For an introduction to stop motion animation, please turn to the bottom of this page.
Have you done a stop motion animation? Are there any stop motion films/clips you would recommend people to see? Let us know here please.

SHORTS (around 5 mins or under)

• A Short Love Story In Stop Motion by Carlos Lascano. “A couple of pencil-outlined birds escape from a little girl´s drawing, leading us through the life she dreams of.” Watch here
• Western Spaghetti by PES. Spaghetti made with non-food ingredients. Time Magazine voted #2 Viral Video of the Year. Watch here
• Tony vs Paul by Paul B. Cummings. Contest between two friends. Watch here
• Deadline post-it stop motion by bunliu. No limit, really, on what materials you can use in stop motion. This one uses post-it notes. Watch here
• Pancakes II: Pancakes for your face by GiR2007. Stop motion made out of flour and other food ingredients. Watch here
• The Original Human TETRIS Performance by Guillaume Reymond. Watch here
• Minilogue/hitchhikers choice – short version by kristoferstrom. Hand-drawn animation mixed with stop motion. Watch here
• Stop Motion Rubik’s Cube by S8M3G. Watch how a Rubik’s Cube is done. Watch here
• The PEN Story by PENStory. “We shot 60.000 pictures, developed 9.600 prints and shot over 1.800 pictures again”. Watch here
• More by Mark Osborne. “A lonely inventor, whose colorless existence is brightened only by dreams of the carefree bliss of his youth.” Watch here
• London (harder, better, faster, stronger) by David Hubert. Experience of visit to London made entirely from photographs put together in stop motion animation film. Watch here
• Guitar: Impossible by MysteryGuitarMan. “Over 1000 cuts. 6 hours of guitar tabbing”. Watch here

MUSIC VIDEOS

• Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie. Credits and more: Everything you wanted to know about her morning elegance video (here). Watch here
• Peter Gabriel – Sledge Hammer. Stop motion animation work (and other creative work) by Aardman Animations and the Brothers Quay. Video that was inspiration for many other music videos. Watch here
• Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petite. Clay animation music-video classic. Watch here

FILM CLASSIC FAVOURITES

• Jason and The Argonauts (1963). Stop motion animation by legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. The skeleton army clip. Watch here (and the awakening of Talos here)
• Wallace and Grommit – The Wrong Trousers (1993). Stop motion animation by Nick Park. Grommit, the penguin and the train set. Watch here
• King Kong (1933). Stop Motion animation by Willis O’Brien. The clip of King Kong on the Empire’s States Building. Watch here

FILMS – OTHER

• A Town Called Panic (2009). Belgium / Luxembourg. La Parti & Pic Pic André. Pupetoon series with Cowboy, Indian and a Horse. Watch here
• Mary and Max – Musical Typewriter (2009). Australia. Credits here. Claymated film about two very different pen pals. Watch here
• The Nightmare before Christmas (USA). 1993. Written by Tim Burton. A story about two worlds from Christmas and Halloween. Watch here
• Alice (1988). Czechoslovakia. Directed by Jan_Švankmajer. Surrealist fantasy film, retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Watch here
• The Pied Piper of Hamlyn (1985). Czechoslovakia. Directed by directed by Jiří Barta. Unique and innovative animation techniques. Watch here
• Clash of The Titans (1981). USA. Directed by Desmond Davis. With the scene of Medusa – Gorgon monster. Based on the Greek myth, Perseus. Watch here
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). USA. Hoth snow battle using stop motion techniques. Watch here
• Nutcracker Fantasy opening (1979). USA. Directed by Takeo Nakamura. Based on Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker and E.T.A. Hoffman’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Watch here
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974). USA. Clip of the fight with the Cyclops. Stop motion effects by legendry Ray Harryhausen. Scene with the six-armed Kali. Watch here
• Mad Monster Party - Opening Theme (1967). USA. Animated comedy with Frankenstein, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and other monsters. The animation in this film was the inspiration for later films, for example, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Watch here
• 1 Million Years BC (1967). USA. Classic fighting scene between two dinosaurs. Watch here
• Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). USA. Animation by George Pál. Watch here
• Hansel and Gretel (1954)– An Opera Fantasy. USA. Watch here
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). USA. Stop motion by Ray Harryhausen. An atomic bomb test unfreezes a fictional dinosaur. Watch here
• Old Czech Legends (1953) – Jiří Trnka. Czechoslovakia. Stop motion puppet animation. His use of camera, lighting, set design, and more was very influential on others in future stop-motion productions. Watch here
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) - Lotte Reiniger. Germany. Possibly, the oldest surviving animated film. Based in parts on 1001 Arabian Nights. Watch here

TV ADS / VIRALS

• Human Skateboard – By Pes for SneauxShoesVideo. Using a person as skateboard. Watch here
• Sony Bravia – Bunnies (Play-doh) ( 2007). Fallon. Plasticine bunny models on a giant scale. Watch here
• Guinness – The Rhythm of Time Evolution. 2005. AMV BBDO, London. Watch here
• Heat Electric – Creature Comforts (1991). By Nick Park of Wallace and Grommit. Watch here
• Lego Kipper (1981). (Relatively) simple use of lego with a great creative concept. Watch here
• PSP Commercial - Stop Motion Animation (UK)

Useful / Interesting URLs

• How to Create a Stop Motion Animation – WikiHow
• The Stop-Motion Handbook – introduction, useful for beginners
• Dragon Stop Motion - stop motion animation software for Mac OS X and Windows (PC) computers
• AnimateClay – clay animation website
• Aardman Animation – producers of Wallace and Grommit
• Ray Harryhausen – Website on one of the legends of stop motion animation.

Feedback?
Have you done a stop motion animation? Are there any you would recommend people to see? Can leave feedback here.

APPENDIX

What is stop motion animation?
An animation technique where physical objects are manipulated, using numerous and sequential camera shots, in order to make the physical objects look as if they are moving. The physical objects are typically made from clay, plasticine and cut-out figures. But any object can be used.

Why stop motion animation?
It’s been a popular medium in film production (stop motion only films or films using stop motion effects only). For example, Jason and The Argonauts, Wallace and Grommit, King Kong (1933) and many others. It’s been a popular medium, as well, in art pieces, music videos, TV ads and virals, and more. And it’s versatile as a story-telling tool: for comedy, fantasy, thriller, horror – both for children and adult audiences.

How long has stop motion animation been around?
Since the beginning of motion picture.

Basic requirements for a stop motion animation production:
(in the words of Nick Park – creator of Wallace and Gromit “a camera, an angle poise lamp and a table.”

The amount of time it took Nick Park to make one of his Wallace and Gromit animations:
7 years (completing it, more-a-less, single handedly).
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