Stop-Motion Animation

posted Tuesday, November 7th by Sam Joseph Bruckner

Today, I sat down with Mr. Langenhorst, the new media support assistant at Needham High School. I did so in order to learn of his experience making stop-motion animations as well as the technology used in their creation! The preliminary stop-motion camera was patented in 1988. Stop-motion animation is a style of animating that relies on minute motion captured frame by frame. 

Sam: When did you initially start making stop-motion animations and what brought your attention to the artform? 


Mr. L: I initially made some small animations using a MiniDV video camera that I had inherited from my grandfather. I became enamored with animation and games from a young age, and this was a great low-tech way to jump into making animations myself.


Sam: So that video is just over a minute long in length! How long would you say it took you to film that? 


Mr. L: This video took about an hour for planning and shopping, two hours of filming, and 30 minutes of editing for a total of 3 hours and 30 minutes to get to the final product. 

Fun Fact: 

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio took 940 days to shoot, just under two and a half years.  Their careful, deliberate sculpting of story through animation paid off with the family doing over $820,000 at the box office alone. 



Sam: So how many shots make up the project? 


Mr. L: There are only 6 shots in the film, but each shot required 12 frames to be captured for each second it appeared on screen. This allows for a 12 frames per second animation, one of the lower frame rates a video can have and still be readable as motion to the human eye. So that’s around 720 individual frames captured over the course of two hours. 

Fun Fact: 

In the film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the animation presented to viewers runs at just 12 frames per second, exactly one half of the standard practice. (Almost Studio) As the film and story progresses, the frame rate increases gradually, creating a more clear-cut feeling within each proceeding scene. 

Sam: Wow, that must take a lot of dedication! What exactly about animating in stop-motion makes you want to keep pushing yourself? 


Mr. L: Stop-motion and claymation are a great way to create an animation without needing complex or expensive technology. All the animation is done by hand, and requires just a high level of focus and a bit of time.


Sam: What technology did you make use of in order to make these short-film stories tick? 


Mr. L: Being in college, I borrowed a Nikon camera and a tripod from the equipment room, similar to the way the Tech Office loans out technology in Needham. The colored paper and clay was a purchase from a local craft store, but I kept the amount of items low for my wallet’s sake. 


Stop-motion animation technology can range from one’s cell phone to very expensive camera and multi-concurrent scene work. It is nice in the way that a person could simply decide to pick the practice up one day and leave with a short film given enough dedication. 


Sam: Is this a hobby you would say that anyone could pick up or is it hard to get into?  


Mr. L: It’s incredibly easy! I would recommend it for anyone interested in animation, film, or expressive art of any kind. It’s a great way to find out what you like and don’t like about creating animations and videos. It may even lead you to learn more about 3D animation within a software like the open-source Blender or Autodesk’s Maya.


Sam: Well, thank you so much Mr. Langenhorst. It was a pleasure getting to know the tricks of the trade! I never could have imagined all of the little intricacies that go into making stop-motion animations. 

I hope, like me, this interview has inspired you to bring your passions to life; one frame at a time. 



To infinity and far beyond!