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Stop Motion Filmmaking: Frame by Frame 停格动画，永不停歇

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

How many of you have done this? You take an old book and draw a series of slightly different pictures on the corners of the pages. Then, you flip through the pages and the images come to life. This is actually a form of stop motion animation, one of the first special effects techniques used in movies.

在你们之中有几个人做过这件事？你拿起一本旧书，在书角上画一连串有些微差异的图案，然后，当你翻阅书页时，这些图像变得栩栩如生。其实这就是一种停格动画，也是电影中首次利用的其中一种特效技术。

Stop motion involves physically manipulating objects, making them appear to move on their own. The objects are moved in tediously small increments, and each tiny change in their position is photographed. When the series of pictures is played in a continuous sequence, the objects appear to move of their own free will. Because clay is a material that is particularly malleable, it is often used in films that utilize stop motion photography.

停格动画牵涉到人实际地操控物体，让它们看起来好像是自行移动。这些物体的移动过程十分冗长且细微，并且位置上每一个细微的改变都被拍摄下来。当一连串的图片以连续的顺序播放后，物体看起来就像是自行移动。因为陶土可塑性高，所以常常被用来拍摄使用停格动画摄影的电影。

This stop motion technique was first put to use in a film called The Humpty Dumpty Circus in 1898. Filmmakers used acrobat and animal toys to become pioneers in this new branch of the movie industry. In the 20th century, animators brought stop motion to the masses when the original King Kong film hit theaters in 1933. Decades later, Disney experimented with stop motion techniques when they hired an animation director to make the first stop motion animation of their most famous character, Mickey Mouse, in 1978. Then, in 1993, The Nightmare Before Christmas, produced by the delightfully dark Tim Burton, became the first widely released stop motion feature film.

首次利用停格动画技术的电影是于1898年发行的《蛋人马戏团》，制片家让杂技演员与动物玩具摇身一变成为电影界新兴技术的先驱。在20世纪，原创电影《金刚》于1933年于戏院上映时，动画家将停格动画的技术带给普罗大众。几十年过后，1978年迪斯尼开始尝试利用停格动画的技术，所以他们雇用了一名动画导演，制作首支以他们最著名的角色──米老鼠为主角的停格动画。接着在1993年，由讨人喜欢却阴沉的提姆波顿所制作的《圣诞夜惊魂》成为了首支大量发行的停格动画电影。

Vocabulary

单词发音

a series of 一连串的; 一系列的

slightly [ˋslaɪtlɪ] adv. 轻微地；稍微地

come to life 表现生动; 栩栩如生

involve [ɪnˋvɑlv] v. 牵涉; 包括; 需要

physically [ˋfɪzɪk!ɪ] adv. 身体上

manipulate [məˋnɪpjə͵let] v.（熟练地）操作，运用

continuous [kənˋtɪnjʊəs] adj. 连续的，不断的

sequence [ˋsikwəns] n. 相关联的一组; 连续；接续；一连串

utilize [ˋjut!͵aɪz] v.【正式】利用﹐使用

photography [fəˋtɑgrəfɪ] n. 摄影, 摄影术

pioneer [͵paɪəˋnɪr] n. 先驱者，开拓者

delightfully [dɪˋlaɪtfəlɪ] adv. 令人高兴地；讨人喜欢地

More Information

单词发音

animation [͵ænəˋmeʃən] n. 卡通片；卡通片绘制

tediously [ˋtidɪəslɪ] adv. 沉闷地；长而乏味地

increment [ˋɪnkrəmənt] n. 增加；增加量

of one’s own free will 出于自愿 without being asked or forced to

malleable [ˋmælɪəb!] adj. 可塑的; 展延性的

humpty [ˋhʌmptɪ] n. 厚的垫子，座垫

humpty-dumpty [ˋhʌmptɪˋdʌmptɪ] n. 矮胖的人（童谣中从墙上摔下跌得粉碎的蛋形胖矮子）

acrobat [ˋækrəbæt] n. 杂技演员；特技演员

animator [ˋænɪ͵metɚ] n. 卡通片绘制者; 动画片制作人

dark [dɑrk] adj. 邪恶的，坏的

课文朗读

课文讲解

Today, thanks to the Internet, entertaining stop motion films are always just a click away. One of the best the Web has to offer is T-Shirt War, which was made by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. In the film, the two men use alternating images on their T-shirts to push each other’s buttons. In all, it took 222 shirts to make the short video.

