Cut out Animation

Cut-out animation is a process where by movable parts of the figure are moved to create an illusion of an action.These puppets with movable parts are usually drawn, cut out and pieced together.

Cut out animation is less difficult and time consuming than traditional drawn animation. It is easier to manage and more cost effective for solo animator, requiring only simple materials like plain coloured paper, scissors and masking tape.Of course, cut out animation has limitations. Fluid movements are not easy to achieve with flat puppets. The characteristic of cut out animation is the firmness and rapidness of movement with pauses. It is important to note that cut out animation requires patience and a interesting story idea. Close up shot of face does not work well in cut out animation because it is hard to create dialogue that requires lip-sync which is the animation of the lips and mouth to allow characters to engage in a conversation. As a result, such animation is often a mimed story.



Materials

a) Drawing pencils/ markers

b) Masking tape/ Double-sided tape

c) Glue

d) Blue tack

e) Scissors

f) Plain/ Coloured paper for drawing



Set-up

A table or an elevated platform is required to serve as the work area where the cut-out animation can be created. A digital video camera is mounted on a tripod connected to a computer loaded with the Adobe Premiere software for stop-motion capture on the table.

An ordinary photographic tripod is usually used and the DVC is placed such that it points downwards and would shoot the cut out puppet from above.



Steps to Cut-Out Animation

1.Construct the basic set up accordingly as shown in the set-up section. Switch on the computer and start the programme Adobe Premiere. Select File> Capture> Stop motion.

2. Draw the paper cur outs, in this case, a car, and the background, the road, hill etc. Cut them out and place them together.

3. The moveable parts are attached with either blue tacks or masking tape so that the parts can be removed easily when needed.

4. The car is then placed on a background of the road and the sky. take 12 frames of the car at the bottom of the hill.

5. Move the clouds and the sunrays about during the action sequence.

6. To show the car moving down the hill accelerating, the car is repositioned further apart from its previous position. therefore, lesser frames are required to capture the acceleration down the slope.

7. To show the the effect that the car is climbing up the hill slowly, the car is repositioned close to its previous position. Therefore, more frames are needed to capture the gradual climb up slope.

8. When the entire sequence is captured and replayed, the action sequence will show the car climbing up and down the hill on the road. The animation sequence ends with the train exiting out of the picture.