Time Lapse Animation

Time Lapse Animation is made by taking photos over a period of time and then using each picture as a frame, creating the illusion of movement as they are played in rapid succession. The camera must be kept still when taking the photos and the time needed for the event to take place is important so you know when the pictures need to be taken to make sure there aren't any sudden jumps or slow parts. Time Lapse Animation is commonly used to show the progress of something over a period of time.


Examples of Time Lapse-

'Starred Freckles' by Qinni

A Time Lapse of a watercolour painting being completed.

'Northern Lights'
A Time Lapse of the Northern Lights shot over 14 days in Lapland.

Cut Out Animation

Cut Out Animation is the use of different parts of a figure being laid over each other and then moved slightly after each image is taken, making an illusion of movement. The camera itself faces down over the image due to the fact that each part of the figure needs to be moved and that the figure is 2D. These figures can be in colour- which means that each part must be similar so the fit together- or they can be done as a silhouette- meaning they're all black and here is no tone or shade.

Examples of Cut Out Animation-

'Peter Pan' by C Kelly

'Demo Reel' by Yudle Animation

'Etereas' by Daniela Villanueva



CEL Based Animation

CEL Based Animation works using large sheets of plastic and drawings.


People draw the key scenes of what they want to animate, then trace over them on a sheet of large plastic, changing the image slightly each time so each frame is different, before inking and painting the sheet then taking a photo so the frame can be used in the reel of film.


This is how most cartoons are animated, although most of the scenes that aren't key scenes can now be done on a computer by other people to save time. Despite this, films animated this way can still take years to complete and hundreds of drawings are used.


Because CEL Based Animation takes so long, it means that feature length films that are created with this method are becoming rarer, with companies using 3D computer animation instead of drawing everything by hand on a sheet or digitally.


An example of CEL Based Animation is 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' by Disney-

Another example is 'Steamboat Willie', also by Disney-

Model Based Animation

Model Based Animation uses 3-Dimensional models. These models are occasionally made out of plasticine, because it is easy to reshape, move and doesn't dry out easily meaning it can be used over long periods of time.



The models are animated by taking multiple pictures with the models moving slightly each time to create the illusion that they are moving, a persistence of vision. This is a form of stop motion animation.



Claymation is the term used for animation using plasticine, usually used in the children's entertainment industry, but can be used to create adult animation too- these are mainly horror but other genes have been done.



The models used can be difficult to create, this being my attempt.

These plasticine models took approximately 30 minutes and were based off other Claymation characters from an existing animation. However they could be improved greatly if I spent more time on them and was patient when sculpting the plasticine.



Examples of Model Based Animation-

'Trapdoor' by Charlie Mills and Terry Brain, 1984-1986

'Trapdoor' was a British Claymation series following the mis-adventures of a group of monsters in a castle involving a trapdoor in the floor.

'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2 - Time' by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, 2011- 2016

'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' is a web series which uses multiple types of model based animation and explores different concepts and other ideas. It is an example of animation meant for older people and not children due to it's disturbing nature.



'Kubo and the Two Strings' by Travis Knight, 2016

'Kubo and the Two Strings' is an upcoming movie which was created by model based animation and has a general audience. The film will be released in late 2016 and uses models with wire skeletons.

My Attempt at Model Based Animation- 

I used iStopMotion 3 to create this simple animation using a Hue HD WebCam to take the images. I think I could greatly improve this animation in a multitude of ways, ranging from more patience to better model construction as it was difficult to move the plasticine without ripping it.