Claymation

Media Technology

“Claymation” Renaissance of an animation form

First Bachelor Thesis

Completed by

Christoph Thalinger mt101092

From the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences Media Technology degree course Under the supervision of FH-Prof. Mag. Markus Wintersberger St. Pölten, on October 31, 2012 Author: Christoph Thalinger

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Declaration

n the attached research paper is my own, original work undertaken in partial fulfillment of my degree.

n I have made no use of sources, materials or assistance other than those which have been openly and fully acknowledged in the text. If any part of another person’s work has been quoted, this either appears in inverted commas or (if beyond a few lines) is indented.

n Any direct quotation or source of ideas has been identified in the text by author,

date, and page number(s) immediately after such an item, and full details are provided in a reference list at the end of the text.

n I understand that any breach of the fair practice regulations may result in a mark

of zero for this research paper and that it could also involve other repercussions.

St. Pölten, on October 31, 2012

Author: Christoph Thalinger

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Abstract Throughout the 21st century claymation movies have gained increasing popularity. Although many films created with the help of this animation technique are well known, hardly anybody knows how those movies are produced. The first clay animated film was produced during the early 1900’s. Consequently, the question arises what the production phases of such a movie are. What could be the reason that the claymation animation technique is still used nowadays? This bachelor thesis aims at answering those questions and also comments on some of the latest work of Aardmans Animation and Adam Elliot. It is structured in five chapters. In the first two chapters the history of animation and the different animation techniques are described. Then the term claymation will be discussed in detail. The fourth chapter discusses the three production phases. Furthermore, the question whether claymation can be defined as art will be clarified. A claymation sample of the author’s own work demonstrates the way claymation can be produced easily, quickly and cost-efficiently and aims at awakening interest in this animation technique. This is done due to the fact that this form of bringing a static object to life, has really experienced a renaissance in the last years.

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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. 4

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 6

2. WHAT IS ANIMATION? ............................................................................................................ 7

2.1. DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES ................................................................................................................ 8 2.1.1. 2D drawn animation ......................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2. Cut-‐out animation ............................................................................................................. 8 2.1.3. 3D model animation or stop motion animation ............................................................... 9 2.1.4. CGI (computer generated imagery) .................................................................................. 9

2.2. HISTORY OF STOP MOTION ........................................................................................................... 10 2.2.1. Georges Méliès ............................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2. Willis O’Brien .................................................................................................................. 10 2.2.3. Ray Harryhausen ............................................................................................................ 11

3. CLAYMATION ........................................................................................................................ 12

3.1. HISTORY OF CLAYMATION ............................................................................................................ 12 3.1.1. Will Vinton ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.1.2. Jan Svankmajer ............................................................................................................... 13

3.2. THE CHARM OF CLAYMATION ....................................................................................................... 14 3.3. SUBCATEGORIES ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.3.1. Clayography .................................................................................................................... 15 3.3.2. Claypainting .................................................................................................................... 15 3.3.3. Slowmation ..................................................................................................................... 15

3.4. CLAYMATION WORK 1990-‐2012 ................................................................................................. 16 3.4.1. Aardman Animations ...................................................................................................... 17 3.4.2. Adam Elliot ...................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.3. Harvie Krumpet ............................................................................................................... 20

4. PRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 21

4.1. PRE -‐ PRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 21 4.2. PRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 24 4.3. POST – PRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 26

5. OWN EXPERIENCE ................................................................................................................. 27

5.1. “FRITZ AND LEMON” .................................................................................................................. 27 5.2. “FRITZ AND BOX” ...................................................................................................................... 28

6. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 29

6.1. CLAYMATION AS ART? ................................................................................................................. 29

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LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 31

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... 33

APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................. 33

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 34

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1. Introduction

First of all, the question arises why people are so fascinated by movies? I think because the images move; they are not static. It is that movement of the frames which emotionally connects you with the story being told. People in general are always interested in anything that is new. As long as it is new it is also exciting. Consequently the question arises whether claymation is it still exciting? What could be the reason for that? That is what this bachelor paper wants to find out. Therefore I would like to introduce you to, what is in my opinion, the most beautiful way to bring a story to the screen. This particular technique is called claymation. In this paper, I will give a brief overview about animation in general. Followed by the main part claymation. As the main title is claymation, this chapter will focusing on the work of Aardman Animation and Adam Elliot (1990-2012). For people who are interested in producing their own claymation movie, chapter four shows the main production stages and give some examples. Last but not least, I will present my own experience in the field of particular animation technique. Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit inspired me when I was a kid. I loved watching the funny little stories and always wondered how they are produced. In 2011 I was selected to study abroad for one semester. At LYIT College, Ireland, Mary Gallagher taught me the principles of animation and suddenly I was fascinated in the same way as I had been when I was little. In a world where almost everything is somehow connected to a computer, it is impressive that there are still animated movies, which just use handcrafted objects and in-camera effects. According to Rickitt,

“Animation is perhaps the most important and widely used of all special effects techniques, and it has produced some of the most memorable and truly breathtaking moments in the history of the movies.” (Rickitt 2000, p. 136).

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2. What is animation?

