EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Additional Animation Footage

[Colin Droidmilk]

I have seen numerous digital motion blur tests added on to traditional stop motion effects and the results have always been incredible: All the personality of stop motion with the finesse of digital animation to iron out the kinks.


This is a perfect example:

Jason and the argonauts loop. NOT FULL SCENE. - YouTube

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Uh... what do you mean 'kinks'? The lack of blur, the strobe effect is part of the whole magic of stop-motion. Harryhausen himself recognised it, rightfully attributing stop-motion's dreamlike quality to the strobe effect, to the lack of blur. It's why Dragonslayer was dull to me. It just looked too much like boring old reality - as do these blur-added skeletons in this clip... as kids, me and my brother used to play at acting out stop-motion fights from Harryhausen films where we'd actually try to put the strobe effect, the jerking lack of blur, into our body motions. It's what stop motion is all about for crying out loud!

 

[christrom]

It is if you wish to preserve it as an artform and it definitely has its own aesthetic, but for people wishing to convey reality I think the motion blur builds on already great animation.

 

[FANTAMATION]

Hey,finally was able to take a little break from the isle of Colossa and get back to the planet of Hoth, where I've gotten the foam blocking done and now will start to pelt the Wampa up..... finessing the body dimensions as I go.

 

[Scott Graham]

Interesting technique. I'm looking forward to seeing you do this. Nice and simple with the body, eh?

 

[FANTAMATION]

Same technique used by Marcel Delgado, Harryhausen's early puppets, Jim Danforth, etc. Simple and effective!

 

[kev1969]

As a huge stop motion fan this looks awsome.

 

[christrom]

Just thinking - It is going to be tricky animating the Wampa with the fur in case the fur shifts around too much between frames. It may be an idea to have several locations where you can add a pin to stick into the main body. That way you can animate without touching the fur. Looking great so far

 

[Guy Cowen]

Hurry up n knock this out of the park mate, cant wait to see the Wampa with a coat on

 

[FANTAMATION]

Christrom- It's a nice thought but unfortunately there's no real way of being able to stick pins or little rods or anything into the puppet to be able to make tiny, controlled, accurate, incremental moves. The only way to do that is to physically take hold of the puppet, the trick is going to just being careful where to actually take hold of the puppet when making the movements and to try and not disturb the fur as much as possible.
What you were thinking of was more along the lines of an actual "rod- puppet" which utilizes a much looser jointed armature and would've been great to do if I were shooting the Wampa as a separate element without stop-motion, great idea though!!

Guy- He'll be furred up this week buddy, thanks for hangin in there with me!!!

 

[vaderdarth]

Fantamation, I think he means mini pins or handles on the rear of the wampa to move his body and arms etch.........which would keep from touching the hair. I've seen that setup on stop motion puppets before too. Only problem with it, keeping the pins out of the shots. I suppose you could wrap in blue or green.....green screen it.

 

[FANTAMATION]

Hmmm, I've never heard of that, it just wouldn't be practical, there would have to be pins all over the puppet since I'm gonna be showing the back of the Wampa in a shot. I'm trying to keep this as simple as I can without adding anything else to the mix that could cause complications to an already daunting task. Like I said before, it's just gonna come down to being careful when making the moves and knowing the best, strategic places to handle the puppet where the camera won't see it (as much). A perfect example of this is Harryhausen's animation of the baboon from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. I'm gonna try and do the best I can but don't expect anything award winning here..... this is just an exercise in fun!!

 

[Guy Cowen]

Mate, if there is someone that knows what they're doing, its def you bud. It will look awesome even if a little windy here n there :lol

After all it is Hoth right?

 

[Scott Graham]

Yeah, I've been thinking that if the fur does ruffle by being handled, it can be the wind. I remember a quote about the original Kong's fur ruffling and people loved it because it gave the puppet more emotion. And it's windy on Hoth, as Guy said!

 

[FANTAMATION]

Yeah, keep in mind that these will be pretty quick shots. Ok, got the pelting done now it's just down to trimming and shaping the fur and doing whatever little patching is needed, then it'll be painting the head and hands and lastly applying the fur to the head and hands..... then it'll be ready to set up for shooting!

 

[Guy Cowen]

Oooh you've gota love that

 

[ralphee]

Mint, really cool idea, looking so well implemented, and my favorite enviroment/scenes from the trilogy to boot!

Lee

 

[FANTAMATION]

Got the face painted, now it's just applying the fur to the face and head and then paint the hands

 

[FANTAMATION]

Got the fur applied to the face and head, now just have to tweak and adjust the facial fur a bit and then paint the hands

 

[Guy Cowen]

Looks stunning mate, any chance of a shot with Taun to see the size ?

 

[FANTAMATION]

I'll be doing that next buddy, cuz now I've got to finish the final tweaks on the Tauntaun puppet and then it'll be animation time...... that's when the fun begins! I can tell ya now that the Wampa stands (as pictured) 11" tall to the top of the head (not the ears).