Stop Frame Animation!

I just watched Disaster! The Movie on DVD. You can find out more about the film at their official website and order the DVD online. It’s quite hilarious! The film is a spoof on epic disaster films like Armageddon. More importantly, it was done in stop frame animation – something which I find irresistible to watch.

I always enjoyed stop motion animation – from edgy Tim Burton productions like The Nightmare Before Christmas to rude and vulgar, Team America (Disaster leans towards the latter)… and even family-oriented ones like Wallace and Gromit. There’s something about low-tech stop frame animation that still wow me in this age where the animation industry is dominated by CGI productions.

It’s probably the human touch – when you watch a stop frame animation, you know that each of the puppets or props used were hand made by dedicated craftsmen. In comparison, CG characters – though smoother in movement and more realistic looking – are generated with mouses and keyboards, lacking personal touch. It is also the same reason why traditional hand drawn artworks and digital artworks have different appeals.

Speaking of which…

About three years back when I was still an undergrad in NTU, I made a short stop frame animation film with my friend, Ailin. We made the film to take part in an anti-smoking film competition organised by the Health Promotion Board. We didn’t win, but it’s okay – we made something we are quite proud of since we managed to complete everything in just one week, even though it was our first attempt at stop frame animation.

Here it is. The Story of Shaun and Shane – about the harm of second-hand smoking. Enjoy!

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