The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation

Take an in-depth look at the art and techniques of stop-motion animation. The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation helps experienced stop-motion artists enhance their craft by exploring the professional methods and advanced technology used by top film studios today. This book features expanded coverage of the basic principles of animation, including specific applications for character performance and visual effect compositing techniques. All the newest technology is touched on, including detailed information on camera rigs, effects, and shooting stop-motion in stereoscopic 3D. Discover new puppet building techniques, including the technology behind the rapid prototyping of computer models for stop-motion production. You'll even find a thorough history of early feature-length stop-motion films. The practical techniques and skills presented are enhanced by interviews with many of the most celebrated stop-motion artists as well as coverage of the work of several artists working in the online stop-motion community. Whether your focus is low-budget indie filmmaking or big studio productions, The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation provides a comprehensive look at both the latest methods and the artists who are driving the revival of stop-motion animation.

[...]... become one of the leaders in stop-motion animation 7 8 The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation Another stop-motion feature made in the 1940s that barely had a screen release was a Belgian puppet version of The Crab with the Golden Claws, based on a comic book of the same name, featuring a young reporter named Tintin and produced by Wilfried Bouchery The film faithfully follows the story of Tintin’s... happened In 2006, I wrote my first book, The Art of StopMotion Animation (Figure I.1), as a practical guide for how stop-motion films were made xvii xviii The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation Figure I.1 The Art of Stop-Motion Animation (2006) by Ken A Priebe At that time, we were just starting to see the advent of digital SLR cameras and their use for stop-motion photography, both in feature films... The Tale of the Fox was indeed the first fully animated puppet feature to be produced, and technically the first to be released as well, although it was delayed by several years because of technical problems with the soundtrack Although the animation was complete by 1930, it would not 6 The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation Figure 1.2 The Lion King and Reynard the Fox from The Tale of the Fox (©... which represent the growth of stop-motion education and the online stop-motion community, celebrating the work of several artists who share their work through their websites and production blogs CD-ROM Downloads If you purchased an ebook version of this book, and the book had a companion CD-ROM, we will mail you a copy of the disc Please send ptrsupplements@cengage.com the title of the book, the ISBN, your... fan of stop-motion or any other kind of animation, I trust you will find plenty of good reading material in this book However, because it’s an advanced volume, if you are new to learning animation and want a book for guidance on how stop-motion is done, I would recommend my first book The basic principles covered in The Art of Stop-Motion Animation are important to grasp before moving on to the more advanced. .. getting them from one feature of entertainment to another The short format for stop-motion is a double-edged sword in the opportunity it has lavished on the medium For the most well-executed stop-motion sequences, such as Harryhausen’s 5-minute skeleton fight in 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts, the shorter format provided a solid frame to place as much quality as 1 2 The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation. .. advanced the art form into new territories of innovative storytelling, and many other independent films were being noticed as well Riding the crest of this wave, I was approached by Course Technology with the idea of writing another book that would go into more up-to-date detail on the art form Several months later, you are holding that book in your hands My first book, The Art of Stop-Motion Animation, ... difficult to finance projects of this magnitude Feature-length projects, which are simultaneously the most expensive and profitable form of filmmaking, often set the bar for success of any medium in the animation field, regardless of their popularity in shorter formats In 1937, Walt Disney took the world by storm with the phenomenal success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs It was not the first animated feature... Horton Hears a Who!), and others grew to dominate and saturate the feature market The CG boom of the past decade expanded to the point of prompting rumors of the extinction of more traditional techniques of hand-drawn and stop-motion, partly fueled by Disney’s misguided decision to abandon the hand-drawn medium for features Yet this rumored extinction was not necessarily the case; these traditional features... film schools are taking up stop-motion, and, from the amount of new stop-motion bits on YouTube, more kids of all ages are wrestling toys, clay, dolls, and puppets to life than at any time in history And there are now multiple books on stop-motion where none existed before, including the one in your hands Ken Priebe’s The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation is the best book on the subject available Ken . stop- motion films were made. xvii Introduction The Advanced Art of Stop- Motion Animation xviii At that time, we were just starting to see the advent of. be interested in being part of a stop- Figure I.1 The Art of Stop- Motion Animation (2006) by Ken A. Priebe. Introduction xix motion event to help promote