Morph - Claymation

We had to create a character using plasticine. We had to roll a ball then stretch out a head, arms and legs. Then add eyes and a mouth. You have to make sure it's stable and won't fall apart when animating.

We then had to make an animation with the model. We did a film about 2 characters fighting over a phone, then a scary guy comes out and scares them away, only to steal the phone for himself.

It was hard to animate as you have to make small movements, and I think if we had more time ours could have looked really smooth but we didn't, but overall I really like it and the characters looked really good.

I think the claymation has a simple but strong storyline. Also the fact it's weird characters that don't exist, it's set in the real world and has a real phone so it brings it to reality. We were influenced by Morph to do this because they have real pencils and other objects in their world and I wanted that in our one too because I think it makes it seem more real.

Morph is an Aardman creation. Aardman Animations was founded in 1972 and revolutionised animation. They are famously known for their plasticine models being animated. I think the reason they are so successful is the fact that the figures look so good. They look friendly and the audience knows it's plasticine, but it's like it comes alive and that's why they like it. When anything has a human like feel to it, like teddy bears and toys, there's always a thought in people's minds that's it secretly alive. And I think Aardman is confirming their suspicions but in a creative and funny way. 



Compared to other animations we have done this has been slightly easier. With cutout animation there is limited movement and you don't get a character that you have made entirely yourself it's from bits of magazines, so it may not be exactly what you wanted. And of course it's 2D so again there's a limit on what you can achieve.

Pixalation animation involves more restrictions. Using an actual person to do it means there's limited things you can do, like flying and turning into other objects etc. And a person can't stay 100% still in between shots so it may not look smooth in post production. But using a person means it seems more real and when you do do something which is out of the ordinary it makes the animation seem more surreal and therefore more enjoyable.

With claymation I find there's not a lot of restrictions. You can create your own character, who is 3D and make them move however you wish. You obviously have to make sure the model is steady and can stand on it's own feet, a problem we discovered during shooting, but other than that it's pretty simple. The good thing with plasticine is that you can mold it in to anything, and since animation tends to be set in another world this is very useful.