Homemade stop-motion

[peter johnson]

The last used super-8 that I got at a pawn shop cost me $16 --  It has single-frame capability.
The only b***h is finding someone who'll do the developing, which ain't cheap -- shopping around in a city near you can be worth it.  Some commercial film labs will do a development job like this for a private citizen for very little.
Check in with a University or Film School near you . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

[sam]

Yes, I am interested in making home made stop action or claymation type videos.  How do I get started.  Can you give me some advice?
sam

[sam]

Yes, I am interested in making home made stop action or claymation type videos.  How do I get started.  Can you give me some advice?
sam Spiffy Niffy wrote:

> Does anybody else make homemade stop-motion movies? Its wicked
> fun. I typically use legos, clay , or action figures(when i can
> get them to stay up).  I  use my cam-corder to make them . All
> you do is set it to frame record and your all set.

[Sugar_Nads]

If you are truly interested in learning stop motion then I would suggest experimenting on your own first and doing some research on the web. Study the greats and find out what made them so ground breaking. From there, you can look into taking a course on the subject or attending college like myself. I have an Associates degree in advertising Art and a Certificate of CGI graphics animation. Both of which have served me well in the field but it also doesn't hurt to "know" people in the bizz. ; ) You'd be suprized how much that helps...

[Joe]

I managed to go semi-pro as a stop motion animator back in the 80's. Did a couple of commercials, and also helped out on building some miniatures for an early motion ride called the "Astroliner." Unfortunately, ther just wans't enough work to make it a full time profession. I moved into building sets and props for theatre, and have been making a reasonable living at it ever since.

I still play around with stop motion, using my old Bolex H-16R. But if you are just starting out, I'd recommend that you just download the stop motion software from www.stopmotion.com, and use your webcam to shoot with. Then, maybe you can upgrade to a high res digital still camera later. The great thing about working with digital right off is, that the movies you make can be copied, and manipulated endlessly. You can use photoshop on individual frames to wipe out support rods, wires or other garbage in the frame before compositing it with a background.

I'm frankly pretty envious of what people have available to them today. Man, if I had this s**t around when I was working in my basement studio, I could have been turning out stuff better than Harryhausen, Jim Dansforth, and David Allen combined!

[Menard]

Let's face it though; ain't the Bolex H-16 still a classic? I bought one years ago for $50 and ended up trading it. When I look at the prices on them now, I regret that decision. Built like a tank and the standard by which others were judged.

[Sugar_Nads]

Gotta say that I admire your determination, Joe.

So which productions have you worked on? Are there any pictures that you can share with us.

Also, I love the Bolex myself but couldn't seem to find a good price on one lately so I bought the K-3 Krasnagorsk 16 mm. It's a Russian model that eeems to have a pretty hefty reputation in the independent field.