Stopmotion Explosion Blog

Say "Hello" to a clever Kitty in this sweet, impeccably animated film-within-a-film by director Tsuneo Gōda. Stop motion is produced frame by frame. "Koma" is Japanese for "frame," and "neko" means "cat." Hence the name "Komaneko." First released back in 2006, Komaneko: The First Step was a finalist at the Melbourne International Animation Festival, the London International Animation Festival, and the 8th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival. Komaneko - First Step This creative, curious cat appeals to all ages. It's an adorable change from reenacted battle scenes and brick landscapes, but don't let the cuteness fool you: this animation series has it's own set of...

Stop motion is a versatile art form. You can animate toys, everyday objects, people, digital layers, paper cut-outs, sculpted clay, and more! Creativity can be explored not only in subject matter and plot, but also by revealing a simple story in a fresh way. While new gadgets and techniques are a blast to experiment with, we at StopMotion Explosion enjoy expanding our creative diet retroactively as well as mastering the technology available to us today. We give you... Wolf and Pig Director Taijin Takeuchi tackles an animation within an animation (anima-CEPTION!) in this short film. As we are given a virtual tour of a tiny apartment,...

To round out our exploration of Minecraft stop motion stories, take a look at these two animations where pieces of putty are the basis of fun and easy to apply effects. Snow Hideout Fight  The wintry hideout Lego set is used to good advantage in this snowball skirmish created by TheKarlStudios. White putty stars as the ammunition shot between the sly Creeper and his enemy, Steve. The cabin serves a double purpose, both as a backdrop and a handy surface for the putty snowballs to stick to as they "fly" through the air. No digital editing was needed to create this effect! First round and turning, then...

The short movies below use the Lego Minecraft kits and characters to create some stop motion action! To see some of our favorite digital Minecraft animations, check out our previous post here. The Redstone Contraption Steve shows off his latest Redstone invention to his pig, Mr. Ham, revealing the depth of his brilliance—and the height of his laziness. Made by The Action Brick (TAB), this tongue-in-cheek social commentary has even skeletons shrugging their shoulders at the lengths we will go to to avoid simple tasks. Those Annoying Creepers Besieged by slimy green creepers, Steve tries various schemes to leave his home, but is foiled at every turn. Brickfilmer Plastic...

Most minecrafters have seen an animated Minecraft movie. They're a popular extension of the minecrafting world! The first Minecraft animations were made digitally with 3D models based on characters and props from the game. As the game increased in popularity, new LEGO Minecraft sets, minifigs and action figures opened the door for stop motion movies set in the Minecraft universe. This is great news for filmmakers, because 3D software tends to be complicated, expensive, or both. Stop motion films can be made faster and for less, with the loss of some flexibility in camera movement and realism. In this post we'll...