Stop Motion 1

Stop motion is also known as stop action in the film industry.  It is a method used by animators to make an object appear to move.  The object is moved in small increments. The end result is the illusion of the object moving.  Sometimes it is used to show objects moving magically.  In 1898, stop motion techniques were first used in the production of The Humpty Dumpty Circus. It was a film in which a toy circus and animals were brought to life and appear to be moving.   Initially, stop motion animation was used with “non-drawn” objects or inanimate items.  This was followed by an era of clay animation.  In 1912, the first clay animation film was completed and released and was considered hugely successful.  I found it very interesting to read that one of the earliest stop motion films, which was only 1 minute in duration took over 50 hours to complete.  Sadly, this technique is not used very often anymore.