In this chapter I will give an overview of what animation is all about, as well as a brief glimpse into the history of stop motion animation. Almost every film, whether fiction or documentary, produces pictures of full-sized objects and/or people in three-dimensional space. The standard shooting speed for such ‘live-action’ films is usually 24 frames per second. When shooting an animated film, animators create a series of images, by shooting one frame at a time. Between the exposure of each frame, the animator changes the subject a little bit. Daffy Duck, for instance, does not exist to be filmed in real life, but a carefully planned and executed series of slightly different drawings of Duffy can be filmed as single frames. When projected with a certain speed, the images create the illusion of movement and life. Anything in the world that the filmmaker can manipulate can be animated. Because animation is the counterpart to live-action, any sort of film that cannot be filmed live can be made using animation. (Bordwell/Thompson 2003, pp. 162–163)

“Animation is animation, whatever the medium. Whether you are drawing on paper, modelling in Plasticine, showing a couple of matchboxes around in front of a Bolex camera or animating with a computer”. (Shaw 2008, p. 1)

Where can animation be found? There are so many different places where animation appears: in the cinema, on television, on the Internet and especially in computer games. This form of bringing a static object to life can be used in presentations, short films such as trailers or YouTube clips, in education, in movies or just for fun. Rickitt explains,

“The principle at the heart of moving pictures is the ability to project still images at the speed of twenty-four frames per second, thus creating the illusion of continuous movement. Animators take advantage of the fact that the filming of such images need not be continuous, and that each frame in a sequence can be photographed individually with a lengthy time between exposures. By manipulating objects incrementally from frame to frame, animators are able to create the impression of movement and life where there is none.” (Rickitt 2000, p. 136).

So the difference between a live-action film and an animation is that a common film records continuous movement and breaks it up into single frames while animation starts with the single frames and puts them together to create the illusion of movement.

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2.1. Different techniques

Shaw suggests, “The basic laws of movement apply to any form of animation.” (Shaw 2008, p. 2) The four major animation techniques used today are:

n 2D drawn animation

n Cut-out animation

n 3D model animation or stop motion animation

n CGI (computer generated imagery)

(Jarvis n.d., n.p.)

2.1.1. 2D drawn animation

The most popular technique of those four is drawn animation. At the beginning of the area of cinema, animators drew and photographed long series of cartoon images. Before the rectangular sheets of celluloid, nicknamed cels, were introduced to the animators, they drew on paper, copying the entire image. This was a very time consuming process. During the 1910’s animators started to drew their pictures on different cels. With this technique the image foreground and background were separated. These could then be layered like a sandwich on top of a non-transparent painted setting. All of these cels would then be photographed. New sheets of celluloid showing the character and objects in slightly different positions could then be placed over the same background. This method allowed animators to save a lot of time in the animation process. In 1937 Disney created the first feature length cartoon, called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, produced with the celluloid animation method. From the 1930’s to the 1950’s the most famous cartoon shorts were made with cels, such as Bugs Bunny, Popeye and Mickey Mouse. This animation technique is still in use today. (Bordwell/Thompson 2003, p. 163)

2.1.2. Cut-out animation

Another technique that works with two-dimensional images involves cut-outs. This is a very simple form of animation. Adrien-Luc Sanders says about cut-out animation: “Cutout animation is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: cutout shapes arranged on a flat surface, and manually moved and repositioned to simulate animation.“ (Sanders n.d., n.p.) Plenty of materials can be used to make such an animation. Lotte Reiniger was specialized in lighting her cut-outs in silhouette. This way she created delicate, intricate fairy tales, as in The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). According to Bordwell and Thompson this is the first feature length animated film. (Bordwell/Thompson 2003, p. 164)

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2.1.3. 3D model animation or stop motion animation

The principle behind the animation of models is broadly the same as that of flat artwork. Although there is one difference, namely that it is objects rather than images that are moved a fraction at a time and photographed frame by frame. (Rickitt 2000, p. 150) “Models can be used over and over again and copies made of them to shoot different scenes at the same time so that the filming takes less time. This type of animation needs a lot of time and hard work.” (Jarvis n.d., n.p.) For more detailed information about stop motion and 3d model animation see chapter 3. 2.1.4. CGI (computer generated imagery)

“Computer imaging has begun a revolution in animation.” (Bordwell/Thompson 2003, p. 164) As for graphic manipulation an enormous amount of computer memory is required, it was not until the 1980’s that computer technology had advanced far enough to be used extensively in feature animation productions. In 1995, Pixar’s Toy Story was released by Disney. This was the first animated feature length film created entirely on computer. Furthermore this animation form can also be used to simulate the characteristic look of traditional cel animation. Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese master cel animator, adopted computer techniques for some images of his 1997 film Princess Mononoke. About 100 of the film’s total 1600 shots, were created on a computer. Until today, the difference between these shots and traditional cel animation is virtually undetectable on the screen. (ibid., pp. 165–166) Rickitt mentions the following about 3D computer animation: “3-D animation has also been greatly affected by the digital revolution, and may stunningly realistic models, from dinosaurs to spaceships – and even clouds of dust, are now created and animated entirely within the computer.” (Rickitt 2000, p. 136) He further explains,

“Digital models of objects, such as spaceships and cities, are usually created using a selection of simple geometric shapes such as cubes and spheres that are combined and altered using a variety of modelling processes. Creating computer models of human beings and creatures, however, requires the use of organic shapes that are not easily derived from cubes and spheres.“ (ibid., p. 162).

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2.2. History of stop motion

2.2.1. Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès was perhaps the most important innovator in the early history of cinema. He was also known as the father of special effects and pioneered many of the methods that were used throughout the next century. He became one of the most important figures in the history of special effects. Probably the most impressive movie of Méliès is A Trip to the Moon, which was produced back in 1902. “For more than ten years Méliès was the most popular film maker in the world and could justifiably lay claim to being the cinema’s first star.” (ibid., p. 13) In 1896 Georges Méliès discovered, what we call the stop motion trick.

