Kneading animation
Clay animation , Knetfigurentrick or English Claymation (Engl. Clay "clay, loam," animation "recovery", also Clay-Motion ) denotes an animation technique in which characters of clay or plasticine ( plasticine ) one frame photographed be. They are changed from picture to picture so that a fluid movement can be seen in the finished film ( stop motion ).
term
The term clay figure trick is a bit out of date, as mixed techniques are often used nowadays, in which parts of the figures are made of solid plastic and are only replaced. The translation of the English name, with clay as clay or loam, is misleading . In English, plasticine is also known as "oil-based clay".
The made-up word 'claymation' was invented in 1976 by the American animator and director Will Vinton for his work. Vinton had the term legally protected.
history
The plasticine was invented in 1880 by the Munich pharmacist Franz Kolb , at that time still under the name "Kunst-Modellierthon". In the English-speaking world, the material is known under the name "Plasticine". Due to the inconsistent patent rights, the Englishman William Harbutt , who invented it in 1897, is considered the inventor .
The first film with clay animation elements is the real-life short film " A Sculptor's Welsh Rabbit Dream " by the Edison Manufacturing Company from 1908. In the same year, Wallace McCutcheon sr. With " The Sculptor's Nightmare " another film with clay animation elements. From the mid-1910s onwards, numerous other clay animation films were made. Helena Smith Dayton was one of the pioneers of the genre .
In the 1950s, Art Clokey produced numerous films with animated clay figures. Clokey realized the children's programs " Gumby " and " Davey and Goliath "
In Germany in 1973 André Roche animated the series “Die Wilden Männer” in the program Kli-Kla-Klawitter for the studio Cineplast in Munich and “Herr Daniel fits” for the “German Road Safety Council” (DVR), both series that the ZDF broadcasted, as well as the language course series “Spich mit mir” for the FWU . In 1980 two animated clay figures appeared in the sets of the series Luzie, the horror of the street, which is otherwise produced as a real film .
From 1987 to 1997 the Anima Studio für Film & Grafik GmbH in Hamburg realized the children's series " Plonsters "
The labor-intensive production method, which does not allow movements to be reused and which has to start a scene from scratch if mistakes are made, meant that clay animation was used almost exclusively in short films, mainly for television, until the 1990s. Only new techniques such as video control during the recording and streamlined animation through interchangeable parts, e.g. B. in the animation films of the studio Laika , have enabled a renaissance of more complex and longer films.
The clay animation computer game " The Neverhood " from 1996 still has a large fan base today. Other computer games that use clay animation are “Platypus” (2002), “Bert the Barbarian” (1999) and “Cletus Clay” (2009) by Squashy Software or the “ Dark Oberon ” project by some students from Charles University in Prague . In the 1980s and 1990s, the Swiss clay animation production Pingu was internationally successful.
" Celebrity Deathmatch " was also broadcast on MTV , in which clay figures modeled after well-known people compete against each other in a wrestling match.
Among the most famous clay figures include " Wallace & Gromit " of Nick Park ( Aardman Animations ) and " Mary and Max " by Adam Elliot , who is also the Oscar-winning animated film " Harvie Krumpet " has turned. The English director and animator Richard Goleszowski became famous for two seasons of Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Will Vinton's History (and the History of Claymation and Computer Animation). ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Finn Orfano: Who Invented Claymation? In: brighthub.com, accessed February 26, 2017
- ↑ Margalit Fox: Art Clokey, Animator Who Created Gumby, Dies at 88 on nytimes.com of October 12, 2011, accessed on February 26, 2017
