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Claymation is stop motion animation made with clay figures that are moved and photographed a frame at a time. This page explains how the technique works, how it differs from other forms of stop motion and what goes into making it for a brand. It also covers materials, familiar films and the production choices that affect the time and cost of a finished video.
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Larry Mutenda | What is claymation? Claymation is stop motion animation made with clay figures that are moved slightly and photographed one frame at a time. Oil-based plasticine is the usual material because it does not dry out. Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers and Morph are well-known claymation examples. Films like Coraline use puppets instead, so they count as stop motion but not claymation. |
What is clay animation? The standard clay animation definition is animation made by moving or reshaping clay figures between individually photographed frames.
The figure does not move while the camera records a continuous take. The animator changes its pose and takes a picture. Then the animator makes another small change and photographs it again. Played together, those still images create the impression of movement.
Plasticine is a common material because it remains workable. It allows an animator to change an expression or reshape part of a body without replacing the entire character. A figure may also have internal support to help it hold a pose.
The amount of change between pictures affects the movement. A small adjustment can create a slow turn. Larger changes can make an action feel quicker. The animator must control those differences across the whole shot.
Clay also carries visible surface qualities. Those textures are part of the claymation animation style. A softened edge or slight mark can make the object feel handled. A production may preserve those qualities or work toward a cleaner finish.
The defining feature is the physical subject being changed between exposures. A computer-generated figure that looks like clay is not automatically claymation. The appearance can imitate the material. The original technique involves real figures in front of a camera and a sequence of deliberate physical adjustments.
Claymation is the form of animation I find most fascinating. The people behind films like Wallace & Gromit are gods of the craft, seriously. They make tiny adjustments to the characters, capture a frame, and do it all over again until those movements become a performance. A film can take years to make, but watching those characters come to life makes me appreciate every bit of work that went into it.
Stop motion animation creates movement by photographing physical subjects in successive positions rather than recording their movement continuously.
Claymation belongs to this wider family. A clay figure is one possible subject. A puppet, paper shape or ordinary household object can be animated through the same basic process. The material changes what the animator can do between pictures.
Yes, stop motion is really animation. The movement is constructed across separate images. It is not a live performance captured as it happens. A person can even become an animated subject by holding a different pose for each photograph.
A finished shot may look highly realistic because the camera sees real surfaces and real light. The action can still be impossible in ordinary life. An object can slide by itself or assemble piece by piece. That contrast is part of what makes the method distinctive.
Physical objects also impose limits. A puppet needs to hold its position. A set needs to remain stable. An accidental change in a light or prop can become visible once the images play together.
The animator works within those conditions to create a controlled sequence. The method is defined by how the movement is built. It does not require a particular material, character style or subject matter to count as animation.
The main types of stop motion differ in the physical subjects that the animator moves between photographs.
Claymation animation uses clay or plasticine figures that can be posed and reshaped. A face can change directly through the material. Bodies may contain internal supports to hold their position. The surface can retain a visibly handmade quality. For claymation stop motion animation, the animator needs to manage both the movement and the shape of the material. An unintended dent can become part of the action if it changes between photographed frames.
Puppet animation uses constructed characters with joints or other poseable parts. Their bodies can include rigid pieces, flexible surfaces and replaceable features. A stable internal structure helps the puppet hold an exact position between photographs. This supports repeated movement without reshaping the entire body each time. The puppet may resemble clay on screen while using other materials underneath. Its construction is what distinguishes the method from animation based mainly on reshaping clay.
Cutout animation moves flat pieces under a camera. A character might have a separate head, body and limbs. Repositioning those pieces creates its actions. Overlapping layers can suggest depth while keeping the artwork physically flat. Paper texture and cut edges can remain visible in the image. This approach can suit a graphic treatment where the appeal comes from simple shapes and carefully arranged compositions rather than a fully sculpted character.
Object animation gives movement to existing physical items. Packaging can arrange itself or a collection of parts can build into a finished object. Brick films and LEGO films use construction pieces as the subjects. The animator works with the objects’ actual shape and surface. A recognizable item doing something it cannot normally do can make the action immediately readable without needing a separately designed character to explain it.
