Why can we nonetheless love cease movement?
Stop motion's popularity has hardly diminished in the last few centuries since its inception. But what makes it such a great success with creatives and customers and what does the future look like?
There is a certain type of magic used to stop motion animation that is difficult to replicate. As far as we go with computer-generated images, the charm of the meticulously handcrafted movement of stop motion is still missing. Maybe it's because we feel like we're looking into another world, or we are just in awe of the sheer effort that goes with it. Whatever it is, we stay fascinated.
"I think people connect with the fact that it's a little bit clicky and not annoying, but a little bit scary," says Chris Hopewell, who recently wrote a stop-motion music video for Yusuf / Cat Stevens' Where Do The Children Play. “The way stop-motion puppets, especially human puppets, move has a certain clickiness. I've had the theory for years that people find stop motion a bit scary because of that insect movement. We are pre-programmed to be alert when something like a spider or scorpion moves or clicks. Stop motion looks just as real, but not real, and it can be pretty fascinating. "