14 DAY TRIAL // Stop motion is a method of cinematography by means of which objects, props and mannequins are used to shoot action scenes involving animals and creatures that cannot be impersonated by humans. Well, it's not a textbook definition, but that's the gist of it. Now, it seems that 3D printing is being used for it.
DBLG used fifty 3D printed bears, created in incrementally different positions, to produce this “Bears on Stairs” three-dimensional scene.
In it, the bear climbs a set of stairs, again and again and again. Smoothly too. So smoothly that you might mistake it for computer-generated special effects.
It's true that the frames are molded together and smoothed out by computer software, but the basis still lies in stop motion.
It's a shame that the project won't be enough to revive interest in stop motion as a popular cinematographic technique.
Alas, having to spend four weeks just to make fifty different stair-climbing bears and getting just 50 frames to show for it isn't exactly a fast film-making procedure.
Even if the result was surprisingly smooth, it takes too long to create the optical illusion of movement from a sequence of individually photographed shots. Taking the shots is time-consuming in itself after all, more so than actually combining them.
Still, at the end of the day, DLBG still succeeded in showcasing the potential of 3D printing in film making. We can definitely see Hollywood using it.
Even if the 3D printed bear is far from smooth, with the polygons painfully visible all over its surface, Hollywood should be able to use the concept for props at the very least.
One can only wonder how the film industry would have progressed if 3D printing had been around back in 1898, when stop motion was first used (The Humpty Dumpty Circus). King Kong and Godzilla would probably have looked a lot better, or at least the animation would have seemed smoother.
Anyway, the video below shows Bears on Stairs in all its glory. In the near future, we may even be treated to the sight of an extended version. One where the bear finally reaches the top of the infinite staircase, perhaps? It would, if nothing else, help dispel the sensation of utter helplessness that the bear must be feeling.
Maybe the next stair-climbing bear will even have a coat of fur, or some actual eyes to show for DBLG's effort.