Tim Burton

Tim Burton was born August 25th 1958 and is a American film director, producer, artist, writer, poet and stop motion artist. He is commonly known for his dark and gothic style in his work. His stop animation films continue to be praised to this day.

One of his most famous works is Nightmare before Christmas was filmed at 24 frames a second and consisted of over 106'560 frames.

Here's an example of just 15 frames of the film thats not even a whole second of film.

Another one of his famous stop motion animation films is Corpse Bride which also ran at 24 fps. However unlike most conventional stop motion tim burton tried something different by using a mechanism inside the puppets face he could get a more realistic range of emotions out of them.

Terminology

Frame Rate/Frame's Per Second
This is the amount of frames used in a film every second E.G 25 frames per second would mean every second of the film would be made up of 25 frames/pictures.

Persistence of Vision
This is a theory where your eye and brain sort of almost aren't in sync for a 25th of a second. This basically means that the chain of images you see would appear to become one constant images this is shown well with a device called a Thaumatrope where two different images on each side of a disk is spun faster then our eye can perceive it and it create's one image.
Here is an example of a Thaumatrope.

Stop Frame
This is a term for the single picture in a stop motion animation which would then all be edited together to make a moving image in stop motion animation.

Stop Motion Animation Techniques

Clay Animation

Clay Animation/Claymation is a form of stop motion animation in which each set piece, character and sometimes even the background is mouldable or malleable substance. Most commonly Plasticine clay.
The advantages of using this technique is the only limits is the amount of plasticine you have.
The disadvantages the clay could merge together to make a big mess.
To go into more detail the objects or characters are usually supported by a wire skeleton called a "armature" and then its done in the same as all stop motion where you take a series of pictures and edit them together.
Here is an example of Claymation from a show called Gumby made by Art Clokey

Stop Motion Using Figures

Another technique I have found out about is a lot more limited then claymation and this is by using figures with joints and a set amount of articulation. This has been used mostly on youtube and other social networks.
The advantages of this technique are not as messy as Claymation.
The disadvantages are that the figures could have trouble standing so you'd have to tape or blu-tack there feet down which can end up looking ugly.
Here is an example of this technique by someone on youtube called Plamo0

Post-it Stop Motion

Yet another technique for stop motion animation is the use of post-it notes to make up a moving image by changing the position of the post-it notes. This can be useful for doing things such as bringing something out of a game into real life with each note being a replacement of a pixel.
The advantages of this technique are its easy to do and use.
The disadvantages of this technique are that the image could become distorted or messy
Here is an example of this technique used in an Advert for a car
















Whiteboard/Drawing Stop Motion

This technique is done by having a drawing and changing it slightly for each frame (It is recomended to do this on a whiteboard as it's easy to erase the parts you want to move).
The advantages for this technique are like the post-it note one it is easy to do and create.
The disadvantages of this technique are if you are not good at drawing it could end up being messy and also you could end up accidentally erasing the wrong parts of the film.
Here is an example of this technique by a user on youtube called Jonny Lawrence.

Stop Motion Animation using Humans.

This technique is where instead of a Model or Drawing you use real people. This can be used to create a limited amount of different effects (EG Flying).
The advantages of this technique are that it can create some bizarre effects using real people.
The disadvantages is that if you don't keep the camera still it looks jumpy and a bit off.
Here is an example of this technique used by a user on youtube called CarbonStudiosTv

Quay Brothers

Stephen amd Timothy Quay (Better known as the Quay brothers or Brothers Quay) where born June 17th 1947 (Identical twins). They are "Influential stop-motion animators." They Reside and work in England after moving there to study at the Royal College of Art in London.

Most of there animated films where used by having puppets made of doll parts and other materials to create a dark and moody atmosphere. One of there best known pieces could be the Street of Crocodiles (Based on a short novel by the same name).

They are also responsible for this music video.

Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen was born June 29th 1920 and Died May 7th 2013 at the age of 92. He was an American visual Effects, writer and a producer who created Dynamation (A form of stop-motion animation). He studied under his mentor Willis H.O'Brien and with him he made his most memorable work of Mighty Joe Young.

He is also famous for creating The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), which was his first color film, Jason and the Argonauts (1963), Featuring a famous sword fighting scene against several skeletons and Clash of the Titans (1981) After this film he Retired.

Clash of the Titans

Jason and the Argonauts

Willis Harold O'Brien

Willis Harold O'Brien was born March 2nd 1886 and died November 8th 1962. He was a American special effects man for motion pictures and he was also a stop-motion animation pioneer. He was most remembered for his work on The Lost World, King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young. He had also won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. In his work he tends to use the technique of claymation and his work tends to be at a rather impressive smooth Frame Rate, This shows that he put alot of work into his animations.

(Order of Top to Bottom: A photo of Willis Harold O'Brien, Clip from King Kong and A clip from Mighty Joe Young)

The Lumière Brothers

Auguste (Born 19th of October 1862 and died 10th of April 1954) and Louis (Born 5th of October and died 6th of June 1948) These two are credited to be the first ever filmmakers. They invented and patented the Cinematograph. This works like a film real on a large rotating disc that plays images and is projecting by a light.

Ironically there last name means "Light" which is used in there invention.

They used there invention to show there first film "Sortie de l'usine de Lyon" shot in 1894.

Photo of the Lumiere brothers.