“As he turned the camera’s hand-crank, the device jammed. ‘It took a minute to release the film and get the camera going again,’ Méliès later wrote. ‘During this minute the people, buses, vehicles, had of course moved. Projecting the film, having joined the break, I suddenly saw an omnibus changed into a hearse and men into women. The trick of substitution, called the trick of stop-motion, was discovered.’” (ibid., p. 12)

This is how Georges Méliès discovered the stop motion trick. Nevertheless that “cinematic accident” had already been discovered one year earlier. Alfred Clarke, a camera operator, used this trick in Edisons film The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots to replace the actress, during the beheading sequence, with a life-sized doll. (Hagler 2008, n.p.) 2.2.2. Willis O’Brien

Willis O’Brien was born in 1886 and an innovator in the use of three-dimensional animation. He pioneered the technique of stop motion. O’Brian was the special effects artist behind the 1933 movie classic King Kong. This one and many other films, made by O’Brien, are considered classic examples of stop motion photography. Unfortunately, he did not enjoy great success during his life. However, he won the first Oscar for special effects for the animation in Mighty Joe Young in 1949. In this movie Ray Harryhausen was the assistant of Willis O’Brien. (Anon. n.d., n.p.) Ari Bayme says about Willis O’Brian,

“But this illusion of life remained insufficient, so O’Brien went further by constructing environments in which his fantastic creations appear at home, using both paintings and miniature sets. He then completed the illusion by combining these miniature worlds with living humans and full-sized sets through rear-screen or front screen projection and stationary or traveling mattes. Finally, the fantastic and the real coexisted, forming a new, cinematic whole. […] Despite O’Briens achievements, a pall of frustration shrouds his

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career, though not the man himself. The American film industry of the 1930s and 1940s could not accommodate O’Brien, with most producers unable to share his vision and unwilling to finance his projects. As a result, he spent far too many years preparing ideas that never reached the screen. […] Willis O’Brien couldn’t help but see himself as a lonely dreamer buffeted by the selfish materialism of Hollywood’s film industry, but bitterness never controlled him.“ (Bayme 2010, n.p.).

2.2.3. Ray Harryhausen

The name Ray Harryhausen may not be familiar to everyone but his name stands as a landmark in the history of stop motion. He inspired many animation artists to start doing what they do now, the art of three-dimensional stop motion animation, animating dolls and puppets. In 1933 Harryhausen had seen the movie King Kong. That film should not only inspire him but also change his life. As mentioned before, Ray Harryhausen became an assistant of Willis O’Brian. He said to Ray: “You should never attempt to create what you can photograph in real life.” (Willis O’Brien) That piece of advice has always applied to the creatures of Harryhausen. (Harryhausen 2009, n.p.) During the post-war period, Harryhausen knew that feature films were the only way to make money. Consequently he began searching for a method to make stop motion animation and live action more cost-efficient. Willis O’Brien’s methods, although ground breaking, were becoming more and more expensive, leading to projects being cancelled. That was when Harryhausen came up with the dynamation technique, which allowed him to combine live action film footage with model animation.

The idea of dynamation is simple but very effective. (Figure 1) For the shooting of The Beast the model was placed on the animation table. The table was then masked off by mattes and countermattes, which were opaque and put onto large panes of glass in front of the camera. When all the animation was done, the film was back winded, along with the projection footage. Whatever parts of the plate had been masked out were now photographed into the unexposed areas. (Harryhausen/Dalton 2004, pp. 30 & 51)

Figure 1: Dynamation

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In 1952 Ray Harryhausen began, but didn't finish, an adaptation of The Tortoise and the Hare, an animated short. Exact fifty years later, in 2002, it was completed by Ray being assisted by two animators. As sections from Ray's 1952 animation were used, the film probably rates as having the longest production schedule in cinema history. (Harryhausen 2009, p. n.p.)

Shawn thinks about Harryhausen, “Harryhausen’s work has influenced most of the animators […], among them filmmakers like Phil Tippett […] who is in turn influencing the next generation of animators.” (Shaw 2008, p. 4). 3. Claymation

The term claymation originally is coined by the word Plasticine, usually called clay, and animation. It is a trademark in the US, registered by Will Vinton in 1978 to describe his clay animated films. (Anon. 2005, n.p.) „Will Vinton is the world renowned Claymation pioneer having coined and trademarked the word and created some of the most innovative dimensional animation in history.“ (ibid.) Gaughan explains that: “Claymation has been used to make 30-second commercials, full-length movies, and everything in-between. Claymation has a unique feel that combines a sense of reality and unfettered imaginative expression.” (Gaughan n.d., n.p.) Claymation is best known as a blend of animation and model photography. At the heart of the process, a single animator creates a performance by sequentially posing a flexible puppet, in this case made out of modelling clay, and photographing each pose on a separate frame of film. Obviously nowadays this is done with DSLR-Cameras. When all the frames are played in sequence it creates the illusion of movement. Clay figures, puppets, and miniatures are often used in stop motion animation as they can be handled and repositioned easily. (Okun/Zwerman/Visual Effects Society 2010, p. 273) 3.1. History of Claymation

It all started back in 1897 when William Harbutt invented a pliable oil-based modelling clay. He wanted to create a modelling medium that would not set, dry out or melt. In 1897 he succeeded in producing what we call ‘Plasticine’ today. It quickly became a popular children’s toy and also had many industrial applications. During both world wars, for instance, Plasticine was used to produce topographical models. (BBC 2012, n.p.)

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3.1.1. Will Vinton

In 1975 the father of Claymation, Will Vinton, won an Oscar for his short film Closed Mondays and went on to produce claymation commercials, music videos and features. His commercials for California Raisins, back in the 1980’s, were a smash hit and the singing and dancing Raisins became a pop culture phenomenon. After he got fired by Will Vinton Studios, now called Laika Entertainment, he started his own new production company. Freewill Entertainment is still producing animation films also with a focus on computer 3D-animation. Since 2004 he has been a member of the Art Institution of Portland as artist in residence. (Anon. n.d., n.p.) 3.1.2. Jan Svankmajer

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech 3D stop motion animator, who started to make bizarre films in the mid 1960’s. His mostly surreal stories are often combined with live-action and influenced artist like Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam. (Fitzpatrick 1996, n.p.) As shown below in figures two and three the transition between live-action and clay animation is almost invisible. This scene was taken from Svankmajer’s series of short films Food (1992), which consists of three parts. In the second part, Lunch, two gentlemen are sitting in a restaurant, waiting for service. As no waiter shows up, they start eating their clothes, until both gents are sitting there naked. Still ignored by the waiter, the older gent then coughs up his cutlery and attacks the younger gentleman.

