What is Claymation?

 

Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay.

 

Each object or character is sculpted from clay or other such similarly pliable material as Plasticine, usually around a wire skeleton called an armature, and then arranged on the set.

 

It is photographed once before being slightly moved by hand to prepare it for the next shot, and so on until the animator has achieved the desired amount of film.

Upon playback, the human mind of the viewer perceives the series of slightly changing, rapidly succeeding images as motion.

 

A consistent shooting environment is needed to maintain the illusion of continuity, therefore, objects must be consistently placed and lit.