Cut-Out Animation Research

What is cut-out animation? 

It is a technique used in animation that uses materials that were "pre-cut" in preparation of using it for animation purposes. These cut-outs are used to be moved around frame by frame to create that illusion of movement. A common practice of preparing a character for a cut-out animation is by drawing out the limbs and then cutting them out then later on joint up to a pivot with usually a pin to allow the character's limbs to move around. 

A perfect example of a person who has worked on such techniques is Lotte Reiniger. She was a German film director who specialised in silhouettes and cut-out animations. Her best known film is "The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926". 

There are a variety of materials you can use to make cut-out animations ranging from paper, cards, stiff fabrics and more. The backgrounds can also be utilised so that the cut-out characters can interact with it. Backgrounds can be more than just drawn images, they could also be cut-out and be made to move e.g. trees moving, waters flowing etc. Numerous examples like this image below shows that this animation has colours in it. Although there are examples like Lotte Reiniger's work where it's mostly monochrome or simply a silhouette. 

With how technologies have advanced throughout the years, there has been plenty of devices and apps that assists the animators during the filming process. There are apps like the stop motion studio app which offers plenty of tools and assistance that will make your cut-out animation a lot easier to deal with.

There are plenty of different ways to utilise cut-out animations. As shown in the image above, this was a cut-out animation called "Hedgehog in the Fog" (1975) that was direccted by Yuri Norstein which showcases different elements to create visual effects such as fog and water. You can go minimalistic or fully detailed as shown in this hedgehog character, there is no limitations when it comes to the making process, it is simply the matter of time management and dedication. Though, as mentioned earlier that nowadays technologies are evolving and we discover new things plenty of times. Despite the devlopment of the tools we use, the technique the industry uses are almost the same, however the difference is that they can use an animation software which makes it a "digital cut-out". 

If we were to use a digital technique in cut-out animation, majority of the studios/animators will draw the puppets in an animation software while still keeping in mind that they have to have moveable limbs therefore they draw the assets then take them apart like so. 

The reason why it is like this is the same reason you would do with a traditional technique. This allows the animator to move the character's body in numerous ways because of the amount of pivot points they're able to use with this asset which means that each part of the body you see in this example will corespond to a piece that would usually be articulated around a pivot point. 

References

https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/lotte-reiniger/

https://animation-nuggets.com/en/how-to-do-cut-out-animation/