My Goofy First Attempts at Stop-Motion Animation [Video]

I love classic stop-motion animation. It was how two of my favorite films 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' and 'Coraline' were created. So I decided to try it myself.

Stop-Motion Animation is a very precise and consuming form of animation. It utilizes sets, massive puppets called maquettes, one animator, and a camera. The animator poses the maquette and snaps a photo. The animator then moves the puppet slightly and takes another pic. These photos are then stitched together to create a film.

One photo equals one frame of film. And remember, standard motion pictures run at 24 frames per second.

I think Stop-Motion Animation is beautiful, but exacting work. I would love to experience that level of creation... some scenes can take months for an animator to complete, and often only account for seconds in the final film.

Using my iPhone, I've tried to create my own Stop-Motion Animation films. Both that I've done are pretty amateur and short, but show that you can create an animated film using nothing more than your imagination.