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Filmmaking Camera, lighting, sound, editing and the crew roles behind every shot.

Stop Motion: Meaning & Definition in Film

An animation technique that physically manipulates objects frame by frame.

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On this page 4 sections

Technique and Process

Stop motion involves photographing objects—puppets, clay figures or everyday items—incrementally repositioned to simulate movement. Each frame captures a slight shift, creating fluid motion when played back.

Subgenres and Materials

Claymation uses malleable figures (e.g., Wallace & Gromit), while puppet animation employs articulated armatures. Cut-out and object animation explore two-dimensional and found-object approaches.

Challenges and Aesthetics

The labor-intensive process demands meticulous planning, lighting consistency and precision. Its tactile quality and subtle imperfections impart unique charm absent in digital methods.

Stop Motion: Landmark Works

Pioneering films include King Kong (1933), The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline. These illustrate stop motion’s enduring appeal and technical innovation.

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More Filmmaking Terms

Entries filed on the same shelf as Stop Motion, each with the one-line answer first. They are the words that usually come up in the same conversation.

All 913 terms

  • Redcode RAW

    Redcode RAW is the proprietary compressed raw video codec developed by RED Digital Cinema for their high-resolution cameras.

  • Safe Action

    The safe action area is the region within a video frame where important visual action should occur to avoid being cropped by display overscan.

  • Frame Rate

    The number of frames captured per second shapes a film’s motion and mood.

  • Editing

    The art and craft of selecting, arranging, and assembling shots into a coherent film.

  • Parallax Error

    In virtual production, a parallax error is a visual glitch where the 3D background on an LED wall does not move correctly in relation to the camera's perspective.

  • Unit Stills

    Unit stills are the professional, high-resolution photographs taken on a film set during production for use in marketing, publicity, and archival purposes.