How Stop Motion Movies Like Pinocchio Are Made

Of course, it’s debatable when stop-motion began with many silent era films lost, 1908’s “The Humpty Dumpty Circus” being one. Albert E. Smith made this stop-motion short using his daughter’s wooden circus toys. Some believe this was the first stop-motion animated film, although it’s hard to say without any existing copies. The oldest surviving animated feature is 1926’s “The Adventures of Prince Achmed,” which used a form of stop-motion called silhouette (or cutout) animation. Although it doesn’t use 3D models like “Pinocchio,” silhouette animation applies a similar technique as cutouts are moved frame by frame, each being photographed. This process was previously used in the lost 1917 feature “El Apóstol” and later surfaced in projects like “Fantastic Planet,” “Monty Python,” and the “South Park” pilot.

As for puppet animation, you could call George Pal the definitive “puppet pal.” Born in Hungary before immigrating to the States, Pal created the Puppetoons series. Unlike some other forms of stop-motion, which use the same models, Puppetoons utilized replacement animation where a different puppet was carved for every frame. This could amount to 9,000 puppets for one short! Outside of shorts, stop-motion was primarily used as a special effect in live-action projects during the early days. Pixilation essentially turned humans and everyday objects into puppets, as seen in 1908’s “Hôtel électrique” where hair brushes and other items were manipulated frame by frame to create the illusion of life. When it came to stop-motion creatures, though, few were more pioneering than Willis H. O’Brien.

O’Brien’s brought a sense of realism to his stop-motion effects, which were integrated into live-action films like “The Lost World” and “King Kong.” He mentored other stop-motion giants like Pete Peterson and, most notably, Ray Harryhausen. Best known for the skeleton battle in “Jason and the Argonauts,” Harryhausen innovated “Dynamation,” a split screen technique where the live-action footage is shot first with the stop-motion creatures added later, seamlessly blending the two. Phil Tippett was among the many artists inspired by Harryhausen. Tippett took stop-motion to the next level with go motion, which used computer technology and hands-on manipulation to achieve a less choppy motion blur effect. Tippett’s go motion expertise can be seen in films like “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Dragonslayer,” and “RoboCop.”

Tippett was set to provide go motion for “Jurassic Park” until Steven Spielberg saw the CG tests. While he remained onboard to perfect the dinosaur movements, Tippett feared he may be “extinct,” inspiring this classic line. CG was on the rise, but stop-motion wasn’t extinct. That same year saw the release of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Although there had been other stop-motion features, none had exploded into a cultural phenomenon like “Nightmare.” It was also a significant step up in the technical department, becoming the first animated film to receive a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination. The Oscar went to “Jurassic Park,” but “Nightmare” gave stop-motion a second life, paving the way for other features like Aardman’s “Chicken Run,” Laika’s “Coraline,” and del Toro’s “Pinocchio.”

Stop-motion goes by various other names. Visionaries like Nick Park specialize in clay animation, creating plasticine heroes like Wallace and Gromit. Will Vinton would trademark the term, “Claymation,” winning an Oscar for his 1974 short “Closed Mondays.” A few years later, the Oscar went to Co Hoedeman’s “The Sand Castle.” This 1977 short rose to life through sand animation where foam rubber figures were covered in sand. Vinton would also eventually switch out his clay figures for foam ones, coining the phrase “Foamation.”

For a period, the biggest names in stop-motion were Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. The pair became synonymous with Christmas with 1964’s ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Incidentally, stop-motion became synonymous with Christmas until “Nightmare Before Christmas” made stop-motion synonymous with Halloween. Rankin/Bass dubbed their animation progress “Animagic.” You could argue that’s just a more whimsical way of saying stop-motion, but Rankin/Bass’s Animagic figures had a toylike quality that couldn’t be mistaken for any other studio.

Stop-motion has also played a major role in “Brickfilm,” movies made with Lego bricks and figurines. The first Brickfilm can be traced back to 1973’s “Journey to the Moon,” which was shot on a Super 8 camera. Brickfilms became even more prominent with the rise of digital cameras and the internet. Brickfilms aren’t strictly made using stop-motion, as seen in 2014’s “The Lego Movie.” Yet, even that CG film’s style recreated the look and movements of a traditional Brickfilm.

Okay, that’s your crash course on stop-motion’s background. Now let’s get into how you can make a movie like “Pinocchio!”

You’ll require a digital camera (be it a professional one or your smartphone), a tripod to keep it steady, and editing software to merge each frame into a flowing sequence. Constructing the characters is where things get complicated. Some character designs are simplistic. Robert Benfer’s “Klay World” characters were essentially blue blobs. Morph and Gumby are slightly more sophisticated, as they have faces and mouth movements. The most expressive stop-motion characters, though, require more than one puppet. For example, Jack Skellington had nearly 400 replaceable heads. For “Pinocchio,” different sizes were required for when the titular character interacts with the cricket. Also, unless the character’s clothing is molded onto their body, be prepared to knit a lot of little outfits.

Your characters need to be able to fit within the setting you build, which should take up the entire frame. While the environment is largely practical, green screen comes in handy for background details like rain and more complex shots. Green screen can also be used for editing out rigs, wires, and other tools you may need to help manipulate the puppet. Maintaining consistent lighting is essential as well, so stay out of natural light. Audiences will notice if the sun is shining down in one shot and it’s pitch black in another. Keeping the camera situated in place is equally important, as even the slightest shift can shatter the illusion. Now it’s time for arguably the most meticulous part, bringing the characters to life.

Whether a character is walking across the street or standing in place talking, manipulating them one frame at a time isn’t an overnight process. About 12 frames can add up to roughly a second of film. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a minute’s worth of animation by the week’s end - and that’s with a crew! Between gradually moving the characters and taking pictures, you need to keep an eye out for the slightest inconsistency, be it a prop that’s been accidentally moved, a change in lighting, or a fingerprint left behind. Once a sequence is shot, edit the images together. Assuming this isn’t a silent short, you’ll also need to match the movements with the voiceovers, which you should record before shooting anything.

Okay, so maybe your first crack at making a stop-motion movie isn’t going to be as polished as a $35 million feature like del Toro’s “Pinocchio.” Even if you can produce 5 to 10 seconds of animation in a day, though, you may have what it takes to be a stop-motion animator. Above all else, you’ll require the three P’s: passion, perseverance, and patience. After a while, the character you’ve been carefully moving around might start to feel less like a puppet and more like an extension of yourself. Once you’ve spent a day in a stop-motion animator’s shoes, you’ll never look at the craft the same way, be it a complex action setpiece or a seemingly simple gesture like Pinocchio’s nose growing.