Different Techniques - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 145

With what little actual animation I've done with clay, there is no denying the pleasure of
getting one's hands dirty. It doesn't get much more tactile than this and the response of
the puppet moving is immediate. I think that the relationship between the puppet and the
puppeteer is even more confusing here as the creations are so transitory and almost all of them
will be thrown away. With my way too emotional attachments to the puppets, I would i nd
this dii cult. Either that or I would be totally emotionally detached from the puppet as I would
be hard pressed to shake of the knowledge that this puppet is just one of many variations.
There just is no original, or is everyone original? As Mr Gilbert would say, 'When everyone is
somebodee, then no one's anybody!'
Adam Elliot
In contrast to the sophistication, detail and lavish production values of the Aardman
claymation i lms is Adam Elliot, who uses clay in a dif erent but equally brilliant way. In anyone
else's hands, his three short i lms, Uncle (1996), Cousin (1998) and Brother (1999), and his epic,
Academy Award-winning Harvie Krumpet (2003), would look so basic and economical that
one would be hard pushed to call them animated i lms. But with Adam behind the i lm, he
manages to turn a single blink of his usually damaged characters into a complex expression,
and perhaps Harvie is the nearest to tragedy I have seen with stop motion. Ignoring most
animators' urge to move everything in every frame, Adam's characters stand and stare, a lot,
while fate deals some rough cards. Whether this lack of motion started out as a deliberate
choice or whether it evolved from limited resources I don't know, but this utter economy is
a brilliant trademark. Every little gesture is timed to perfection. I love the way that the clay
puppets are deliberately rough, with Adam i nding creative ways to avoid walking a puppet.
These characters exist in simple cardboard sets with no pretension to realism. These production
values are accessible to most animators, but what sets Adam's characters apart is their dignity
and innocence, even as they suf er. Most of his characters have been tragically scarred or
brushed aside, and are usually unaware of their lot. With brilliantly droll narration and an
emphasis on understatement these characters convey genuine emotion. It's a testament
to dazzling i lm-making, and a good lesson, that less is very much more. The ideas and the
characters are strong and the animation conveys no more than it needs to, which is a lot. Catch
Harvie Krumpet to see how to time a shot and develop a story. Not a single frame is wasted
or indulgent. Oh, if only I could manage that skill! The simplicity of the technique perfectly
complements the charm of the characters.
A masterly touch in Harvie Krumpet is the use of music. After all Harvie has suf ered, some
explosively joyous Respighi over the credits releases both Harvie and the audience, celebrating
the power of a good story told with real warmth and imagination. I eagerly await his
forthcoming feature i lm.
Adam seems to have a lot of acting in his early background, and that stop motion
wasn't his i rst intention, but came about when other things didn't happen. I'm
envious that Australia has embraced and nurtured Adam's talent, and acknowledged
this quirky thing called animation as something to be enormously proud of, not
something to be embarrassed or faintly irritated by. That i lms so obviously devoid
of talking animals and product placement, and about much darker, dii cult subjects
can be made is dei nite cause for hope.