Stop-motion Research Articles

Analysis on Laika’s Puppets in Kubo and the Two Strings: A Stop-motion Animated Feature

Stop-motion is one of the highly regarded animation/film techniques in the industry. Although infamous for its long production time, stop-motion can take advantage of literally every other artform and technology. But, one medium that stop-motion never strays far from is puppetry. This is because puppets can easily be made to resemble living beings. Also, they are reusable. In this digital age, efficiency and effectiveness became the top priorities in any form of production. In this context, puppet animation (puppetry in stop-motion) is considered too pricey and not ideal for the rapid competition happening throughout the industry. This is why the genre started to fade in the ‘90s. Fortunately, a western animation studio bearing the name Laika brought puppet animation back to life, making the genre popular again. Their works reached the hearts of their audience through smooth animation, breathtaking visuals, and cool-looking puppets. This may seem like a mere pipe dream for their predecessors, but Laika has done it with the help of cutting-edge technology — making the production process way cleaner than ever. As time keeps on flowing, innovations and new ideas are needed to sustain creativity and value in the industry. Therefore, this journal is a study to prove how relevant Laika’s innovative puppets are in the stop-motion world. All data used in this journal is acquired through literary studies across the online web.

Utilization and Classification of Ceramic Animation through Ceramic Material in Stop-motion Animation

본고는 스톱모션 애니메이션에서 도자기 재료를 통한 도자기 애니메이션의 활용과 분류에 관해 연구하였다. 애니메이션은 다양한 제작 기법과 재료들을 사용하므로 종류와 분류에서도 다양성이 나타나지만, 종이, 클레이, 인형, 오브제, 유리 등의 재료를 통한 분류에 비하면 도자기 애니메이션은 존재하지 않고 있는 실정이었다. 비록 도자기 애니메이션 제작의 기술적 전문성과 제작의 어려움에도 불구하고 희소성과 작품성을 지닌 애니메이션 작품이 존재하므로 도자기 재료를 활용성과 분류에 관한 연구의 필요성이 제기되었다. 문헌 연구에서 애니메이션학과 도자학에 기반하여 애니메이션에서 도자기의 재료적 특성과 스톱모션 애니메이션을 파악하였다. 그러므로 도자기 애니메이션의 구현을 위한 변별적 요소를 네 가지를 추출하였다. 즉 재질적 요소인 도기(Pottery)와 자기(Porcelain), 공간적 요소인 실재적인 입체(3 Dimension), 시간적 요소인 리미티드(Limited) 기법, 제작적 요소인 스트레이트 어헤드(Straight Ahead) 기법이었다. 사례 분석으로 1980년대 이후의 총 4편의 도자기를 활용한 스톱모션 애니메이션 ‘도자기 인형’(1982), ‘분쟁(1982)’, ‘생선 쟁반(1988)’, ‘바다 공자(2014)’를 선정하여 도자기 애니메이션의 구현을 위한 네 가지 요소를 적용함으로써 네 가지의 요소에 대한 존재를 파악하였고 따라서 애니메이션의 분류적 타당성을 확인하였다. 연구 결과는 스톱모션 기법을 활용한 도자기 애니메이션의 활용은 도자기 애니메이션의 구현 요소 네 가지를 통해 파악되어 도자기의 재료적 변별적 자질을 통해 애니메이션 분류적 타당성이 확인되었다. 이를 통해 애니메이션에서 도자기 애니메이션의 분류적 제안을 위한 기본적인 이론적 근거를 제시하였다.This paper studied the application and classification of ceramic animation through ceramic materials in stop motion animation. Because animation uses various production techniques and materials, there is variety in types and classifications, but compared to classification through materials such as paper, clay, dolls, objects, and glass, ceramic animation does not exist. Although there are animation works with rarity and workability despite the technical expertise and difficulty of producing ceramic animation, the need for a study on the applicability and classification of ceramic materials has been raised. Based on animation and ceramics studies in literature study, the material properties of ceramics and stop motion animation were identified in animation. Therefore, four distinct elements for the implementation of ceramic animation were extracted. In other words, the material element for pottery and porcelain, the spatial element for 3 Dimension, the temporal element for the Limited technique, and the production element for the Straight Ahead technique. As a case study, Porcelain Dolls (1982), Dispute (1982) , Fish Tray (1988) , and Sir Sea (2014) were selected as a case study using a total of four ceramics since the 1980s. By applying the four elements for the realization of ceramic animation, the existence of the four elements was identified, and the classification validity of the animation was thus confirmed. As a result of the study, the utilization of ceramic animation using stop motion technique was identified through the four realization elements of stop motion animation, and the classification versatility of animation was confirmed through the material distinctive qualities of ceramics. Through this, a rationale for the taxonomic proposal of porcelain animation in animation was presented.

Microstructural Evolutions of 2N Grade Pure Al and 4N Grade High-Purity Al during Friction Stir Welding.

The grain refinement mechanisms along the material flow path in pure and high-purity Al were examined, using the marker insert and tool stop action methods, during the rapid cooling friction stir welding using liquid CO2. In pure Al subjected to a low welding temperature of 0.56Tm (Tm: melting point), the resultant microstructure consisted of a mixture of equiaxed and elongated grains, including the subgrains. Discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX), continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX), and geometric dynamic recrystallization are the potential mechanisms of grain refinement. Increasing the welding temperature and Al purity encouraged dynamic recovery, including dislocation annihilation and rearrangement into subgrains, leading to the acceleration of CDRX and inhibition of DDRX. Both C- and B/-type shear textures were developed in microstructures consisting of equiaxed and elongated grains. In addition, DDRX via high-angle boundary bulging resulted in the development of the 45° rotated cube texture. The B/ shear texture was strengthened for the fine microstructure, where equiaxed recrystallized grains were fully developed through CDRX. In these cases, the texture is closely related to grain structure development.

In situ TEM investigation of hexagonal WO3 irreversible transformation to Li2WO4

Lithium-ion migration at the WO3/electrolyte interface is governed by the phase transformation mechanism by which metastable states are replaced from one phase to another. Herein, an in situ single nanowire-based cell is constructed to investigate the dynamic phase transformation and morphology evolution of h-WO3 nanowire in real-time during its deep lithiation. One of the most significant features of h-WO3 lithiation is the irreversible transformation from h-WO3 to Li2WO4. There are a large number of deep ion-trapping sites composed of 4 O atoms in Li2WO4 crystal structure, that is, inserted lithium ions are irreversibly bound in these traps and nearly cannot be deintercalated. A mechanism on irreversible WO3-to-Li2WO4 transformation in deep lithiation reaction is demonstrated. With the aid of in situ transmission electron microscopy, we controllably triggered lithium-ion migration at the WO3/electrolyte interface and directly visualized the nanoscale lithium-ion migration as a stop motion movie.

Eksplorasi Material Alternatif dalam Pembuatan Puppet dan Set untuk Produksi Animasi Stop-Motion Berjudul “Junk Food”

Traditional stop-motion animated films have unique visual characteristics so that they have many fans, but the number of stop-motion filmmakers is actually very minimal. This is understandable because compared to other animation techniques that are done digitally, stop-motion seems impractical because it requires longer time, higher production costs, and more tools and materials. This paper discusses the exploration and utilization of alternative materials from well-known conventional materials in making puppets and sets for stop-motion animation. The alternative materials in question will use used goods, household inorganic waste, and other reusable materials while still paying attention to function and aesthetics so as to contribute to waste recycling. This is in line with the theme of the film “Junk Food” which raises the issue of environmental pollution, where the results of this research will be applied. This qualitative research is project-based and uses literature study, observation, and experiment methods to collect data. The results of this research are up to the stage of making 2 puppets and 2 sets to answer the problem of exploring alternative materials from used goods.
 Keywords: stop-motion animation, puppet, set, alternative materials

Children’s experiences with a transmedia narrative: Insights for promoting critical multimodal literacy in the digital age