直至今日，多亏了网络，只需轻轻一点就可以观看极富娱乐性的停格动画。网络上其中一支最棒的影片便是由瑞特．麦克劳林与林克．尼尔所制作的「T恤大战」。影片中，这两位男士利用T恤上轮流出现的图像去激怒对方。为了拍摄此支短片，总共享了222件T恤。

Stop motion techniques have also infiltrated music videos, and one of the most impressive is Oren Lavie’s “Her Morning Elegance.” It consists of 3,225 still photographs of actors on a bed, which were shot by a single overhead camera. It took four weeks of meticulous planning to map out the computer animated storyboard for the video before a single frame was shot.

停格动画的技术也渗透到音乐录像带，其中一支最令人印象深刻的是奥伦．拉维的「优雅的早晨」。这支音乐录像带是由3,225张演员在床上的静态照片所组成，这些相片是由一台头顶摄影机所拍摄。影片拍摄前总共花了4周的时间精密地策划编排计算机动画分镜图。

In Taiwan, a stop motion animation video recently caused an online sensation. “Deadline,” a class project by Bang-yao Liu, a student at Savannah College of Art and Design, innovatively used Post-it notes. Bang-yao planned out the changing positions of over 6,000 Post-it notes for three months before beginning his four-day shoot. The moving notes tell the story of a young man dealing with a deadline as monsters, thunderstorms, and a submarine move across the wall in front of his desk. The work of Bang-yao, as well as many other creative filmmakers, shows that there are no limits to this amazing method of movie making. Who knows what elements the next generation of filmmakers will bring to this dynamic filmmaking style?

在台湾，最近有一支停格动画的影片在网络上造成轰动。美国萨瓦纳艺术设计学院的学生刘邦耀，创新地利用便利贴拍摄他的课堂作业──「最后期限」。邦耀在开始进行4天的拍摄前，花了3个月去计划如何移动超过6,000张便利贴的位置。这些移动的便利贴述说的故事，是关于一位青年在怪兽、暴风雨和潜水艇这些象征待完成工作的便利贴于书桌前墙上移动时，对抗工作截止日的状况。邦耀和很多其他充满创意的制片人之作品都显示了这种绝佳的电影制作方式是没有限制的。谁知道下个世代的制片家又会将何种元素带至如此变化多端的电影制片方式呢？

−by Joe Henley

Vocabulary

单词发音

entertaining [͵ɛntɚˋtenɪŋ] adj. 使人愉快的；有趣的

a click away 一点击鼠标就可以

alternating [ˋɔltɚnɪtɪŋ] adj. 交替的，轮流的

consist of 由某事物组成或构成

map out 制订, 计划 to plan or design

animated [ˋænə͵metɪd] adj. 卡通（片）的; 活生生的，栩栩如生的

frame [frem] n.（电影的）画面，镜头

sensation [sɛnˋseʃən] n. 轰动

innovatively [ˋɪno͵vetɪvlɪ] adv. 创新地

submarine [ˋsʌbmə͵rin] n. 潜艇

dynamic [daɪˋnæmɪk] adj. 不断移动的; 不断变化的

More Information

单词发音

push each other’s buttons 互相惹火对方

infiltrate [ɪnˋfɪltret] v. 透入，渗透

meticulous [məˋtɪkjələs] adj. 小心翼翼的; 对细节十分注意的

storyboard [ˋstorɪ͵bord] n. 分镜头表

plan out 策划, 筹划, 详细安排 to make thorough plans for something

thunderstorm [ˋθʌndɚ͵stɔrm] n. 雷暴雨

Reading Questions

1. Which of the following is an example of stop motion animation?

A. Taking several pictures of an object while it is in motion.

B. Quickly turning the pages of a book and looking at the words.

C. Drawing a cartoon and then publishing it in a magazine.

D. Filming an image, moving it slightly, and then filming it again.

2. According to the passage, when did stop motion animation first become popular?

A. When King Kong was released in 1933.

B. When The Humpty Dumpty Circus was created in 1898.

C. When Disney began to use it during the 1970s.

D. When Tim Burton made The Nightmare Before Christmas.

3. What might be a good title for this article?

A. A Brand New Technology Takes over YouTube

B. Ways to Bring Motion to Life on Film

C. The End of Animation as We Know It

D. The Unstoppable Art of Stop Motion Animation

4. What does the author suggest about the future of stop motion animation videos?

A. These films have already reached their peak.

B. He expects to see some new advances in the field.

C. People are already starting to get tired of them.

D. They will gain popularity in Taiwan, but nowhere else.

King Kong 1933

Nursery Rhymes - Humpty Dumpty

(Original 1993) The Nightmare Before Christmas Trailer

T-SHIRT WAR!! (stop-motion) - Rhett & Link

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

more videos:

DEADLINE post-it stop motion

DEADLINE 2 : Sticking Close to You

Answer