What Are the Possibilities? - Frame-by-Frame Stop Motion: The Guide to Non-Traditional Animation Techniques - page 1

What Are the Possibilities? 1
Chapter Outline
Creating Magic................................................................................................ 1
Silent Films and Beyond................................................................................. 2
Stop Motion and Its Various Faces ................................................................ 5
Creating Magic
Humans are social creatures that have an innate need to share experiences and
stories. Ever since humankind started communicating, stories, real and unreal, were
shared around the communal circle. The tribe gathered together and a tale was told
that revealed information, lessons, provocative thought, and emotional empathy.
Often the more fantastic the story, the more entranced the audience became and
the stronger the message. This might be the job of the shaman or chief, but soon
everyone had stories and experiences to relate. Eventually stories became enhanced
from the oral tradition through props and other means of visual storytelling. In just
over the last hundred years, filmmaking became a powerful vehicle to relate stories
and capture an audience's imagination. Sight and sound are our most primal senses,
and filmmaking taps into these receptors. Soon filmmaking started to expand its
repertoire, and the “fantastic” became a possibility in storytelling.