Stop Motion an introduction

So here's a brief history on stop motion filming. It is first credited to be invented by Albert E Smith and J Staurt Blackton for the film The Humpty Dumpty Circus. Blackton also went on to do The Haunted Hotel in 1907. It then went from strength to strength and has been used in a great many motion pictures including the AT AT walker scene in Star Wars shown below. 

The biggest household name when it comes to stop motion is defiantly Wallace and Gromit. When it comes to clay animation Nick Park is definitely the leading expert. Wallace and Gromit produces Aardman are a truly British company and are still based in the UK. 


Aardman studios





So how is it all filmed? After detailed storyboarding, set and plasticine model construction, the movies are shot one frame at a time, moving the models of the characters slightly to give the impression of movement in the final film. It's a pain staking process and takes huge amounts of time.