Stop Motion

Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) animation is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved by small amounts between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames are played as a continuous sequence.

When clay figures are used to create stop motion animation, it is known as Clay Animation.

Software applications such as Stop Motion Pro and the free AnimatorDV make use of this technique.

Model Animation
This technique has stop-motion animation created to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects, and split screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with live actors and settings.
Examples of Model Animation - Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts and the King Kong films

Object Animation
This style refers to the use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion animation, as opposed to specially created items.
Example of Object Animation - Ishu Patel’s Beadgame

Puppet Animation
This kind of animation typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, in contrast to the real-world interaction in model animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep them still and steady as well as constraining them to move at particular joints.
Examples of Puppet Animation - Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride