Cut it out...
February 6, 2009 2:52 PM Subscribe
Paper cutout animation is repetitive, time consuming work. Results, however, can be well worth it. (SLYT)
I'm a video CODEC wrangler, so the low framerate's distracting. Made me appreciate this paper cutout animation even more: drum hits & keyboardist kicks perfectly synced & fast enough that you catch a lot of nuance.
It's (the Mates of State, not the linked video) a strange kind of "animation," because it starts with a movie, you do something like Quicktime (Pro)'s Export to Image Sequence, print 'em out, cut 'em all out & shoot 'em again. It's like real life as an After Effects filter or something. I want to try it, but with bigger prints (of just a head or hand, not whole-body-sized, paper-wasting) in life-size scale instead of miniature scale. Head on a stick singing a song as it walking tours around San Francisco.
I discovered Mates of State when they covered the theme from the O.C. for This American Life's What I Learned From Television live-on-the-radio show.
The version of the video on the MoS site doesn't have that "does this widescreen conversion make me look fat" problem, but you have to click it yourself.
posted by morganw at 3:17 PM on February 6, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's (the Mates of State, not the linked video) a strange kind of "animation," because it starts with a movie, you do something like Quicktime (Pro)'s Export to Image Sequence, print 'em out, cut 'em all out & shoot 'em again. It's like real life as an After Effects filter or something. I want to try it, but with bigger prints (of just a head or hand, not whole-body-sized, paper-wasting) in life-size scale instead of miniature scale. Head on a stick singing a song as it walking tours around San Francisco.
I discovered Mates of State when they covered the theme from the O.C. for This American Life's What I Learned From Television live-on-the-radio show.
The version of the video on the MoS site doesn't have that "does this widescreen conversion make me look fat" problem, but you have to click it yourself.
posted by morganw at 3:17 PM on February 6, 2009 [2 favorites]
So I'm curious is all of this stuff all actually paper cut out? Do we not have a way to simulate this effect with just digital alteration of normal video?
posted by MrBobaFett at 3:23 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by MrBobaFett at 3:23 PM on February 6, 2009
MrBobaFett: Even if we could, it kinda misses the point though, doesn't it?
posted by leotrotsky at 3:25 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by leotrotsky at 3:25 PM on February 6, 2009
That boat was very nicely done. The animation did have me sort of wanting to reach in and jostle it or unstick it or something, though. Maybe they were going for that feeling.
posted by orme at 4:09 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by orme at 4:09 PM on February 6, 2009
Meh doing it is cool and requires skill etc, and it's amazing that people can do it and it was ingenuity that created it. That said it's also a cool effect that I'd like to see without working too hard for. Kinda in the same vein of enjoying making a pie, but just buying a premade pie crust. To the end user the result is the same.
posted by MrBobaFett at 4:24 PM on February 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by MrBobaFett at 4:24 PM on February 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
the dips to black killed it for me but i didn't like the song so never mind.
posted by noway at 4:58 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by noway at 4:58 PM on February 6, 2009
i like the falling in the water part. and the camera panning around the characters, while also their cuttouts turning so as to not seem like a 2d piece of paper. i wasn't a fan of the song either.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:10 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:10 PM on February 6, 2009
came across this surreal cutout ani the other day.
posted by whiterussian at 5:34 PM on February 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by whiterussian at 5:34 PM on February 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
I liked it. Song, animation... I thought it was neat.
posted by arcticwoman at 6:55 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by arcticwoman at 6:55 PM on February 6, 2009
MrBoboFett said: To the end user the result is the same.
I see what you're saying, but I think the comparison between homemade and store-bought pie crust is a poor one. It's night and day, man!
One of the reasons I was drawn to this was the incredible amount of time that obviously went into it, and I think that that adds value to it. I mean, isn't it nicer to eat out of a bowl somebody threw themselves than a machine-thrown Walmart bowl? Nicer to put your books on shelves that a human eye measured and cut? Maybe that's just me...
/is it classless to offer opinions in my own thread?
posted by seagull.apollo at 8:43 PM on February 6, 2009
I see what you're saying, but I think the comparison between homemade and store-bought pie crust is a poor one. It's night and day, man!
One of the reasons I was drawn to this was the incredible amount of time that obviously went into it, and I think that that adds value to it. I mean, isn't it nicer to eat out of a bowl somebody threw themselves than a machine-thrown Walmart bowl? Nicer to put your books on shelves that a human eye measured and cut? Maybe that's just me...
/is it classless to offer opinions in my own thread?
posted by seagull.apollo at 8:43 PM on February 6, 2009
Hey, they're from Victoria. Cool.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:32 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:32 PM on February 6, 2009
It's my home town! I knew about them because I always used to go see their shows when I was in high school.
posted by seagull.apollo at 10:07 PM on February 6, 2009
posted by seagull.apollo at 10:07 PM on February 6, 2009
it's probably wrong of me to say I thought this would make a good point-and-click game.
posted by mmmleaf at 12:11 AM on February 7, 2009
posted by mmmleaf at 12:11 AM on February 7, 2009
Paper cut-out animation, you say? (Vimeo and .mov links, ahoy!)
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (making of)
Tame Impala - Half-full glass of wine
Phon°noir’s - My Paperhouse On Fire
Josepha Conrad a.k.a Susie Asado - Hello Antenna
TrenchcoaT - Whatcha got, son? (making of)
It gets to the point where the effect is even faked in CG: Pharrell/Casablancas/Santogold - My drive-thru.
posted by progosk at 12:34 AM on February 7, 2009 [3 favorites]
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (making of)
Tame Impala - Half-full glass of wine
Phon°noir’s - My Paperhouse On Fire
Josepha Conrad a.k.a Susie Asado - Hello Antenna
TrenchcoaT - Whatcha got, son? (making of)
It gets to the point where the effect is even faked in CG: Pharrell/Casablancas/Santogold - My drive-thru.
posted by progosk at 12:34 AM on February 7, 2009 [3 favorites]
The song instantly destroys any desire to vie the complete in animation within seconds. But such is relativity.
posted by juiceCake at 8:02 AM on February 7, 2009
posted by juiceCake at 8:02 AM on February 7, 2009
So I'm curious is all of this stuff all actually paper cut out? Do we not have a way to simulate this effect with just digital alteration of normal video?
South Park's creators did some CG simulations that modeled the paper, its shadows, mis-registrations, etc, very accurately.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:30 AM on February 7, 2009
South Park's creators did some CG simulations that modeled the paper, its shadows, mis-registrations, etc, very accurately.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:30 AM on February 7, 2009
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posted by Foosnark at 2:55 PM on February 6, 2009