Stop-Motion News:Stop Motion Magazine!

Finally, someone has stepped up to the bar and brought together something I have only dreamed of coming to life: A stop-motion magazine! That someone is John Ikuma, and he's done a great job putting this magazine together.

There are currently two issues available, both of them containing a truckload of great information. The 1st issue includes four very inspirational interviews, a review of a new animation program, and a tutorial showing how to make a simple animation rig.

The second issue takes you on a in-depth look through the production of Titan Maximum, an interview with Stan Starwn, reviews of the programs Magpie Pro and iStopmotion Pro, and a tutorial on how to build a dolly for your camera.

As you can see, there is no lack of information in these magazines, and believe it or not, the magazine is totally free! You can download both issues here. Also, check out the newly launched Stop-Motion Magazine blog, which shows the behind the scenes and sneak peeks of upcoming issues.

Stop-Motion How-To: The Effect of the Sound Effect

Something you need to seriously consider in the finished product of your animation is sound effects. Some animators may think sound effects are nice but not all that crucial to a finished animation. But in order to bring your animation to life they really are needed.

Sound effects can be just as crucial to telling a story as character voices. For instance, when your puppet sets down an object, the sound effect you choose helps identify what type of object it is. If it's a heavy object, it would probably make a loud clunk, or if it's metal, it would jingle. Portraying that the object is heavy or metal would likely be evident in the animation, but sometimes it's simpler to help the audience know what's going on through a sound effect or two. Our ears help us identify things almost as much as our eyes do.

How do you create these sound effects? Professional studios usually hire a sound-effect team to create custom sounds for the animation. But hiring such a team could get rather pricey, so I would recommend buying a prerecorded soundtrack. There is quite a selection to choose from. The biggest pack of sound effects I've seen is The Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series, which is a box set of 10 CDs with over 2,300 effects in a wide assortment of categories. The downside of the Sound Effects Series is that it costs $300-$400. If you're looking for something a tad cheaper, I highly recommend the 500+ Sound Effects mp3 download, which includes 6 CDs worth of sound effects. As of the date of this post, you can download it from Amazon for $1.99.
If you are using Windows Movie Maker, be aware that since it limits you to one audio track, you won't be able to add any music along with the sound effects.

Since audios and visuals are the only two senses that can be applied to the motion picture, you should not only use sight to it's full extent but sound too.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Human Skateboard

PES Film made a neat commercial, as an advertisement for skateboarding shoes, using pixelation.
check it out below.

Stop-Motion News: Frankenweenie

It seems Tim Burton will be again stepping back into the magical world of stop-motion to make his third full-length stop-motion animated film Frankenweenie.

Frankenweenie will be remake of a live-action film Tim Burton made in 1984. The story, loosely based off the classic tale of Frankenstein, is about a young boy who brings his dog back to life.

Frankenweenie is being made by Disney studios and will be bringing back many of the animators and crew who worked on Corpse Bride.

Frankenweenie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2011

Stop-Motion How to: Taking A Closer Look

Paul from StopMotionPro made a video showing a neat way to zoom up on your capture window using any program on your PC.

Zooming up on your capture window is much more useful than it might sound, especially when it's difficult to see your parts of your puppet, due to your lighting or set.

You can check the video out below.

Stop-Motion Fun Stuff: Legolibrium

Keshen8 from YouTube made a neat animated Lego spoof off a fight scene from the movie Equilibrium. This is probably the best fight scene I've ever seen in stop-motion animation. Check it out below!

Stop Motion News: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

20th Century Fox has announced they will be releasing a new stop-motion animated movie based on the best-selling children's book The Fantastic Mr. Fox by British author Roald Dahl (who also co-wrote the movie script with Noah Baumbach). The movie includes an all-star cast including Owen Wilson, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and many more. The movie will be released 13 of November.

In the movie Mr. and Mrs. Fox live an idyllic home life with their son Ash and visiting nephew Kristopherson. But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr. Fox's wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and, in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with too little food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers -- Boggis, Bunce, and Bean -- who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost.

Check out the trailer below.