Some form of stop motion clay animation has been around since as early as 1898, about the same time that plasticine was invented. Some well known clay characters include Gumby, the California Raisins, and Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Nick Park's characters, Wallace and Gromit, are so popular that Royal Mail has put them onto 2010 Christmas stamps.
Famous Clay Animated Characters
Gumby was animated, but he was still pretty much a 2D character. Will Vinton's singing California Raisins were a huge hit. Originally created to advertise raisins, they went on to TV specials and a Saturday cartoon, and were offered as collectibles by Hardee's. Computer generated imagery (CGI) and animatronics are higher tech, with a different look and feel to the finished animation. The California Raisins started out as clay animation, but the later cartoon was produced by cell rather than clay animation.
The Wallace and Gromit cartoons and films are all clay animation. In 2005, after the premiere of the Wallace and Gromit full length movie, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the Ardman Animations warehouse containing all of the props and sets burned down. The magnitude of what was lost can be put into some perspective by knowing that it took six years to produce the twenty minute film A Grand Day Out.
Make Your Own Stop Motion Animation
Each second of video requires 12 to 24 still shots for smooth movements. The creative fun of clay animation is within the reach of anyone with the desire, an easily sculpted character, a lot of time, a digital camera, and the free software download to convert JPEG pictures to video.
Developing characters to animate is the first and most important part of clay animation. The figures must be kept simple in order to easily manipulate them into the hundreds of positions required to simulate movement. The dog Gromit started as a cat and was originally meant to talk. Creator, Nick Park changed Gromit into a dog for ease of sculpting, and made him silent, preferring expressive movement of his eyes and eyebrows to do the talking for him.
The California Raisins character was enhanced because they were singing popular songs of the time. The Rudolph and other Christmas clay animations were based on already popular characters from Christmas stories. If the characters don't have the kind of wide recognition as the songs the California Raisins sang or Rudolph, it's much harder to get them noticed.
The story line is as important as the character. The sculptor of the character turns into a writer, a choreographer and a photographer. It's the kind of fun, highly creative production that appeals to art students, kids, and adults. Nick Park never dreamed that his creations would have appeal much beyond his family and friends, but the combination of expressive, wacky characters combined with zany British humor, and painstaking production is an award winning combination popular well beyond Bristol, England.
Low Tech vs. High Tech
Computer generated imagery takes less time and requires technical proficiency, but just can't produce anything quite like 3D clay animation. Animatronics uses electronics and robot technology to bring mythical creatures to life and is enormously expensive, and out of reach for many art students, usually used in movie productions and for theme parks.
Yes, you can produce clay animation film at school or home. Enlist friends and family to help and watch. Guaranteed fun that just might become an addiction.
Further Reading:
Corinne Shibley - Corinne Shibley studied sculpture in art history and created her own sculpture on the way to a B.A. in Studio Art. "There's something ...
Join the Conversation