Claymation is a form of stop-motion animation which falls into the category of object manipulation. Claymation, sometimes referred to as clay animation, has been around for many years and was pioneered in the early years of the twentieth century – particularly by the film ‘Modelling Extraordinary’ in 1912. The technique relies upon the use of modelling clay or plasticine, as both are malleable substances which can be easily moved and sculpted to make moving images when photographed in single-frame form and compiled into a sequence. Clay animation has several sub-types of animation which make up the genre.
Perhaps the most popular form of clay animation is Character claymation such as that made famous by Will Vinton and Art Clokely. Character claymation usually revolves around a storyline with several clay figurine characters which are made to move and change (just as humans and other living beings would). There are several famous examples of character claymation, such as the television series’ of Gumby and Bob the Builder, and the films of Wallace and Gromit.
There are other methods which are more popular as experimental techniques amongst student and avant-garde film-makers. Free-form clay animation, for instance, uses rapidly changing clay images (such as swirls, blurring colours and so forth) to make weird and often psychedelic effects. Strata-cut clay animation, meanwhile, uses the technique of a tightly-packed ‘loaf’ or roll of clay which is sliced for each frame shot. The roll of clay has colours and shapes pressed into the centre so that the image slowly changes as each slice is cut. Clay painting is another style, whereby the clay is placed on a flat surface and manipulated like oil paint.
Perhaps the most popular form of clay animation is Character claymation such as that made famous by Will Vinton and Art Clokely. Character claymation usually revolves around a storyline with several clay figurine characters which are made to move and change (just as humans and other living beings would). There are several famous examples of character claymation, such as the television series’ of Gumby and Bob the Builder, and the films of Wallace and Gromit.
There are other methods which are more popular as experimental techniques amongst student and avant-garde film-makers. Free-form clay animation, for instance, uses rapidly changing clay images (such as swirls, blurring colours and so forth) to make weird and often psychedelic effects. Strata-cut clay animation, meanwhile, uses the technique of a tightly-packed ‘loaf’ or roll of clay which is sliced for each frame shot. The roll of clay has colours and shapes pressed into the centre so that the image slowly changes as each slice is cut. Clay painting is another style, whereby the clay is placed on a flat surface and manipulated like oil paint.