Introduction
Stop motion is a unique form of art and filmmaking, making inanimate objects live with its technique. The art of stop motion animation forces the artist to be precise, accurate, and have unbeatable attention to detail.
The frame-by-frame moment creates an illusion of movement that originated in the 19th century. As we advance in the digital age and learn more filmmaking courses from academies like Frameboxx 2.0, know that stop motion is coming back.
If you’re a newbie in the zone or sector, read the post ahead. It will have necessary details on stop motion’s history, development over the years, and how we see its comeback shaping up.
Young filmmakers must pay attention if they want to implement this art form into their storytelling.
The Origin of Stop Motion Animation
We can see the history of stop motion animation dating back to the early 19th century. It required filmmakers to precisely curate sequences through frames to create a stimulating illusion.
It helps the storytellers to show inanimate objects moving about on the screen and create a nuanced storyline.
The first of the first stop motion movies was around the 1800s-1890s. One such movie was Humpty Dumpty Circus.
The filmmakers created this beautiful illusion of movement and frame-by-frame sequence by putting the circus of acrobats together.
The world of stop motion animation sprung forward into fame with movies like The Lost World and King Kong.
Introduction of Claymation in Stop Motion
The beginning of the 20th century saw the rise of Claymation – using clay figures to animate these objects on the screen. Iconic products of the 20th century in Claymation were:
- Grumpy
- The Adventures of Mark Twain
In these movies, we saw the artistic figures made from clay, which were quite aesthetic, fun, and flexible enough to move around.
How did the Stop Motion Animation Shape in this Digital Age?
The emergence of CGI:
From the beginning of 1993, around the Jurassic Park movie, we saw the end of traditional stop motion coming to an end. Phil Teppett recognized that he had to move over to computer-generated images even with vast knowledge of dinosaurs.
CGI started to take center stage, but stop motion did not cease to exist completely.
The movie Nightmare Before Christmas proved it right in the same year when Jurassic Park became a classic. Both movies were quite competitive in terms of CGI and stop motion animation.
However, the former was created by Harry Selick. He is a renowned stop motion animation director who made more movies to remain relevant and competitive in the filmmaking world.
We know some of his renowned movies like James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride, and Coraline.
Harry collaborated with Laika Studios to make the Coraline movie. This studio is now famous for combining stop motion animation with CGI to make the storytelling more immersive, intertwining, and engaging.
Success at the box office:
Movies like Shaun the Sheep, Isle of Dogs, and Fantastic Mr. Fox in the 2000s proved the successful comeback of stop motion into the limelight. These movies were one of the biggest hits at the box office in the stop motion category.
Charm of the stop motion movies:
Even when the stop motion is no longer the only technique to make the inanimate objects alive, it is still quite relevant. The stop motion animation has a unique charm and aura. It pulls the audience in. They love to watch such content for hours.
Possibly, it is the nature of the handcrafts introduced and used immensely in the stop motion animation films.
The visual effects in the stop motion films are real-life-like and, at times, quite cute, funny, and wonderous. That is one of the reasons it draws more children to theaters to watch the same.
Many filmmakers today use stop motion instead of CGI to make the film look cool, easy on the eyes, and appealing to the younger audience.
Easy to adopt for new-age filmmakers:
We know the digital age is making filmmaking more accessible and possible for hobbyists and enthusiasts. This equips people with even digital cameras and high-quality phones to shoot stop-motion films with anything or everything around them.
Finding a story in the most normal or mundane things around one’s universe is easy.
Moreover, anyone can buy and use green screens digitally or physically. The prices are quite cheap or economical, making it quicker for young filmmakers to adopt stop motion techniques at ease.
What do We Expect in the Future for Stop Motion Animation Movies?
From the case study of Laika Studios, we know CGI is not there to halt but to enhance the quality of stop motion. The landscapes are becoming more grueling, nuanced, and layered because of the blend of CGI into stop motion.
Battle scenes are more scenic, eye-pleasing, and inviting when we blend both techniques. Thus, we see more creativity in bringing stop motion back into filmmaking.
We know that the principles of filmmaking will be the same. These seldom change. However, more scripts and stories with a mix of CGI and stop motion will come alive.
More than that, filmmakers are preparing themselves to involve AI in filmmaking when editing their stop motion pictures online. Yet, we know that the tangible connection between your art in stop motion and the shot to create can never be replaced.
Rather, the future tech will make the scenes more interesting, creative, original, and stimulating for a viewer’s senses.
Conclusion:
Are you ready to take your career to the next level by becoming an epic stop motion animation artist?
We recommend that you go through its origin story from the post above. Then, continue enrolling in a full-fledged course from online academies like ours, that is, Frameboxx 2.0.
Additionally, we narrated how stop-motion animation came to its stature through various projects and movies.
More than that, we now acknowledge that stop motion is no longer the industry setter or dominator. However, the relevance of its charm is never going to be forgotten or replaced so easily.
Blend CGI, AI, and other modern techniques with stop motion to create movies with ever-lasting impact on your viewers.