getting action figures to walk for stop motion?
getting action figures to walk for stop motion?- special effects and filmmaking
hey guys, this may seem like a dumb question, but i wanted to see if i could get my action figures to walk. anybody offer any tips on it, or should i try and stay away from it all together?
Action figures most certainly can be animated with stop motion techniques, just not terribly well. You'll have to modify most of them to get the degree of gradual posing and ease of repositioning limbs that most animators desire.
You will have to figure out a way to tie down the figure's feet. Many animators use machine bolts run into the feet of their figures throught the table surface, which is made with pre-drilled hardboard (peg board.) You tie down one foot while the other one is in motion. If you do this, you will want to mount a nut in each foot for the bolt to screw into.
Obviously, you have to be able to temporarily reveal the holes and recover them when th foot is no longer anchored.
Some animators have used poster putty (blue-tack, etc) to tie down the feet of their figures, but many figures are too heavy for this.
In any case, stop motion animation requires a great deal of planning and patience.
Rookie mistake to avoid: As a kid I frequently turned off my hot, bright filming lights while repositioning figures and would sometimes forget to turn them back on, resulting in dark frames flickering throughout my footage!
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Jeff F - Moderator
Magic and FX
Amazing the Masses
heheh!! thanks for the advice jeff.
I admit I have little experience in professional stop motion, but I have alot in 30 second shorts. Sometimes its comical to think up new ways to get things to "walk". look at gumby. he doesnt walk. he skids, the bastard. I would suggest for an action figure somthing like the way the walking of the toy soldiers in "Toy Story" was exicuted. Its comical, and shows the stiffness on the plastic of wich the figure is comprised.
Now...Someone tell me what the hell I just said.
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Check out Ka-Blam! on Nick. They do some action figure animation. It's all pretty campy, but it may give some ideas.
ADOM
You don't always have to actually show them walking.Sometimes you can show just a waist up shot and have the figure move infront of the camera. The audience will know that th figure is walking.If you use this method try giving the figures a little bit of a bounce so it doesn't look like he's just slidding across the floor.
lol, thanks X.
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