Bringing stop-motion animation to life
The film “Corpse Bride,” opening Friday, uses stop-motion animation to make its cast of puppet actors come alive. Animators moved the 16-inch-tall puppets a
fraction of an inch between each shot to create the illusion of motion. Some of the techniques, such as the use of tiny gears to control facial expressions, are new.
Skeleton armature Latex skin Puppet wardrobe Frame
The metal skeleton of the puppet provides structure Rubber skin attaches to the armature and Artists create a miniature wardrobe by frame
and stability while allowing full range of movements. provides the body shape and muscles. for each puppet character. Animators use
14 sets of
Mechanized head removable
Allen-wrench access points in the ears With the armature inside a mold, puppet Facial features are a mix of prosthetic eyelids in
and hair allow animators to manipulate makers inject foam latex to create the body. glue and acrylic paint. varying sizes to
intricate gears in the head that control achieve a blink.
Block mold
facial expressions. A quarter-second
of footage:
Frame Seconds
1 0.04
Detachable
head Silicon layer
Foam Metal makes face
latex armature seem more
Puppet lifelike.
Allen-wrench outline
access points
2 0.08
Wire-frame hands
Bendable wires in the hands
allow animators to position
the fingers.
3 0.13
Wire
4 0.17
Hinged joints Foam with- Hand-sewn
To allow posing in still positions, stands hot clothing is
puppet-actor joints are tighter stage lighting glued to 5 0.21
than human joints. and constant foam body
handling by
1/8-inch animators.
steel rod
6 0.25
Shoes attach Jointed toe
to armature for walking
Old-school animation G, N, R group Ah group Oh and U group
For the film’s town crier character — whose
mouth movements are more expressive than
others’ — animators employed a traditional Area
stop-motion technique. For each frame, they of face
placed a different mouth panel on the face. adjusted
A look at some mouth shapes and sounds:
Sources: Animation supervisor Anthony Scott, Mackinnon and Saunders, Warner Bros. Graphics reporting by B ra d y M a c Don a ld
R a o u l R a ñ o a Los Angeles Times