Children’s engagement with transmedia narratives, where the same story is presented through different media such as book, film and interactive app, can reveal their knowledge about different modes, media and software for multimedia authoring. Such insights provide a suitable starting point for developing effective approaches to critical multimodal literacy education in the digital age. Specifically, they can inform decisions about which concepts and frameworks for the critical multimodal analysis of texts and digital technologies to adapt for use with young learners. We advance this argument through a case study comprising:•the transmedia narrative The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore in its film (Joyce and Oldenburg, 2011), interactive app (Moonbot Studios, 2011), and traditional picture book (Joyce, 2012) formats;•observations of mothers and their 4–5-year-old children’s interaction with the book and the app;•a comic strip and a LEGO animation created respectively by a 7-year-old (Oskar) and a 10-year-old (Ollen), which represent a scene from that narrative; and.•an interview with Ollen about his experience of making the animation with the software tools Stop Motion Studio and GarageBand ’08.The case study’s findings reveal:•preschool-aged children’s awareness of media affordances and semantic patterns in narrative.•the older children’s understanding of narrative conventions and capacity to construe broad social themes by selecting the most apt semiotic resources available in their chosen media.•the ways both familiarity with different digital semiotic technologies and non-digital resources (e.g. LEGO) and a software’s design can shape a child’s multimedia authoring.Drawing on these findings, we argue that observations of children’s experiences with transmedia narratives provide a suitable starting point for developing effective approaches to critical multimodal literacy education in the digital age. We posit that such observations can help educators consider which concepts and frameworks for the critical multimodal analysis of texts and digital technologies to adapt for use with young learners in the classroom. This necessarily involves examining continuity and change across old and new technologies and semiotic practices.

Grotesque Metamorphoses and Creative Practices in Jan Svankmajer

This paper explores stop motion puppetry films through the lens of the grotesque, to see how this aesthetic category helps in understanding the medium and its appeals. Noel Carroll describes the grotesque as, a “departure from the ordinary” whereas Wolfgang Kayser tries to explain its nature as that of an “estranged world”. The animated works of pioneering filmmaker Jan Svankmajer have been pivotal when it comes to visual manifestations of hybrid forms and the formation of illusory supernatural life by merging objects of animate and inanimate simulacra. I will discuss in which ways the grotesque is portrayed in Svankmajer’s films by examining manifestations of grotesque in the bodies of the puppets as well as in the filmmaker’s creative process. When going into a more in-depth analysis, Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the ‘grotesque body’ and its relationship to the earth as an unfinished metamorphosis of existence and Wolfgang Kayser’s writings on the grotesque as an alienated world created through the practices of the artist will also be used to identify how Svankmajer mixes and alters the biological and ontological categories of everyday objects.

RELAYVIO: MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DOCUMENTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

RelayVio is designed and developed as android based mobile applications for all users, particularly users of domestic violence victims and their families in Malaysia. The main function of this app is to encourage domestic violence victims to document evidence of violence by way of writing notes, capturing images and recording dates and times of the occurrence. The app also allows victims to sending messages to a domestic violence hotline (Talian Nur), or can directly connect to 999 in the event of an emergency. The app also aims to educate the general public on the signs, dangers and help they can get relating to domestic violence abuse, through the use of animation (3D stop motion). getting information about the act of domestic violence. The method used in the development of mobile applications is ADDIE, which consists of analysis, design, system development, implementation and evaluation. An interview with a sociologist was conducted as an expert review, as well as a usability study of the app. Results show that the majority of the participants agreed that RelayVio app will be able to facilitate victims of domestic violence to gather information and keep documentation of the abuse as a form of evidence against their abusers.

Pemanfaatan smartphone dalam menciptakan animasi stop motion sebagai alternatif media ajar guru SMK Multimedia

Community Service based on research results in 2019, the results of the applied research are the basic techniques of creating an illustrated digital image into animation with the characteristics of a flat-space-time image and the basic stopmotion video editing techniques applied using a smartphone. The stopmotion technique is a basis that can be utilized optimally, the Covid-19 pandemic situation which limits the use of school computer laboratory facilities is a learning obstacle for students who do not have personal computers. The practical use of smartphones is able to produce good stopmotion video animation works, so the training focuses on SMK Multimedia teachers. The goal is that teachers can optimize smartphones to create stopmotion video animations as a way of learning for their students. The action review method is used so that the implementation of effective and solution training uses eight steps, namely problem identification, problem formulation, alternative identification, alternative determination, planning, program implementation, monitoring, evaluation and action review. The target audience is SMK Karya Budi's Multimedia Department, Cilenuyi District, Bandung Regency, totaling 11 people consisting of 5 expertise teachers and 6 adaptive normative teachers. The training is conducted offline and online. The results of the evaluation show that the teacher needs the help of video tutorials to repeat the training more, but overall the teacher is able to create animation from illustration images of the features of flat-space-time images and stop motion video editing using applications on smartphones.

