I have been working as a Director of Photography for over 10 years in live-action and stop motion. Stop motion is a special niche, and there is not a lot of information on how much detail, time, and work go into it. Even a tiny change can take you out of the story!
Here are some important considerations for how to approach this challenging and rewarding art form.
Lighting for Stop Motion
Lighting in stop motion is all about control and consistency. Since you are shooting frame by frame, even the slightest change in lighting will be noticeable and distracting. You don’t want to break the illusion and pull the viewers out of the story.
This is why it is very important to shoot in a place where you have 100% control of your light setup. This means completely eliminating natural light sources like windows or skylights. Daylight shifts over time, and even clouds can cause visible flicker.
Also, avoid light sources like houselights, LED displays, or passing objects, which can reflect light. These can introduce subtle flicker or brightness fluctuations that will be visible in your animation.
Behind the scenes of 'The Tiny Chef Show'Credit: Ozlem Akturk
How to Prep Your Space for Stop Motion
I suggest building a stop motion stage that is separated either through black drapes hanging from a ceiling grid or wooden walls painted black. This creates a self-contained shooting space. Both options help block out ambient light and give you complete control over your lighting setup, and facilitate the atmosphere you want to create for the scene.
If building a large set is not possible, it is still possible to work within a small space in a room or even a garage. I suggest using heavy-duty black plastic bags taped around the window to black out the room or space.
Flooring Matters
Wooden or soft flooring will create set shifts–this means that whenever you move around, it can affect the position of your set, and you will see it on every frame. A concrete floor is ideal and will provide a stable foundation to reduce unwanted set or light movements.
It is not possible to completely avoid set shifts. Temperature changes will cause expansion or contraction, but most of the time those shifts are fixable. I suggest planning a morning light warm-up to get the temperature of the lights and the camera constant. Maintaining consistent room temperature throughout production will help avoid shifts. But no matter how perfectly you prepare your stages, minor shifts happen, and there is always the possibility of fixing them in post-production.
Choose Your Lights and Equipment
A lot of times we use Halogen lights, but more and more LEDs are taking over the film and stop motion world. There are a lot of advantages to using LEDs, like being able to control the white balance and the intensity of the light directly without the need for correction gels. Another big advantage is that LEDs are energy efficient. There are great soft box alternatives to use as a fill light.
Prep and Pre-Shoot Testings
Before we start shooting, we test all the equipment. I start with the camera lenses and camera bodies to make sure the color consistency is guaranteed across all the stages.
I then test all the lights, paying special attention to avoiding any flicker. A tiny light shift or color shift, which might not be visible to the eye, will be visible and distracting in each frame and ruin your animation.
Behind the scenes of 'The Tiny Chef Show'Credit: Ozlem Akturk
Practical Lighting and Creative Setups
One of the creative advantages of stop motion is the ability to build custom miniature lights for your sets. These can be practicals: miniature lights visible in the scene and functioning as the light source, like nightstands or ceiling lights.
But sometimes you like to place a light in a tight spot, where full-sized lights can’t fit. Today’s LED options vary in size and brightness, which is ideal for the stop motion world.
Lock Everything Down Before the Shoot Starts
It is very important to lock everything down on a stop motion shoot. This means all the lighting stands must be sandbagged and glued down onto the concrete floor. Any lightstand close to the animator is protected by kick plates to help avoid accidents. We do the same with the tripod, putting kick plates around it, in case anyone accidentally hits the camera or a lighting stand.
Stop motion is a slow and meticulous process. The more care and preparation you put into the beginning, the more visual consistency and pleasing results you will achieve.
