Ray Harryhausen was a stop-motion animator from 1939 - 1980. During that time he contributed to special effects, in the form of model animation, to films such as 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad' (1958), 'Jason and the Argonauts' (1968), 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' (1974) and many more.
During his career, Ray created and manipulated a wide array of miniature puppets, that he animated to live action footage. This technique became known as 'Dynamation', the projection of live action footage onto a screen behind the animation model(s). This method provided a live feed which Ray could animate against.
Ray's core influences came from animator Willis O'Brian (King Kong) and writer Bradbury. Originally an enthusiast in fantasy fiction, Ray was introduced to science-fiction through Bradbury when they joined the 'LA Science Fiction League' in 1939. Ray expressed his interests in fantasy and science fiction through films such as 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' (1955) and 'Earth vs. The Flying Saucers' (1956). His models were inspired by fairy tales, science fiction-literature and mythology.
Ray's work was shown on the big screen from the late 40's to late 70's. His animation helped produce a revival in the giant monster cinema craze, mostly at drive-in theatres. Because of this trend, his work became part of post-modernist mainstream film culture.
Dalton, TD. (2010) Ray Harryhausen A Life in Pictures. London: Watson-Gubtill.
Harryhausen, RH (2005) The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ray Harryhausen The Early Years [DVD]. London: Sparkhill.
Barry Purves
Barry Purves is a famous, british born, stop-motion animator. Since the 1980's Barry has specialised in model animation, animating a large variety of different puppets, mostly humanoid. Like his influencial predecesors (Ray Harryhausen), he uses the same traditional techniques and methods to animate models to create emotion and the illusion of movement.
Barry's ideas and inspiration come from his passion for theatre, this is demonstrated by films such as 'The Infinite Variety Show' (1989), 'Screen Play' (1992) and 'Rigoletto' (1993).
Films such as 'Screen Play' were featured on the 'British Animation Classics Volume One' DVD, published by the British Animation Awards. Barry's work also features on 'His Intimate Lives' (2008), a DVD that includes all his short films released before 2007.
Apart from being a renowned animator, Barry also travels across the globe to teach, show and demonstrate his talents. His animation is also distributed on television, often show for educational purposes in the case of 'The Infinite Variety Show', providing an entertaining re-telling of Shakespeare's plays.
Purves, BP. (2010) stop-motion. London: Thames and Hudson (ex-North America).
Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot has been an independent animator, director and writer since the 90's, producing a series of short films titled 'Uncle' (1996), 'Cousin' (1998) and 'Brother' (1999). Adam became internationally famous in 2003, the date when he released 'Harvey trumpet', an award winning short film depicting the hard life of a mentally handicapped chap named Harvey. Due to this success, Adam released his first feature film, 'Mary & Max' in 2009, a tale of two pen friends that exchange letters and gifts.
Adams narrative structure is based on character development, focusing on one or more main characters that would be considered outcasts, they are also mentality handicapped to express and exaggerate their naive attitude.
The reason for this is because Adam was born with an hereditary phycological tremor, this is also expressed through his art style, there being no even or symmetrical designs in his work.
Adam's main distribution channel still circulates around popular film festivals, such as the Sundance Film Festival. His feature film 'Mary & Max' can be bought from retail.
Purves, BP. (2010) stop-motion. London: Thames and Hudson (ex-North America).
