a stop-motion animated Television programme which is aimed at an audience of young children. This is visible by its child like humour and lack of words for the children to relate to, it doesn't over complicate things and this is done deliberately and very well due to it being aimed at Children, as over complicating things can confuse the childs interest quickly.


Feature Films:


Fantastic Mr Fox is a great example of s top-motion animated feature film. It is aimed at a family genre which is kid friendly meaning that it is enjoyable for a wide range of people. This is due to the violence never going too in-depth to scare away children. But also having a witty side in which parents and adults can appreciate and enjoy aswell.

Another example is:



Another example of a full, feature length stop-motion animated film is Coraline.
Coraline is hard to define exactly what its 'target audience' is, this is due to it having a child friendly story and having a main character in which you'd expect to see in a children's movie, however, it doesn't have the same bright and friendly feel to it in which most children's films do which leads me to think it's aimed at Children as its main demographic but can also be viewed by adults due to its dark undertones.


Advertisements:





This Volvo advert is aimed at families, it has the calming, peaceful setting with the harmless paper look to it, which is appealing for all age ranges which makes me think this is aimed for the family, this also applies for the fact that the car is clearly a family size car, due to the size of the car itself.



Here is another example of a stop-motion Television advert:




For this McCoys advert it's hard to define exactly who the target audience is,this is due to not much actually happening in the advert itself, however, due to the voice-over having a deep, manly voice you would assume that it is aimed at an adult, male audience, furthermore, the fact that the packet of crisps is aggressive is a masculine approach that once again puts it forward to a male audience.