Figure 2: "Lunch", Jan Svankmajer 1 Figure 3: "Lunch", Jan Svankmajer 2

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3.2. The charm of claymation

Claymation and stop motion are very similar and time-consuming animation techniques. The average output from one animator on an average shot, working on a feature, is only two or three seconds of screen time per day. So if the animators give their best, a stop motion feature studio can put out a minute a week.

The close interaction of the animator with the handmade puppets and models brings a lot of charm into a claymation movie. In many films you can actually see the artists fingerprints on a model. (Figures 5+6) This is not disturbing at all - it even makes the movie more interesting. Characters are "deformable” made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine or modelling clay.

Figure 4: Fingerprint 1 Figure 5: Fingerprint 2

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3.3. Subcategories

After all these years, some other terms have been developed:

n Clayography

n Claypainting

n Slowmation

3.3.1. Clayography

Adam Elliot has invented the term clayography, in an interview with ‘ACMI’ he said, “I’ve actually invented my own term […] what’s called clayographies which is clay animated biography’s and I’m thinking of getting that word trademarked.” (Elliot 2010, n.p.). Elliot’s idea is simple, his films are just biographies animated with clay. All stories of clayographies are based on real people, real feelings and real life. For more detailed information about clayography films see chapter four. 3.3.2. Claypainting

The models, paintings, drawings, and all kinds of other material should be placed on flat and horizontal surface. All the equipment, the camera and the lights, is facing down vertically on the “scene”. This animation process is very similar to slowmation and is used very often by animation beginners and kids. 3.3.3. Slowmation

Associate Professor Garry Hoban from the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong, Australia, invented this term. Slowmation is coined bay the words slow and animation. Basically, it is a simplified version of claymation. Slowmation is a simplified way for students to design and make stop motion animation. It is played slowly at 2 fps to explain a concept or tell a story,

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Feature Claymation Slowmation Content/purpose Tell a narrative or story Explain a science concept Materials Clay or Plasticine A variety such as soft playdough,

plasticine, 2- D pictures, drawings, existing 3D models, felt, cardboard cut outs and natural materials such as leaves, rocks or fruit

Orientation Models are made to stand up vertically and moved incrementally as they are photographed with a digital still camera mounted on a tripod looking across at the models

Models are mostly laid down horizontally and moved incrementally as they are photographed with a digital camera mounted on a tripod looking down at the models (this is not always the case, as existing models can be photographed in the usual way)

Pedagogical Prompts

The art of telling the story explains the experience

Prompts are included such as factual text, audio narration, music, humor, photos from different perspectives, diagrams, models, labels, questions, static images, repetitions and characters to explain features of a scientific concept

Timing 12-24 frames/second to simulate real movement

Two frames/second to slow down movement

Table 1: Comparative features of slowmation and claymation

(Hoban 2007, p. 77) 3.4. Claymation work 1990-2012

In the following chapter, I will show some of the greatest claymation productions. First I want to introduce Aardman Animations, a British company specialised on clay animation. After showing some of the nice work they did, I will continue with Adam Elliot. He is a claymation artist from Australia, who is very popular for making clayographies.

“Everyone knows that claymation art is a traditional art. With so many innovative forms of animation and computer technology being used to create films, adverts and TV shows, some might think that ‘old favorites [sic]’ – such as claymation – are a thing of the past. But in reality, some of the more traditional forms of animation are making a comeback – and they’re doing so

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in all realms of media. Claymation is now a popular form of animation, used not only for entertainment purposes but as an advertising and informational tool. Many companies, for example, have adopted characters of this type too. Lets take a look at some creative claymation characters from different artists over the web that are also looking little freaky.” (Anon. 2010a, n.p.)

3.4.1. Aardman Animations

Before discussing Aardman Animations, I want to mention Nick Park. He is the inventor of the Wallace&Gromit (Figure 6) stories. As a student, he already began to make some scribbles of the characters (Figure 7) Wallace and Gromit. A Grand Day Out was his first short movie with a total length of 23 minutes. After two years of animating, he only got 10 minutes of film. Each frame was animated all by himself. Four years later he completed the work and in 1989 it was first shown on British television. It was also nominated for an Academy Award. Nick Park joined Aardman Animations full time in 1985. Goldman explains:

„Claymation filmmaking has in recent years become something of a forgotten field since the advancement of computer imaging, but don't let that stop you! A claymation movie is one of the most artistic ways to express yourself on film. You'll use stop-motion techniques that require constructing each shot. The first animated movies were made in this style and some still are today, including Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit series of short films.“ (Goldman n.d., n.p.)

Peter Lord and David Sproxton began their animating partnership at school. In 1972 they registered the name Aardman Animation Ltd. in Bristol, Britain. After Nick had joined them, they passed a milestone with the completion of Nick’s Oscar winning The Wrong Trousers, Aardman’s first 30 minutes film. The movie won over 30 international awards, one for every minute of its length. David Hutt said: “It is one of the most successful

Figure 6: Wallace&Gromit Figure 7: First sketches

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animation films ever made.” (Hutt 1999, n.p.) With the movie Chicken Run, Aardman made their first full-length theatrical feature film. Peter Lord and Nick Park were both directors of the film. Over 220$ million were made at the worldwide box office. Many other successful claymation productions have been released from Aardman Animations. Purple and Brown, Shaun the Sheep, Angry Kid and Creature Comforts are just a few of them. After the great success with Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit got their first feature length adventure in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. In 2005 this film won the Academy Award for ‘Best Animated Feature Film’ and it topped the box office charts in the US and UK. The latest production of Aardman is called Pirates! – In An Adventure With Scientists, after 500 days of shooting, it was released in summer 2012. Fans of claymation movies can be exited, because the Aardmanʼs website informs: “A number of other feature films are in development.“ (Anon. 2010b, n.p.) Aardman Animations are leaders in this field with their claymation feature-length films as well as commercial work. Each year approximately 75 commercials are produced using a wide variety of animation styles. Let me once again return to Wallace and Gromit. They are still so successful that they even got several apps in the ‘AppStore’ (Figure 8). I do not know any other claymation production which has been present for so many years. They really became a household name.

