Stop-motion is an animation technique that moves physical objects frame-by-frame to create an illusion of movement when the frames are played in sequence, and there are many ways to make them. In this behind-the-scenes video from stop-motion YouTuber Animatortor by Tortor Smith, a cutout paper pup comes alive to play ball with an eraser.
Using video footage of their dog Lily, 100 dog shapes and coats are drawn rotoscope-style on the computer. The shapes are then placed side-by-side in a file to be cut into paper pup silhouettes by a Cricut, a precise cutting machine for materials like paper, vinyl, and fabric.
While many paper stop-motion animations are shot on a flat surface, Animatortor filmed this series upright with wire rigs to support the dog as it interacts with their hand, a pencil, and an eraser that becomes a ball. The wires in each image are digitally erased before the animation is complete. See how it comes together with the step-by-step demonstration above.
Watch these stop-motion videos next:
• Drums West by Jim Henson (1961)
• Shugo Tokumaru’s Katachi
• Fine Feathers (1968) by Evelyn Lambart
• Té de Manzana (Apple Tea) from La Academia de Animación
• How a mathematician dissects an astonishing coincidence
• We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, a poem told with paper-cut puppetry
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