Pengelolaan Dokumentasi Kegiatan Humas pada Institusi di Balai Diklat Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Kota Pekanbaru

The importance of environmental awareness must receive a special attention from public especially in Pekanbaru which is often affected by environmental demage such as wildfire or illegal logging. The existence of Balai Diklat Lingkungan dan Kehutanan (BDLHK) of Pekanbaru is expected to be able to provide the valid and educative information about environmental issues. Refers to those issues, they need to improve their abiltity to manage institusion’s company profile, informnation management through social media platform, and creating educative, creative, and persuasive content in stop motion video. The purpose of using social media platform is to achieve the society especially youth generation. There are three outputs of this event. first, basic training of making intitusion company profile, second, stop motion video, third, do the social campaign through social media. Hopefully the contribution of this program will be sustainable going forward.

Stimulating Mechanistic Reasoning in Physics Using Student-Constructed Stop-Motion Animations

This article reports on a case study that aims to help students develop mechanistic reasoning through constructing a model based stop-motion animation of a physical phenomenon. Mechanistic reasoning is a valuable thinking strategy for students in trying to make sense of scientific phenomena. Ten ninth-grade students used stop-motion software to create an animation of projectile motion. Retrospective think-aloud interviews were conducted to investigate how the construction of a stop-motion animation induced the students’ mechanistic reasoning. Mechanistic reasoning did occur while the students engaged in creating the animation, in particular chunking and sequencing. Moreover, all students eventually exhibited mechanistic reasoning including abstract concepts, e.g., not directly observable agents. Students who reached the highest level of mechanistic reasoning, i.e., chaining, demonstrated deeper conceptual understanding of content.

Target‐driven visual navigation in indoor scenes using reinforcement learning and imitation learning

Here, the challenges of sample efficiency and navigation performance in deep reinforcement learning for visual navigation are focused and a deep imitation reinforcement learning approach is proposed. Our contributions are mainly three folds: first, a framework combining imitation learning with deep reinforcement learning is presented, which enables a robot to learn a stable navigation policy faster in the target-driven navigation task. Second, the surrounding images is taken as the observation instead of sequential images, which can improve the navigation performance for more information. Moreover, a simple yet efficient template matching method is adopted to determine the stop action, making the system more practical. Simulation experiments in the AI-THOR environment show that the proposed approach outperforms previous end-to-end deep reinforcement learning approaches, which demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach.

Mother (Indung) in Sundanese Myth on Visual Art

Throughout the history of human civilization, the word Mother is found in all languages in the world. Sundanese as one of the ethnic groups in Indonesia who is speaking Sundanese. Mother in Sundanese is indung . In Sundanese culture, indung is not only has the meaning of biological mother, but indung has more meaning. Based on its understanding, the indung have feminine characteristics, such as gentleness, affection, protecting and caring. Referring to the understanding of the indung , the characteristic of the indung in Sundanese culture, is found in Sundanese mythological figures such as Sunan Ambu and Nyi Sri Pohaci (Dewi Sri). The research was conducted using Art based Research methods. The research was conducted through literature data collection aimed to get an overview of the indung figures in Sundanese mythology sourced from carita pantun and ancient manuscripts which then interpreted the meaning of the indung in visual artwork. The result of the study is the characteristics of the indung contained in the mythological figure such as Sunan Ambu ( in this case as Ambu Langit, Ambu tengah and Ambu Bumi) as well as Nyi Sri Pohaci who has the spirit of the indung that is guarding, protecting humans, and providing life for humans and other earth creatures. These characteristics are depicted in the form of two-dimensional display works with traditional visual styles, and the use of video technology with stop motion techniques. Keywords: Goddess, Indung , Mythology, Sundanese, Visual Art. DOI: 10.7176/ADS/92-02 Publication date: April 30 th 2021