Figure 8: AppStore

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3.4.2. Adam Elliot

Adam Elliot is an Australian screenwriter, director, producer and animator. His latest work, a movie called Mary&Max, won the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film in 2009. All the movies he has produced are animated biographies, with a narrator telling the story. All films by Adam Elliot are deeply personal and based on real people he knows. His films are not light and fluffy as Disney’s are, he produces films that engage, move and make the audience think or even cry. Everything you see in an Adam Elliot film is 100 per cent made in camera. That means, every prop, every character and every set in all his films is a real miniature object, handcrafted by his model makers. Even the special effects, such as the lightning strike in his successful short movie Harvie Krumpet, are handmade. His movies accumulated over 120 awards, including an Oscar in 2004 for his short Harvie Krumpet. (Elliot n.d., pp. 1–2; Desowitz 2009, n.p.) The short movie Uncle was released back in 1996 and was Elliot’s first clayography (see 3.3.1). He had to take 8640 pictures at a frame rate of 24 fps to gain a length of 6 minutes. Two years later, he finished his second clayography Cousin. It took him one year to produce Brother, so far longest his claymation movie. The picture below shows the three main characters of Uncle, Cousin and Brother. Obviously, Elliot names his films after their main characters. In every of the above mentioned movies, Adam Elliot wrote the script, directed, produced and animated himself.

Figure 9: "Uncle, Cousin, Brother"

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3.4.3. Harvie Krumpet

Harvie Krumpet is the fourth work in a series of animated portraits. Everything in the film is centered on a main character whose biography is told in a human and tragic-comedy way. This is why the public often regards his movies as live-action films. However, the animated cinema rarely recounts the life story of one human being. In 2003, after shooting 669 meters of 35mm film, Harvie Krumpet finally shown in the cinema. Oliver Cotte writes about Harvie Krumpet:

„This film tells the tragi-comic story of Harvie Krumpetski, who is born in Poland, then emigrates to Spottswood, Australia, where he does various jobs and changes his name to Harvie Krumpet. His difficulties in integrating lead to frequent trips to the hospital, where he has a steel plate put on his head. When he is truck by lightning one day, the plate becomes magnetic. He later marries his nurse and they adopted a little thalidomide girl named Ruby. Eventually, Harvie finds himself in an nursing home, where he lives out the remainder of his days.” (Cotte 2007, p. 248)

Because Adam Elliot was born with an inherited physiological tremor, which affects his nervous system, the average size of his puppets is about the size of a wine bottle (30cm). He comments about himself: “ […] in fact, my characters are all a bit like me; they’re not quite right.”. (ibid., p. 257) For more detailed information about building a character, see chapter four (Production). (ibid., pp. 250–251, 257 & 259) With an Oscar in his hands, he wanted to do something longer than 23 minutes. He explains, “Because my films are biographys, [sic] I always let the characters tell me how long their story should be.” (Elliot 2010, n.p.). With Mary and Max, based on a real story, he produced his first feature film in 2008. Over 200 different characters had to be built before shooting. The pre-production work for this movie was almost eight month. Thousands of props were designed, all in the typical ‘chunky wonky’ style. This means, no straight lines. Furthermore Elliot claims, that “every prop had to look like it had been dropped once.” (Evely n.d., p. 21). With eight high-resolution DSLR cameras and six animators, he produced about two and a half minute of footage a week. If he would have made the movie all by himself, it would have taken him 235 years. (ibid.) In 2010 Adam Elliot mentions, “There is no better moment for me than seeing an audience come out of the cinema with red eyes and tissues and knowing […] that I have made 300 people cry.” (Elliot 2010).

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4. Production

Chapter four is all about how, to create claymation films, like those mentioned above. The production process is not that different from a ‘classical’ Hollywood film. In claymation there are so many other things you have to think about compared to computer animation or a live-action film. When working with computers, creating digital worlds and characters, no actual sets are required. That means, for claymation not only animators are necessary for the success of the movie, but carpenters, painters and other people who share the passion of making something with their own hands. A production planed precisely in advance, can save a lot of time and money. Until a feature claymation film can be finished it takes several years. To make Ray Harryhausen’s fairy tale, The Tortoise and the Hare, 50 years of production were required. (see 2.2.3) The production of a film can be roughly divided intro three steps:

n Pre - Production, preparation

n Production, shooting

n Post - Production, assembly (Bordwell/Thompson 2003, p. 20)

4.1. Pre - Production

At the beginning of every film there is the idea, which has to be visualised somehow. The story of the film is the most important part above all. Arnulf Eggers says, “Ein gutes Buch kann durch eine schlechte Regie zur Nichte gemacht werden. Jedoch kann ein schlechtes Drehbuch nie durch eine super Regie wieder gut gemacht werden.“ (Eggers 2012, n.p.).That means, a good story cannot be ruined by poor directing, but neither can a poor story be saved by the very best directing. Next step is to create a storyboard, to visualise the script. It contains key frames of the scenes as well as appropriate commentary and dialog. The Storyboard is a series of static hand drawn images to help you to understand and time your script. It really is a valuable tool for planning out a project. According to Susannah Shaw, “Storyboarding is the most important planning of filmmaking, […].” (Shaw 2008, p. 43) Below you can find a Storyboard of Wallace and Gromit (Figure 10+11).

