The Under Appreciated Art: Stop Motion Animation

Co Hoedeman's stop motion film, The Sand Castle.
This was by far my favorite film of today's class.

Every time I watch a stop motion film I am in awe. Honestly, my brain cannot handle the amount of dedication, creativity, and attentiveness that goes into to making such a film.

I've only dappled in stop motion once, and I discovered that I do not have the patience nor the carefulness to make anything past 10 seconds long. Even 10 seconds of stop motion filming had me ready to pull out my hair and destroy the whole project. I never attempted another stop motion, because I just don't have the patience to deal with going frame by frame, or the ability to not knock things over and get upset. I'm just too clumsy.

However, I think stop motion is a beautiful art form. I hold stop motion artists and filmmakers on such a high pedestal in my mind because I know that they must be truly passionate about their art to dedicate years upon years to make movies using that medium. The attention to detail, and the creative thinking that goes along with making these films is nothing short of awe inspiring.

Henry Selick and Tim Burton on the set of The Nightmare
Before Christmas. Burton, contrary to popular belief, produced
the stop motion animation, and wrote the script. He did not direct.

It's unfortunate though. I think many stop motion artists are under appreciated. The only popular or mainstream stop motion artists who come to my mind are Tim Burton (Corpse Bride, Vincent), Nick Park (Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-rabbit), and Henry Selick (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas). Even out of those three, we can't argue that Tim Burton is the most recognizable, and even gets credit for most of Selick's work (If I had a dollar for everytime someone thinks Tim Burton directed and created Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas...) And, furthermore, even those who see those stop motion films that have made it mainstream, don't truly understand the art behind it. A lot of people don't even know what stop motion is, and believe that everything is "CG" and not a unique and amazing form of animation.

I guess not everything can be popular, and in a world that seems to be interested in only high budget explosions and amazing computer generated special effects, stop motion films are barely contenders on the radar. It's sad that only every couple of years does a beautiful stop motion film come out and attract throngs of people. In my mind, every filmmaker who dedicates himself to his art like that should be basking in the appreciation of his work. It's sad that most simply just drift back into the dark corners of the industry, never to be seen the popular audience's eyes.

But the silver lining is that most of these director's don't care. They love what they do, and they do it. If it hits mainstream, fine, if it doesn't, fine. I have never heard of Co Hoedeman before today, and that breaks my heart because his films were amazing, but I could see that he loves his work. He loves what he does, famous or not. I think that is the most admirable, most inspiring thing a person can do: pursue what really makes them happy and share it with the world.

- R.