Pixilation uses people as the subjects of stop motion. Performers hold changing poses for successive photographs. Played together, those positions can make a person appear to slide or move in an unusual rhythm. It differs from filming someone acting continuously. The performer and animator build the movement in pieces. Clothing, posture and contact with surrounding objects need consistency so the intended action stays clear through the changes between frames.
Claymation moves from a planned sequence to sculpted figures and sets that are photographed through carefully controlled changes.
Concept and storyboard. Define what happens before building anything. A storyboard shows the planned sequence as scene drawings. It establishes which characters and set areas the camera needs to see. That helps avoid building detail that never appears in the finished shot. It also gives the team a shared view of the action.
Sculpting. Figures are shaped around wire armatures. An armature is the internal support that helps a character hold a pose. The build needs to suit the movements in the plan. A character that bends deeply needs different support from an object that only turns. Facial features need to remain manageable through repeated changes.
Building sets. The set establishes the physical space around the characters. Its scale needs to work with the figures and camera views. Loose elements must stay where intended between photographs. The crew also needs access to the puppet without disturbing the surrounding scene. That practical space matters as much as the visible design.
Lighting. Stable lighting keeps successive photographs consistent. The crew checks reflections and shadows before animation begins. A moving shadow can reveal an accidental change outside the intended action. Heat also matters because the figures and set materials must remain usable throughout the shot. The setup needs to hold its appearance over time.
Shooting frame by frame. Common motion rhythms use 12 or 24 distinct images per second. On ones uses a new image every frame while on twos holds each image for two frames. The animator checks each change against the intended action. Small errors can accumulate if the sequence is not reviewed during the work.
Editing and sound. The photographed sequence is assembled and checked at its intended playback speed. Sound effects give actions a sense of contact and weight. Music and voice can support the rhythm. The edit needs to preserve the movement already built into the individual photographs rather than fight against its timing.
Claymation commonly uses oil-based modeling clay called plasticine because it stays workable instead of drying out like water-based clay.
That matters when a figure needs repeated adjustments across a shoot. The animator can reshape a mouth or smooth a surface without starting with a new sculpture. The material needs to hold its form while still allowing controlled changes.
Lighting creates another practical concern. Heat can soften clay and make a figure harder to handle. A workable material is useful. But a surface that becomes too soft can lose detail or show unwanted marks.
The right material therefore needs to suit the planned movement and shooting conditions. A detailed face and a simple changing shape place different demands on it. Material choice is part of the character build rather than an isolated purchase decision.
Stop motion grew from early trick filmmaking and developed into a method for character stories, visual effects and television animation.
Early filmmakers discovered that changing an object between exposures could make it appear to move on its own. The camera recorded a series of still arrangements. Playback connected them into an action that had never happened continuously in front of the lens.
The method became useful for creatures and miniature scenes in feature films. King Kong is a landmark example of stop motion contributing a central creature performance. The technique could give a physical model a sense of character and weight within a larger filmed story.
Clay animation brought a different freedom. A figure could change shape through the material itself. Television characters and short films made that tactile quality familiar to viewers. Later clay animation films and other stop motion features carried that character work into longer stories.
The term claymation is sometimes applied too broadly. Tim Burton’s well-known stop motion films use constructed puppets rather than simply sculpted clay figures. The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride belong to the wider stop motion family. Calling every such film claymation hides the differences in how its characters were built.
The common thread is constructed movement. Materials and camera systems have changed. But the animator still shapes a performance through deliberate changes between photographed images.
Famous claymation and stop motion examples include clay-based characters as well as films made with constructed puppets.
Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers shows how clay character expressions and physical sets can carry precise comic action without depending on constant dialogue.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit takes that clay-based character approach into a feature-length clay animation film with a larger range of scenes and performances.
Chicken Run demonstrates stop motion character acting across an ensemble. Its physical figures and settings support both small gestures and larger action sequences.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a puppet stop motion film. Its sculpted characters show why a three-dimensional handmade appearance does not automatically mean claymation.
Corpse Bride also uses constructed puppets. It belongs beside stop motion claymation movies in a wider discussion while remaining a different material approach.
Coraline uses puppet stop motion to build a detailed physical world. Its characters and sets show how precise construction can support a highly controlled visual style.
Morph is a familiar clay animation cartoon character whose changing shape makes the material itself part of the action. These claymation examples and puppet films share a frame-by-frame method while using different ways to build and move their subjects.