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Furthermore, there is much other additional information on the storyboard, like camera positions and editing notes. The sound of an animated movie, especially dialogues and sound effects, is produced different than in a ‘classic’ production. All the dialogues should be recorded before starting the actual animation process. In a professional workflow, a camera is set up to film the actor’s movements and expressions during recording their text. This can be used to transfer the actor’s emotion directly to the puppet. Because of the tight time schedule, dialogues are often recorded simultaneously to the animation process. Furthermore the music is recorded in this phase of production. On the basis of the storyboard and character sheets, which describes the personality of a character, the model making can begin. Therefore, it is important to know the size and proportions of your character. The easiest and cheapest way to build a flexible model is with an armature covered with Plasticine. An armature can be seen as the skeleton of a model, which is made out of 2-3mm wire. For feature film projects, a ball-and-socket armature is more often used, as it can be controlled finer and create smoother movements. In the picture below you can see such a ball-and-socket armature. (Figure 12) After creating the skeleton, it will be covered with clay or Plasticine. Last but not least, some details, like eyes, ears and a costume are added.

Figure 10: Storyboard, Wallace&Gromit Figure 11: Storyboard, Gromit

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Next step is to building a set, where your characters can animated on. If the world should look realistic, it should be built with a scale of 1:6. Best thing to do is to build the set in a comfortable working height for animators to work at. Make sure, that the set is made out of a solid base to avoid movements during shooting. In Adam Elliot’s clayograpies and the Wallace and Gromit series, everything seen on screen is handmade, (Figure 13) Even the wallpaper, is coloured by hand. That gives a very unique touch.

Figure 12: Building a model

Figure 13: Building a set

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The last thing to do is set up your camera and lights. Bring your models into the correct position and than the animation process can start. (ibid., pp. 53, 57, 78,103 & 105) 4.2. Production

The animation process is the most time consuming part of a claymation film. Shaw explains, “As animator you are the director and the actor, through your hands this lump of clay becomes a believable character.” (ibid., p. 166) The animation process has already been described in chapter three. To help animators keep the exact position of the model between frames, they use so-called surface gauges. They help the animator to determine how much an object or model has been moved or should be moved. As shown on the picture blow (Figure 15) the cat’s foot is marked with the surface gauges. The device will be removed for the picture and placed back immediately to mark the next position.

Another way to save time, during animation, is to use replaceable parts for the puppets. In his Wallace and Gromit short films, Nick Park used full facial animation. Therefore Wallace’s mouth was being gauged out and re-sculpted. To speed things up even more, his character’s faces became replaceable form the nose down (Figure 17). (ibid., p. 121)

Figure 14: Animating

Figure 15: Coraline Figure 16: Surface gauge

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As mentioned in chapter three, the digital age revolutionised the way of taking a picture on an animation set. Digital SLR-Cameras have been introduced to animation productions. On the set of the movie The Priates!, Aardman used 50 Canon 1D Mark III (Figure 19), to achieve great depth of field and take advantage of what is called Live View. On an Interview with technical director Tom Barnes, he explains, “We used the Canon 1D Mark III. […] We moved to digital SLRs because the quality of digital photography had improved enough to make capturing film frames possible.” (Davies 2012, n.p.). With Live View on the camera, animators can use the live picture as a reference. Furthermore, they could scrub through their most recent frames and review an entire shot in progress, and that saves a lot of time. Another benefit of the Live View is that onion skin animation can be done. Therefore, the actual image from the Live View is laid over the last recent frame, which has opacity of 50%. Now the animator can see the how much the puppet has to be moved to achieve a smooth movement.

Figure 16: Lip sync, head Figure 17: Lip sync, mouth

Figure 18: DSLR's used to create "The Pirates!"

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Tom Barnes also comments on the future, “I don't think the camera we need has been made yet. The market's changing quite quickly at the moment, digital SLRs are growing up, the quality has improved quite dramatically”. (ibid.). Special effects, without using CGI, on claymation movies are very hard to achieve. Every animator has his or her own way of dealing with them. A special effect in the short film Harvie Krumpet, was the rain streaming down a window. It was created by placing little drops of glycerine on a pane of glass, with a toothpick. Cotte mentions, “The droplets are then animated by blowing them gently down the glass, frame by frame.” (Cotte 2007, p. 265). 4.3. Post – Production

The last step is called post-production. In this production phase sound, music and images are put together. It is important to make sure that the movement is seamless. The storyboard gradually comes to life as you link the separate sequences to make the film flow. When editing is done, it is time for the soundtrack. The already recorded dialogues can be lip synced with the footage of the film. All other sounds, including atmosphere for interior and exterior scenes, have to be built up from the scratch, as there are no ‘real’ sounds on the set. Before exporting the film from the editing software, titles and credits have to be created. When those steps are done, the final film is ready for the audience. (Shaw 2008, pp. 196–199; Zeske n.d., n.p.)

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5. Own experience

During my semester abroad at LYIT College in Letterkenny, Ireland, I was able to experience some insights in the field of animation. I have always been fascinated by animation and its different techniques to bring a static object to life. 5.1. “Fritz and Lemon”

When I was at the LYIT library, the book, The animator’s survival kit, by Richard Williams, published in 2001, immediately got my attention. I was reading this book when I thought about creating my first claymation character. So I went to a hardware store and bought some classic modelling clay. Before I started working, I did some drawings to get an idea of how to shape the body and head of my character.

When I had finished positioning the camera, I went into the kitchen and grabbed the first thing I saw: a lemon. Then the shooting began. The animation process was the most difficult part. You always have to be aware of the fact that if the character moves, the background should also move (in my case, the coins). Finally I took my first picture of the scene. Then I turned Fritz, that’s the name of my character, into a slightly different position and pressed the release button again. Surprisingly it was not as easy as I thought it would be. The focus was a big problem. For this short movie I used a 50mm lens. Because of the shallow depth of field I had to make focus adjustments at almost every frame. Two hours and 84 pictures later, I finished my first animation process.

