How To: Stop-motion Animation

In this tutorial a different approach to shooting stop-motion animation is used. Instead of using a camera to take a picture for every frame the speaker used a camcorder and took a video of the subject. He would slightly modify the subject and remove himself from the frame so only the subject was there, wait a few seconds, and then repeat the process. Afterwards he took a snapshot of all the brief moments in the video when the subject was isolated and slightly modified and then compile them all together in an animation.

   He also gave a basic introduction to clay and Lego animation. For clay animation he created a wire frame to build a clay figure off of, giving it more stability so it wouldn't fall over or apart altogether. He also showed a trick on how to make the clay look as if it is flying by sticking it to a wall and then slightly moving it, so in the final animation it looks like it is moving by itself.

   He also explained the basics of Lego animation, a simple process done by moving the figures' heads, arms, and legs slowly for each screenshot.

   The speaker even used another person's animations as examples of stop-motion animation and useful techniques to create certain effects, such as using white fluff to create the effect of splashing water.

I think the tutorial is useful, especially for beginners because it gives a simple introduction to stop-motion animation and how to do it. It provides multiple animation styles, examples of stop-motion animation, and even introduces a new filming technique, so overall it is a very informational video.