Stop Motion Tutorial: A History Lesson

Let's take a break from pushing puppets (you've earned it) and take a look at the work of the animation pioneers. Come on, it will just take five minutes. Animation has always involved innovation as artists discover new ways to bring their creations to life. We'll start with some highly inventive silent movies, and then watch the art form develop through such classics as King Kong, Gumby, the works of Ray Harryhausen, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and maybe even Robot Chicken. Then you can see what new inspirations hit you. Then have a look at my other tutorials on how to make a puppet, Lego animation, cut-outs, lip sync, facial animation, and other stop motion subjects:    • Stop Motion Tutorials   Software: Dragonframe. iStopmotion (Mac and mobile) is a good frame-capturing app for the price. I understand iKITmovie is a good free option for Windows. Stop Motion Studio is a good mobile app. Camera: I'm using a DSLR. But these days a mobile device with a camera running a stop motion app is all you need. Material for hands: Sugru from Amazon or Target Shopping for Puppet-Making: Clay (Van Aken, Sculpy III), armature wire, cotton batting to build up puppet: Arts/craft store like Hobby Lobby or amazon.com. Puppet clothes (Barbie/Ken clothes: dept store, ebay, amazon.com 16-gauge aluminum armature wire (from an art store or Amazon, not the hardware store) Just about everything here can be found on Amazon if you don't have all these kinds of stores in your area. You can also get animation supplies from stopmotionstore.com.