Stop-Motion Favourites

I love stop-motion animation (what is that?). It takes a lot of time and effort, it can be beautiful, and it usually involves some inspired creative maneuvering. We all know and love Wallace and Gromit and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, some of us might fondly remember Pingu, and “Animator vs. Animation” is fast becoming a classic, but today I’d like to recommend my favourite of the lesser-known stop-motion videos.

• “Stop Motion with Wolf and Pig” is a video that I cannot recommend enough. It is absolutely worth your three minutes and fifty-five seconds. Mashable recently rated it number one in their top-10 list of stop-motion videos. I’d tell you my favourite moments but I don’t want to ruin even the tiniest thing.

• Oren Lavie’s “Her Morning Elegance” is an absolute beauty: an incredible dreamscape and a lovely song. I have watched it a number of times.

• “Tony vs. Paul” is wonderful because it feels simple; it shows you what stop-motion can do without getting too fancy. The music is good, the story is cute; overall, a solid effort.

• The Mario Bros. Post-It Notes video that Stephanie recommended in our post “Mario: Man of Our Time” is another goodie.

• I discovered this one, Minilogue’s “Hitchhiker’s Choice”, years ago. It’s just some cool drawing skillz showcased on a white board. Less can indeed be more.

• Regina Spektor’s “Us” video. Stop-motion and Regina Spektor: a happy union of two great things. This also happens to traditionally be my favourite Regina Spektor song; it’s so whimsical and yet it rolls reliably along. Sigh.

• “Pictures of You” is a good one. It does well with layers and the storyline plays with tropes. “Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn”.

• “BIG BAG BIG BOOM” by Blu (thanks to Kurt for the recommendation). This one is clever, laden with subtle philosophical messages, and downright impressive in terms of scale. I had seen another of Blu’s stop-motion videos a few years ago (“MUTO”), and I was impressed with the work—but I found the subject matter too eerie to make it a favourite.

If you just can’t get enough, check out Smashing Magazine’s list of “50 Incredible Stop Motion Videos”. It might take a little while to load because of the embedded videos, but it might be worth it. You can also check YouTube or this list for stop-motion videos made with Lego.

If you’re so excited about the whole thing that you want to try it yourself, Stop Motion Central might be the place for you. There are tutorials and software recommendations, films to watch and forum pals to consult.

Have you any favourites of your own in this genre?

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