Figure 19: Fritz and Lemon

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After putting all 84 photographs together you can see Fritz climbing up a lemon. To create the illusion of movement I had to change the picture after every third frame. That means in one second of film there are 8,3 pictures. You can find the final film on the enclosed DVD (Fritz_and_Lemon.mov). Camera: Nikon D90 digital, 50mm lens

(http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d90/) Resolution: 4288x2848 px Aperture: 1,8 f Exposure time: 1/25 s Number of pictures 84

Table 2: Production facts Fritz and Lemon

5.2. “Fritz and Box”

This is my second claymation short film. The animation process started with the last frame. I set up the last frame of my film, took a photo, and readjusted my character by squeezing it together. After repeating this step for one and a half hour, I had all the images I needed. I used the same equipment I used for Frith and Lemon, except for the lens. In the editing software, I had to change the images back to front, so that the images run backwards. Fritz and Box can be found on the enclosed DVD (Fritz_and_Box.mov).

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6. Conclusion

Every country and civilization has stories to tell, whether they are about the past, their culture, or the way the future will look like. Before the invention of the cinema, countries and their people also had stories to tell but no such places to go and enjoy them like that. Theatres give people a place to go to, to escape from reality and to learn. I think cinema plays a big role in our civilization and society and cannot be missed. In the 21st century, claymation really experienced a renaissance, … it is hip again. Today there are more claymation and stop motion movies than ever. In 2012 three feature length films were released into the cinema, including Aardman’s The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. This proves, that there is still a place in people’s hearts for a good old animation technique like claymation. (Burns 2012, n.p.) I think people in general appreciate the lovely vintage look of this animation form. Nowadays the technology is available to everyone. If you have an Android or iOS device, you can immediately start shooting. All you need is an idea for a story. To produce your own claymation movie was never so easy. Stop motion and claymation animation are great ways to gain experience in the field of cinematography and filmmaking in general. Animaatiokone is an installation for creating clay animation, created in Finland. It is designed for a cinema and allows people to learn about making claymation movies while waiting to see one. (Hämäläinen et al. 2004, p. 1) I am really excited what the future of clay animation will bring about Ray Harryhausen once explained:

“Computer animation today seems to dominate the field of entertainment, but I still believe, there is room for every known technique depending of the type of tail to be told. After all, the main reason for putting anything on the silver screen, is to entertain.” (Harryhausen 2005)

6.1. Claymation as art?

In my opinion, art is pretty much whatever anybody says it is. But I would describe it as the use of skill and imagination to create a model, a painting, or an object, a still image, or a moving picture, which can be shared with other people. Christopher Witcombe means:

„Art has not always been what we think it is today. An object regarded as art today may not have been perceived as such when it was first produced, nor was the person who made it necessarily regarded as an artist. Many of the objects we identify as art today, such as painted pottery, sculptures, cave

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paintings, and so on, were made in times and places when people had no concept of ‘art’ as we understand the term. These objects may have been appreciated in various ways and often admired, but not as ‘art’ in the current sense.” (Witcombe 1997, n.p.)

Art exists to create a reaction in a person, and to make its audience into less of a viewer and more of a participant. I like to call cinema as the ‘art of light’. Most people go to the cinema to be entertained. Movies allow us to put our own lives away for a couple of hours and embrace the life and story of the people who we are watching, and this is entertainment in its purest form. Unfortunately, most of the people going to the movies do not think beyond the idea of films as a way to kill a few hours. (Griffin 2008, n.p.)

When I walk into a theatre, I don't have to worry about what is going on outside, I just sit there with my popcorn and enjoy the ‚art of light’. I think cinema is an art form just as significant and just as important as any painting, song, or sculpture.

“Certainly, it must be stimulating to the audience, and that is where entertainment comes in as a key player. It is also so much more: Films are pieces of art, and they should be looked at as art. They should provoke and push boundaries; they should make statements and ask questions.” (ibid.)

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Dynamation .................................................................................................... 11 Source: www.rayharryhausen.com

(Downloaded: 26.5.2012)

Figure 2: "Lunch", Jan Svankmajer 1 ............................................................................ 13 Source: www.youtube.com

(Screenshot: 29.10.2012 )

Figure 3: "Lunch", Jan Svankmajer 2 ............................................................................ 13 Source: www.youtube.com


Figure 4: Fingerprint 1 ................................................................................................... 14 Source: DVD Making of Wallace and Gromit


Figure 5: Fingerprint 2 ................................................................................................... 14 Source: DVD Mary and Max


Figure 6: Wallace and Gromit ....................................................................................... 17 Source: www.wallaceandgromit.com

(Downloaded:26.5.2012 )

Figure 7: First sketches ................................................................................................. 17 Source: http://michdeeh.blogspot.co.at/2011/02/research.html

(downloaded: 29.10.2012)

Figure 8: AppStore ........................................................................................................ 18 Source: Chat-O-Matic App


Figure 9: Uncle, Cousin, Brother ................................................................................... 19 Source: http://www.skwigly.co.uk/a-conversation-with-adam-elliot/


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Figure 10: Storyboard Wallace&Gromit ........................................................................ 20 Source: http://www.ehapa.de/archiv/wagro/wagro_fol.html


Figure 11: Storyboard Gromit ....................................................................................... 20 Source: http://www.ehapa.de/archiv/wagro/wagro_fol.html

(Downloaded: 29.10. 2012)

Figure 12: Building a model .......................................................................................... 23 Source: DVD Making of Wallace and Gromit


Figure 13: Building a set ............................................................................................... 23 Source: DVD Making of Wallace and Gromit


Figure 14: Animating ..................................................................................................... 24 Source: DVD Making of Wallace and Gromit

(Screenshot: 26.5.2012)

