Techniques and Formats:

Time Lapse – this is a different kind of stop motion animation as it uses the exact same technique however it is presented differently. Time lapses are usually used to film an area or place, rather than a single object as this technique would not work properly. The whole point of a stop motion animation is to give the illusion of movement in real time, however the purpose of a time lapse is to animate objects but speed it up much faster, to give the illusion of ‘fast-forwarding’ time. A time lapse is often used in movies, films or programmes to show a movement of time in a professional way. To make a time lapse, pictures have to be taken at less frequent intervals than a stop frame, perhaps every 30 seconds. The pictures should be taken for about 40 minutes to give a significant illusion of time and speed. Once the images are stitched together and sped up, it looks like a piece of fast moving media.

Human Stop Motion (Pixelation) – this is a version of stop frame animation which is aimed at people a lot more than the other types of animation. The reason for this is because it uses humans rather than objects or other items. Movement is created the exact same way the other stop motion animations are created, however pixelation animation tends to be a bit faster to make because you don’t have the move the object because the ‘actor’ knows what they are doing. This version of stop frame would more suitably be used in short films rather than huge feature films because they are often less entertaining as a human can be filmed normally, whereas an inanimate object cannot be filmed normally which makes it more enjoyable.

Claymation – Claymation is another version of stop motion animation that is very good for animating inanimate objects. This is because you can mould the clay that you are using to any shape that you want. You could create a person from it or make a random blob as a character, this is because using clay allows you to make whatever you want. Movement is created by slightly adjusting the models position and taking a photo. Once this process is repeated, it looks like the figure is moving. An incredible piece of Claymation is ‘Wallace and Gromit’ as they are plasticine models which are moulded in ways to make it look like they are moving. Because they have a huge production team, they can spend a very long time on making a small movement, which then makes it look like it is a standard animation.