Is there a way to achieve this same stop motion effect on a film camera?

Zahi Farah · December 22, 2018

Hey folks,

Got a commercial coming up which I'm shooting and I'm wondering if there's a way to get this stop motion effect out of a digital film camera, either in camera or through post-production, instead of the more typical stills camera method.

Assuming this is possible via digital film camera and that my concern is to get a sharp image every time, would the mean a narrow/low shutter angle and a normal frame rate (24 or more)? Or is my reasoning completely skewed here?

When I think about it though it seems silly not to shoot this on a stills camera.

Phil Connolly · December 22, 2018

Looks like straight forward stop motion/piximation. Any camera that can shoot single frames (DLSR or motion) would work. Shutter angle doesn't need to be too narrow for stop motion since your photographing static objects. In any case longer exposures allow you to use less light and get deeper focus.

I remember reading that Aardman used a 1 second exposure time on "Chicken Run" - allowing them to get enough DOF while working at low light levels on 125ASA stock. (Important when you cast can melt)

The jerky stop motion/piximation effect can be approximated by shooting at a lower frame rate and doubling up. E.g shoot 12fps and repeat every frame twice to get 24fps play back but with more jerky motion. Although it tends to not have the full uncanny valley you get with proper stopmotion using people as puppets.

Any to save time (all online discussions around piximation need to reference this promo):

Tim Smyth · January 3, 2019

You really don't want longer exposures when the models are actual humans. One would be better off using a DSLR, and a computer program to capture the frames, than shooting blind. Shooting it in live action and editing it will be a pain, and may not end up really looking like animation at all.

David Mullen ASC · January 3, 2019

Yes, I'd probably go with 12 fps, double the frames in post to 24, and use very short shutter angles like 45 degrees to get as little motion blur as possible to get pixellated motion. Or actually single-frame the action though it would get tedious for the actors and you'd have to think like an animator and know how many frames it took to do a typical human action.

Uli Meyer · January 6, 2019

We made this Guiness commercial in 2007 with a digital stills camera, frame by frame.

Uli Meyer · January 6, 2019

Oops, I tried to embed the video but I'm just not savvy enough...

Igor Trajkovski · January 10, 2019

Oops, I tried to embed the video but I'm just not savvy enough...

Just COPY/PASTE the URL from the address bar when the video appears on YT:

Uli Meyer · January 10, 2019

Just COPY/PASTE the URL from the address bar when the video appears on YT:

Thanks Igor ;)

BrandonFuller · February 10, 2019

I am actually able to help with advice! No way!

Just found this today. Am new to this guys channel, he does fantastic work. And his burst shot is most likely what you are looking for. He uses the same feature on a couple of his newer videos as well.

The burst lap here as well

Tim Smyth · February 21, 2019

We made this Guiness commercial in 2007 with a digital stills camera, frame by frame.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DGzdY2lbUOU"frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That is really fun stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Tim Smyth · February 23, 2019

And for future reference, since this commercial is most likely long finished.

If one wants it to look like a duck, walk like a duck, and quack like a duck, maybe one should just use a duck.

The reason stop motion looks like it does, is not the lack of motion bur, but that frames, or moves are imperfect. When one shoots live action, the moves are perfects, because that is the way we move. The world of stop motion is a little different because we are moving objects one frame at a time. If one were to shoot a shot live, then cut out random frames, one may achieve a stop motion-ee look. They did that for a Energizer Bunny commercial with King Kong. Though for all the work they did, it may have been easier, faster, and cheaper just to use stop motion.

So my personal view on how to achieve a stop motion look with a motion picture camera, is to shoot it in stop motion, or digital camera for that matter.

Uli Meyer · February 23, 2019

And for future reference, since this commercial is most likely long finished.

If one wants it to look like a duck, walk like a duck, and quack like a duck, maybe one should just use a duck.

The reason stop motion looks like it does, is not the lack of motion bur, but that frames, or moves are imperfect. When one shoots live action, the moves are perfects, because that is the way we move. The world of stop motion is a little different because we are moving objects one frame at a time. If one were to shoot a shot live, then cut out random frames, one may achieve a stop motion-ee look. They did that for a Energizer Bunny commercial with King Kong. Though for all the work they did, it may have been easier, faster, and cheaper just to use stop motion.

So my personal view on how to achieve a stop motion look with a motion picture camera, is to shoot it in stop motion, or digital camera for that matter.

I have to wholeheartedly agree. There are no short-cuts, otherwise why would anyone go through the arduous single frame process. I've had this questions from clients so many times; isn't there a button you can just press? There isn't.