Figure 15: Coraline ....................................................................................................... 24 Source: http://jkdrawing.blogspot.co.at/2012/05/coraline-2009-american-stop-motion-3d.html


Figure 16: Surface gauge ............................................................................................. 24 Source: http://www.moore-and-wright.com/products/show/4638


Figure 17: Lip sync, head ............................................................................................. 25 Source: DVD Wallace and Gromit Contrapoints behind the scenes


Figure 18: Lip sync, mouth ........................................................................................... 25 Source: Chat-O-Matic App


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Figure 19: DSLR’s used to create “The Pirates!” .......................................................... 25 Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/why-aardman-shot-its-latest-

movie-on-canon-dslrs-1077371#null


Figure 20: Fritz and Lemon ........................................................................................... 27 Source: Own production

(Date: 15.1.2012)

List of Tables

Table 1: Comparative features of slowmation and claymation .......................................... 16 Table 2: Production facts Fritz and Lemon ........................................................................ 28 Appendix

Please find the enclosed DVD at the end of the paper.

n Final paper

n Images

n Movies

n Research

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References

Anon. (n.d.). Willis O’Brien Biography. Infoplease.com. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/willisobrien.html>. Anon. (2005). Will Vinton-Will Vinton’s History (and the History of Claymation and Computer Animation). WillVinton.net. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from <http://willvinton.net/history.htm>. Anon. (2010a). 15 Freaking Claymation Characters. The Wondrous Design Magazine. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from <http://thewondrous.com/15-freaking-claymation-characters/>. Anon. (2010b). Aardman. Aardman. Retrieved October 29, 2012, from <http://www.aardman.com/>. Bayme, A. (2010). MONSTER FILM GIANTS – Willis O’Brien. MovieTimes.com. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.mrmovietimes.com/movie-news/pioneers-of-monster-films-part-ii/>. BBC (2012). Bust of William Harbutt. BBC - A History of the World. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/UHFveteDRViqSkNde2zQUw>. Bordwell, D./Thompson, K. (2003). Film Art: An Introduction. (7) n.p.: McGraw-Hill Inc.,US. Burns, M. (2012). Animation Trends 2012: Stop motion animation is hip again - Features - Digital Arts. Digital Arts. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from <http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/motion-graphics/animation-trends-2012-stop-motion-animation-is-hip-again/>. Cotte, O. (2007). Secrets of Oscar-winning animation  : behind the scenes of 13 classic short animations. Oxford [u.a.]: Focal Press. Davies, A. (2012). Why Aardman shot its latest movie on Canon DSLRs. TechRadar.com. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/why-aardman-shot-its-latest-movie-on-canon-dslrs-1077371>.

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Desowitz, B. (2009). Mary and Max: Elliot and Clayography | AWN | Animation World Network. Animation World Network. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from <http://www.awn.com/articles/article/mary-and-max-elliot-and-clayography/page/1%2C1>. Eggers, A. (2012). Buch und Regie., Vorlesung , 09/25,2012 FH Sankt Pölten, Audimax: Elliot, A. (2010). Adam Elliot interview. Elliot, A. (n.d.). Adam Elliot Pictures. Evely, C. (n.d.). Mary and Max: The Exhibition. Fitzpatrick, T. (1996). The Jan Svankmajer Home Page. Jan Svankmajer (1934-Present). Retrieved October 29, 2012, from <http://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/svank/svank1.htm>. Gaughan, R. (n.d.). How to Make a Claymation Character | eHow.com. eHow. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from <http://www.ehow.com/how_10053813_make-claymation-character.html>. Goldman, A. (n.d.). How to Make Claymation Films | eHow.com. eHow. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from <http://www.ehow.com/how_5765728_make-claymation-films.html>. Griffin, D. (2008). Film as Art: Danél Griffin’s Guide to Cinema. Film as Art. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://uashome.alaska.edu/~dfgriffin/website/mission.htm>. Hagler, J. (2008). Digital Media For Artists - Geschichte der Animation. Digital Media For Artists. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from <http://www.dma.ufg.ac.at/app/link/Grundlagen%3A3D-Grafik/module/14100?step=all#chapter>. Hämäläinen, P./Lindholm, M./Nykänen, A./Höysniemi, J. (2004). Animaatiokone: an Installation for Creating Clay Animation. Harryhausen, R. (2009). Ray Harryhausen | The Official Website. The official Ray Harryhausen website. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.rayharryhausen.com/links.php>.

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Harryhausen, R. (2005). The Early Years Collection. Harryhausen, R./Dalton, T. (2004). Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life. n.p.: Billboard Books. Hoban, G.F. (2007). Using Slowmation to Engage Preservice Elementary Teachers in Understanding Science Content Knowledge. In: Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 75–91. Hutt, D. (1999). The Amazing World of W+G. Jarvis, J. (n.d.). Film Education | Staffroom | Film in the Classroom | Animation Techniques. Film education. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from <http://www.filmeducation.org/staffroom/film_in_the_classroom/animation/techniques.php>. Okun, J.A./Zwerman, S./Visual Effects Society (2010). The VES handbook of visual effects industry standard VFX practices and procedures. Amsterdam; Boston: Focal Press. Rickitt, R. (2000). Special effects  : the history and technique / Richard Rickitt. London: Virgin Books. Sanders, A.-L. (n.d.). What Is Cutout Animation? about.com Animation. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://animation.about.com/od/faqs/f/What-Is-Cutout-Animation.htm>. Shaw, S. (2008). Stop motion  : craft skills for model animation. Burlington, Mass.: Focal Press. Witcombe, C. (1997). What is Art? What is an Artist? INTRODUCTION. Art History. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from <http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/artartists.html>. Zeske, M. (n.d.). How to Make a Claymation Figure | eHow.com. eHow. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from <http://www.ehow.com/how_8547504_make-claymation-figure.html>.

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