스톱모션 애니메이션 제작 활동이 유아의 이야기 꾸미기 능력 및 창의성에 미치는 영향

본 연구의 목적은 스톱모션 애니메이션 제작 활동이 유아의 이야기 꾸미기 능력과 창의성에 미치는 영향을 알아보는 데 있다. 연구대상은 서울특별시에 위치한 2개 어린이집에 재원중인 만5세 유아 50명(실험집단 25명, 비교집단 25명)이었다. 실험집단은 10주 동안 14차시에 걸쳐서 스톱모션 애니메이션 제작 활동을 실시하였고, 비교집단은 누리과정에 입각한 생활주제 중심 언어활동 및 미술활동을 하였다. 연구결과, 실험집단의 이야기 꾸미기 능력 점수가 비교집단의 점수보다 통계적으로 유의미한 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났으나 창의성 점수에는 통계적으로 유의미한 차이가 나타나지 않았다. 이러한 연구결과는 스톱모션 애니메이션 제작 활동이 만 5세 유아의 이야기 꾸미기 능력을 증진시키는데 효과적임을 알 수 있다. 이는 스톱모션 애니메이션 제작 활동이 유아의 이야기 꾸미기 능력 향상에 효과적인 교수학습 방법이 될 수 있음을 시사하는 것이므로 유아교육현장에서 스톱모션 애니메이션 제작활동은 확대되어야 할 것이다.

Children’s interactive storytelling in Virtual Reality

This article reports on one stage of a project that considered twenty 8–12-years-olds use of Virtual Reality (VR) for entertainment. The entire project considered this in relation to interaction and engagement, health and safety and how VR play fitted into children’s everyday home lives. The specific focus of this article is solely on children’s interaction and engagement with a range of VR content on both a low-end and high-end head mounted display (HMD). The data were analysed using novel multimodal methods that included stop-motion animation and graphic narratives to develop multimodal means for analysis within the context of VR. The data highlighted core design elements in VR content that promoted or inhibited children’s storytelling in virtual worlds. These are visual style, movement and sound which are described in relation to three core points of the user’s journey through the virtual story; (1) entering the virtual environment, (2) being in the virtual story world, and (3) affecting the story through interactive objects. The findings offer research-based design implications for the improvement of virtual content for children, specifically in relation to creating content that promotes creativity and storytelling, thereby extending the benefits that have previously been highlighted in the field of interactive storytelling with other digital media.

A materialidade da memória na animação não ficcional

The gesture of the author who produces manually in accordance with the chosen technique and the material specificities that determine it, a non-fictional animation that originates in memories, carries meanings beyond aesthetics. Colors, textures and shapes can be determinants in the metaphysical relationship intrinsic to the technique itself and recode the past in visual signs. Each animated technique carries unmistakable characteristics in its DNA, which, in the narrative, can perform functions far beyond aesthetics. There is still a little studied complexity about the epistemological meaning generated in each set of textures offered by the different manual animation techniques for the range of themes that non-fictional animation can encompass. Each of these textures carries a load of signs and symbologies that, in themselves, can generate meaning, which makes the choice of technique a circumstantial factor for the theme to be portrayed. In an approach on the triggering of stop motion characteristics under a documentary record, especially when memories are represented by a three-dimensional technique manually constructed, and even when there is hybridization, in the specific case, point insertions of classic 2D animation. The more the topic is confronted and deepened, the more questions arise, which allow future research for an analytical approach to the animated process as an option of documentary registration, unfolding for the metaphysical function of animation, its textures in the narrative of a non-fictional film and the network of metaphors generated by it.

