Object animation is a form of stop motion
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
that involves the animated movements of any non-drawn objects such as toys, blocks,
dolls, and similar items which are not fully
malleable, as
plasticine (clay) or
wax
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...
are, and not designed to look like recognizable human or animal characters.
Object animation is considered a different form of animation distinct from
model animation
Model animation is a form of stop motion animation designed to merge with live-action footage to create the illusion of a real-world fantasy sequence.
Techniques
Many types of models have been created and developed, and the choice mainly depend ...
and
puppet animation
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
, as these two forms of stop-motion animation generally use recognizable characters as their subjects, rather than pre-existing objects like static toy soldiers, or construction toys such as
Tinkertoys
The Tinkertoy Construction Set is a toy construction set for children. It was designed in 1914—six years after the Frank Hornby's Meccano sets—by Charles H. Pajeau, who formed the Toy Tinker Company in Evanston, Illinois to manufactu ...
,
LEGO
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
brand bricks (as with
Brickfilm
A brickfilm is a film made using Lego bricks, or other similar plastic construction toys. They are usually created using stop motion animation, computer-generated imagery (CGI) or traditional animation and sometimes include live action films fe ...
),
Lincoln Logs,
erector sets,
Playmobil, and similar pre-formed objects.
Object animation is often combined with other forms of animation, typically for a more realistic effect. Model animation or puppet animation may be used to add more complex movement or depth to the object animation. For example, a
toy car might be animated, either without, but more often with, a character clearly seen driving the car.
The use of animated objects in film has been present since the early days of cinema.
An example of modern object animation can be seen on ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', part of the regular
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
block on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, which combines object animation with a variation of puppet or
model animation
Model animation is a form of stop motion animation designed to merge with live-action footage to create the illusion of a real-world fantasy sequence.
Techniques
Many types of models have been created and developed, and the choice mainly depend ...
. In this case, the puppets are made to resemble
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
or
action figure
An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are ...
s.
References
Animation techniques
Stop motion
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