Cinematography technique · used in 3 films
Animating physical puppets one frame at a time, with small handmade imperfections left in. The creatures and performances look tangible and storybook.
Examples
Wes Anderson · 2004
Henry Selick animated the stop-motion sea creatures. They are colorful, odd and clearly made by hand. That look matches the film's make-believe version of an ocean documentary.
Where to see it: The hunt for the jaguar shark: Zissou and his crew search the sea for the shark that killed his partner Esteban.
Wes Anderson · 2018
The film used about 1,105 animatable puppets and around 20,000 faces, with very little CG. Production began in October 2016 at 3 Mills Studios in London. You can see the handmade texture in the fur and the expressions, which makes the dogs feel both silly and fragile.
Where to see it: Spots and his tribe: Spots, now the leader of an isolated tribe of former lab dogs, is the one Atari came to find.
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson · 2022
Pinocchio is a metal, 3D-printed puppet with about 3,000 replacement faces, and most other puppets have mechanical heads. Animators were told to add small mistakes, such as itching or sneezing. Those habits make wooden characters look alive.
Where to see it: The circus: Pinocchio performs on stage in front of an audience.
Questions
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