Candomblé e Cinema de Animação: Estratégias de resistência e territorialidade

The majority of the knowledge and philosophy of African roots find a great discrimination in public places in Brazil, rarely we see schools take in consideration those questions, popular knowledge and ways of living of those who follow those religions of African roots. Take in account that reality and seeking for changing it, the members of Abassá of goddess Òsùn of Idjemim, Paulo Afonso - BA, Bahia took the initiative of producing an animated stop motion movie about the Òrìṣà Òsùn. In this short motion “Òpárà de Òsùn: when everything is born” (2018) we can see the language of animation cinema being used to tell stories of Òrìṣàs like of a way clamouring the religiosity from people from traditional places and also a way of facing religious racism. In this work, we will present the process of production of a short motion, that took in consideration the bio system Caatinga and of the Sao Francisco river as a scenery of some events, staring from the sonorities and images produced by the people in the Terreiro and including the poetic language (could it be sounding and visual or spoken). From those elements, we reflect about the role played by this short movie on the empowerment of children and territorially as didactic and educative space.

A spiking model of basal ganglia dynamics in stopping behavior supported by arkypallidal neurons.

The common view that stopping action plans by the basal ganglia is achieved mainly by the subthalamic nucleus alone due to its direct excitatory projection onto the output nuclei of the basal ganglia has been challenged by recent findings. The proposed "pause-then-cancel" model suggests that the subthalamic nucleus provides a rapid stimulus-unspecific "pause" signal, followed by a stop-cue-specific "cancel" signal from striatum-projecting arkypallidal neurons. To determine more precisely the relative contribution of the different basal ganglia nuclei in stopping, we simulated a stop-signal task with a spiking neuron model of the basal ganglia, considering recently discovered connections from the arkypallidal neurons, and cortex-projecting GPe neurons. For the arkypallidal and prototypical GPe neurons, we obtained neuron model parameters by fitting their neuronal responses to published experimental data. Our model replicates findings of stop-signal tasks at neuronal and behavioral levels. We provide evidence for the existence of a stop-related cortical input to the arkypallidal and cortex-projecting GPe neurons such that the stop responses of the subthalamic nucleus, the arkypallidal neurons, and the cortex-projecting GPe neurons complement each other to achieve functional stopping behavior. Particularly, the cortex-projecting GPe neurons may complement the stopping within the basal ganglia caused by the arkypallidal and STN neurons by diminishing cortical go-related processes. Furthermore, we predict effects of lesions on stopping performance and propose that arkypallidal neurons mainly participate in stopping by inhibiting striatal neurons of the indirect rather than the direct pathway.

Use of the video problem book in preparation of future teachers

The subject of this research is the development of professional competencies of future elementary school teachers in the process of using video problem book (based on the material of math classes). The article discusses different methods of using video materials in preparation of students. An overview of foreign research on the topic is provided. It is noted that currently the methods of using video content are not sufficiently covered in the literature. The questions of which video fragments are better to use, how to include them into the educational process, what particular tasks they pursue, etc. remain unanswered. The article describes the experience of using video problem book as technique of teaching math to students, as well as future elementary school teachers. The author analyzes the work with the video problem book, an essential element of which is the use of “stop motion” technique in a problematic spots of the lesson. The article also presents the results of comparative research of academic performance of the groups of students: an experimental group that used video problem book, and a control group that that did not use video problem book in the educational process. The author picked the following competencies: diagnostic competence of the teacher, ability to make pedagogical decisions, and reflexivity. The implementation of video problem book in the educational process develops in students and future elementary school teacher the skills to make deliberate decisions in different learning situations.

Direct imaging of atomistic grain boundary migration.

Grain boundary (GB) migration plays an important role in modifying the microstructures and the related properties of polycrystalline materials, and is governed by the atomistic mechanism by which the atoms are displaced from one grain to another. Although such an atomistic mechanism has been intensively investigated, it is still experimentally unclear as to how the GB migration proceeds at the atomic scale. With the aid of high-energy electron-beam irradiation in atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, we controllably triggered the GB migration in α-Al2O3 and directly visualized the atomistic GB migration as a stop motion movie. It was revealed that the GB migration proceeds by the cooperative shuffling of atoms on GB ledges along specific routes, passing through several different stable and metastable GB structures with low energies. We demonstrated that GB migration could be facilitated by the GB structural transformations between these low-energy structures.