History of Stop Motion Holly Martin

Ray Harryhausen An American visual effects creator, writer and producer who lived in London from 1960 until 2013. His most important works include the animation on Academy Award winning Might Joe Young, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and then Jason and the Argonauts which is famous for it’s spectacular stop motion skeleton fight. Harryhausen was born in Los Angeles, CA, he was influenced to do what he does by Willis H. O’Brien.

Little facts on Ray He made his first film at only 15 years old, Cavebear was a 16mm black and white short film. Ray’s family and friends not only encouraged him, they worked with him, his mother created costumes while his father would build sets. Ray Harryhausen founded his own charity foundation in 1986. Clash of the Titans was not his last film, in 2000 filmmakers Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh begun work to restore the original scenes and complete the story.

Willis H O’Brien Willis Harold O’Brien was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, O’Brien was born on 2 March 1886 in Oakland, he is best remembered for his outstanding work on The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). He influenced Ray Harryhausen to do what he does.

Little facts about Willis His nickname was Obie After his death, protégé Ray Harryhausen made regular visits to his second wife. In 1933 Willis’ first wife Hazel shot and killed her two sons and turned the gun on herself though she didn’t die from it. He died from a heart attack on the 8th November 1962

Jan Svankmajer Jan Svankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist. His works have greatly influenced other artists such as Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay and many others. Svankmajer is also known for pushing the boundaries of animation with his surreal animations and features.

Little facts about Jan He studied at the Institute of Industrial Arts and the Marionette Faculty of the Theatre if Masks and the Black Theatre. He first experiment with film-making after becoming involved with the mixed-media productions of Prague’s Lanterna Magika Theatre. His wife was called Eva Svankmajerova and she died on 20 October 2005. He began making short films in 1964.

Contempory filmmakers Tim Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer, artist and animator. He’s famous for his dark, gothic and quirky horror and fantasy style movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare before Christmas (Stopmotion), Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride (Stopmotion) and many more.

Little facts on Tim He made his first short, Vincent, a six-minute black and white stop motion film in 1982. His first big budget film is the Batman. Burton is known fro his collaborations and works on multiple films with his film partners. He and his partner Helena Bonham Carter live in separate apartments because he snores and she is bossy.

Aardman Studios Aardman Animations is a British animation studio based in Bristol, UK. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly plasticine characters. They are known for things like Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Creature Comforts and many more.

Little facts about Aardman It was founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. The company name is taken from one of its early characters, a superhero created for Vision On in 1972. The studio has ten Oscar nominations and has won four. Peter and David met Nick Park at the National Film and Television School. Chicken Run was Aardman’s first full length theatrical feature film to be funded by DreamWorks.

The Quay Bros Stephen and Timothy Quay are American identical twin brothers better known as the Brothers Quay. They are influential stop-motion animators, directors and filmmakers. The Brothers have made over the years many films ranging from dozens of short movies to a few feature length films.

Little facts on the brothers They were born in Pennsylvania, but live in London to be able to make their films that otherwise not be made in the USA. They found inspiration in Jan Svankmajer and even made a film as tribute to him (The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer). Their first feature film was in 1995 and was called Institute Benjamenta. They are Professors of Animated Film at the European Graduate School.