 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Pixilation" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| This articlerelies excessively onreferences toprimary sources. Please improve this article by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Pixilation" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Pixilation is astop-motion technique in which live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in ananimated film, by repeatedly posing while one or moreframe is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames.[citation needed] This technique is often used as a way to blend live-actors with animated ones in a movie.[citation needed]
Early examples of this technique are included inSegundo de Chomón'sCuisine magnétique[1] andHôtel électrique, both from 1908, andÉmile Cohl's 1911 movieJobard ne peut pas voir les femmes travailler (Jobard cannot see the women working).[citation needed]
The term is widely credited toGrant Munro (although some say it wasNorman McLaren) and he made an experimental movie named "Pixillation", available in his DVD collection "Cut Up – The Films of Grant Munro."[2]
Quebec bandLes Colocs andMichel Gondry used pixilation in many of their music videos.
Of note, "Leave Me Alone" byMichael Jackson utilises a variation on this technique by slowing down the frame rate of video and overlaying objects to achieve the distinctive pixilation look to great effect.
The pixilation technique was also used for the opening ofClaymation,Will Vinton's 1978, 17-minute documentary about his animation studio's production techniques, the first time the famous trademarkedClaymation term was used, now a term synonymous with allclay animation.[5]
TheCzech animatorJan Švankmajer uses pixilation in most of his work; most notablyFood.
Jan Kounen'sGisele Kerozene (1989), a short film that shows witches riding around a city on broomsticks, is another influential example of this technique.
Pixilation is also used inAndrew Huang's short videoFluxis.
An effect similar to pixilation can be achieved by dropping occasional frames from a conventionally recorded movie. While obviously easier than the stop-motion technique, this does not achieve the same quality.