Why is Ray Harryhausen's Stop-Motion Still Impressive?

With all the advances in digital special effects in the film industry, there's still a magical charm that can be found in stop-motion animation. Most recently the film "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" made use of the technique pioneered by an animator known as Ray Harryhausen.

The technique of stop-motion made use of hand-crafted models and precise manipulation to create a unique and personal touch that gave life to each performance. This technique was used in films like "King Kong" but Harryhausen wanted to pushed the boundaries.

Harryhausen pioneered the technique of Dynamation that made use of composited rear-projected footage, an animation table, a matte glass layer, and a 35mm camera. The effect sought to get as close to photorealistic as possible.

In order to make the blending of the two mediums believable, actors would be lifted by wires, and Harryhausen would fill out the animation by replacing the actors' contact points (i.e. sword hits) with animated parts.

Harryhausen embraced the advancement of the technology and would find creative ways to integrate stop-motion models with the complex on-set rigging that gave him more opportunity to challenge the craft.

He also used a modified projector to play one frame of film at a time to allow him to animate his creatures to the live action plates. This technique often was meticulous and time consuming, but he encouraged productions to have their actors interact with the creatures.

The more films he worked on, the more he could find ways to make his model's movements more subtle and eerie. Some of his most impressive work can be found in the film, "Jason and the Argonauts" where an army of skeletons attack the heroes. 

In his memoir, An Animated Life, Harryhausen said, “When designing such a creature, I always have to ask myself, ‘Can I put this on the screen?’ If I had no such limitations, my imagination would run riot, but in the end, it is time and money that dictates practicality…”

Stop-motion has always been evolving with other practical technologies used to create complex special effects. The limitation that Harryhausen acknowledged about the artform came down to time and money. A really good effect required a good amount of both.

Harryhausen's goal was to open up the possibilities of filmmaking for those who had never got to experience stop motion before. To this day there are artists who embrace what he pioneered decades ago and carry on the legacy of the craft.