Yes, claymation continues in feature films, advertising and music videos alongside other forms of stop motion.
The appeal is partly in the physical surface. A character occupies a real set and catches real light. Small marks and soft edges can make the image feel touched by a person’s hands. That quality can remain visible even in a carefully finished production.
The movement contributes too. A shaped expression or a deliberately timed turn can feel distinct from continuously filmed action. The animator controls the progression of each gesture rather than relying on a real-time performance.
Modern finishing can support the physical work without replacing it. Removing an unwanted support or combining image elements does not change the fact that a figure was moved between photographs.
For an audience the result can feel familiar and unusual at once. The materials are recognizable. Their behaviour is invented. That combination helps explain why the approach remains useful for stories and short commercial ideas that benefit from a visibly handmade image.
Brands use stop motion to give products and messages a tangible appearance through real objects and deliberately constructed movement.
A stop motion brand video’s cost depends on its sets, figures, frame count and finished length.
The quote needs to account for what must be built before photography begins as well as the animation itself.
A simple arrangement of existing products needs a different preparation process from a sculpted character on a custom set. More visible detail can mean more construction and maintenance during the shoot. More frames also mean more individual changes to photograph.
Length matters. But the action inside that length matters too. A held composition and a complex character interaction do not require the same effort. We would identify the physical builds and the planned movement before setting a production allowance. That keeps the price tied to the actual film rather than an assumed rate for any handmade-looking video.
Claymation is one of many animation styles. You can see how it compares with 2D, 3D and other techniques on our styles page.
These answers cover the material, movement and production questions that commonly arise around claymation.
Claymation animates clay figures by changing them between individual photographs. Playing those images in sequence creates movement. The figures may have internal supports and their surfaces can be reshaped for expression. The technique is part of stop motion. A digital image that merely resembles clay does not use the same physical method.
Claymation is one type of stop motion. It uses clay-based figures as its subjects. Stop motion can also use jointed puppets, flat cutouts, everyday objects or people holding changing poses. All these approaches construct movement between individual images. Their different materials affect the kinds of motion and surface detail the animator can create.
There is no single objective measure that makes one claymation film the most famous. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a widely recognized clay animation movie. Familiarity will vary by audience. It is more useful to identify the material and technique than to treat a popularity claim as a production fact.
Yes, clay-based animation continues alongside other forms of stop motion filmmaking. Physical figures can be photographed frame by frame and supported by digital finishing. The presence of digital work does not automatically make the film computer animation. The key question is how the character movement was created in the original photographed sequence.
Oil-based modeling clay such as plasticine is commonly used because it remains workable. An animator can adjust expressions and surfaces repeatedly without the material drying out in the same way as water-based clay. Heat can still soften it. The chosen material must hold the required detail and remain manageable under the shoot’s lighting conditions.
Stop motion commonly uses 12 or 24 distinct images per second. A production played at 24 frames per second can hold each photographed image for two frames to create movement on twos. On ones uses a new image for every frame. The chosen rhythm affects the appearance and the amount of animation work required.
The schedule depends on the builds and the action as well as the finished length. Sculpting figures and preparing sets happen before the photographed animation. Detailed movement adds more work during the shoot. A useful estimate needs the planned scenes rather than only a target runtime.
Stop motion can require substantial labour because every change must be arranged and photographed. A simple product sequence can need less preparation than a custom puppet story. The quote should reflect the physical builds and action. A promotional video brief helps connect that production effort to the message the finished piece needs to communicate.
Choose claymation for the character of clay and stop motion for the possibilities of physical objects moving in unexpected ways. The material needs to suit the action. A clear idea gives the builds and frame-by-frame work a purpose. For a brand video we would begin with what the product or character needs to do and use that to define the production.
Larry is the Founder and Producer at Mammothic Films, with more than 15 years of production experience. He leads a team that creates story-driven videos for businesses and brands. A marketer, designer, and animator, Larry has overseen the production of more than 1,500 videos for Fujitsu, Logitech, Warner Brothers, NFL, Blockdaemon, Astronomer, Canonical, and 370+ other companies in Canada, the United States, and around the world.
Larry is a devout Christian who believes in placing God first, and that everything else is a blessing that comes from serving Him. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife and three kids, playing the piano, or sightseeing.