The Art of Clay Animation

What is Animation? Animation is the rapid display of a

series of pictures in order to create an illusion of movement.

Animation is an optical illusion of motion.

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This animation moves at 10 frames per second.

The bouncing ball animation (to the right) consists of these 6 frames.

What is Stop Motion Animation? Stop-motion (or frame-by-frame) is an

animation technique where the artist maneuvers real-world objects and photographs them one at a time.

What is Stop Motion Animation?

When the photos are combined in a series the illusion of movement is created. Just like the bouncing ball animation we saw earlier.

In claymation films, each frame or picture, is played back at a frame rate greater than 10–12 frames per second.

This animation moves at 10 frames per second.

The bouncing ball animation (to the right) consists of these 6 frames.

What is Claymation? Clay figures are used in stop

motion animations because they are easy to move and position.

Stop motion animation using clay is called claymation.

History of Claymation Clay animation began after the

invention of a clay-like substance called plasticine in 1897.

How to Create your Characters In clay animation each object is

sculpted in clay or Plasticine, usually around a wire skeleton called an armature.

History of Claymation One of the first claymation films was

made in 1908. This film was A Sculptor's Welsh Rarebit

Nightmare. Claymation wasn't a popular technique

for almost 70 years.

Gumby It wasn't until the

1980's that claymation became popular.

One memorable clay animations was Art Pokey's Gumby.

Will Vinton

Will Vinton is a big part of clay animation's history.

He made a Claymation, a movie explaining the process of clay animation.

His most popular creation was the California Raisins.

“Any one can do claymation and have wonderful results.“--Will Vinton

Well . . . almost. Animators at the studio may reshape a character up to 1,440 times in only one minute.

Each second of film consists of 24 different frames of film.

Three seconds of animation is considered a 'good day.'

http://willvinton.net/

Famous Claymation Films Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park

Famous Claymation Films Chicken Run by Aardman Animations studios

Famous Claymation Films Corpse Bride,The Nightmare Before

Christmas, and Caroline By Henry Selick

Famous Claymation ShowsBob the Builder created by Keith Chapman

The PJ’s

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Professional Claymation Movies

Producing a claymation movie is hard work.

Normal claymation films run at 12 frames or pictures per second.

30-minute movie=about 21,600 stops to change the figures for the frames.

Full-length 90-minute movie=about 64,800 stops. Animators are very careful that the object is not

altered by accidents, by even slight smudges, dirt, hair, or dust.

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