Guldies' Stop Motion

Stop motion is an intricate form of frame by frame animation that involves the manipulation of materials across a sequence of photos compiled to form an animated scene. Guldies' video below shows a miniature cottage environment using all sorts of supplies like clay, foam, wood, and fishing lures to name a few. Watch the animation through first, and I'll point out a few examples of the principles and tricks incorporated.

The first thing I'd like to note is the use of sound to emphasize the actions shown. Including sfx noises like the chopping wood or the clinking of the plate add credibility and help the viewer better grasp what is happening. The creator also made a point to shake the camera a bit with each hit on the tree to exaggerate the action. It makes the scene much more readable.

Around 0:50, we see the axe prepare to chop the wood. Guldies first establishes the weight of the axe by propping it against the trunk before going to swing. This also makes use of anticipation so we understand what they are about to do. Guldies explains in their behind the scenes video that in order to provide the illusion of weight, they took advantage of timing and drag. They took small steps between frames where the ax is inching off the tree stump, and bigger changes as the ax fell. In moving the ax, they moved the handle first and allowed the axe head to follow.

At 1:19, we see the water pull up and splash around in its bucket. This is a rather exaggerated response to add interest to the scene. As shown in a separate video, Guldies added an artificial sway to the bucket and molded very large movements in the water.

I particularly admire their attention to detail throughout this piece. They made sure to include little things that slipped my eye the first time such as wood chips flying away from he tree as it was chopped down, the little embers floating about the fire, and the movement of the miscellaneous food on the plate as the fish was stabbed and dropped back on as bones.

I encourage you to watch the video again with an eye for more examples and an appreciation for the little details and decisions made throughout. Also, feel free to check out the behind the scenes videos linked above or their channel for more stop motion examples.