Old, But Not Outdated!

Why stop-motion matters in our digitally animated world

ACM SIGGRAPH has been the focus of computer graphics research, art and commercial technologies for more than 25 years. Over the years, Montreal has come to be one of the key players in these fields. This position has been reinforced, both locally and within the global community, by the establishment, 4 years ago, of our very own Montreal chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH.

We produce a series of regular public events which bring together researchers, artists, industry players to exchange, debate and learn from each other. Topics cover scientific, technological and artistic issues in areas that include 2D and 3D graphics, multimedia, visualization and simulation, as well as video games and virtual reality. The faster that technology moves, the more pressing it becomes for individuals and organizations to communicate with one another in order to maintain an understanding of “what’s going on” outside of their specialized domains. This need to understand technology is a big one to fulfill, and so we are very pleased to be beginning a collaboration with the seasoned and knowledgeable crew at fpsmagazine to bring this mission to a wider audience.

The film and entertainment industry plays an important role in our community, driving research and providing a fantastic showcase of the marriage of technology and artistic skill. Indeed, it was just one month ago that we presented our annual screening of SIGGRAPH’s Electronic Theatre, the latest and greatest examples from the prestigious international competition.

Not all such marriages of art and technology are happy ones, however; disgruntled voices will point to the non-intuitiveness of user interfaces, the negative impact of 3D motion capture on artistic control and the “cold” visual quality of digital film, to name a few. Montreal ACM SIGGRAPH believes that it is not enough to simply understand technology, we must also evaluate it and critique its overall impact on culture, communication and artistic expression. One of our previous events, for example, placed a presentation of a leading-edge character animation software package side-by-side with a review and live demonstration of traditional stop-motion animation techniques. Only through direct juxtaposition and lively face-to-face debate can we make enlightened choices about how best to use (or avoid) the new technological opportunities that become available to us.

The presentation of Mike Johnson’s work is an excellent case in point: We are witnessing a veritable renaissance of stop-motion feature-length films in the midst of, or perhaps in defiance of, the ever-advancing digital revolution. It is an important and wonderful lesson to all of us: Despite the fantastic arsenal of digital effects and 3D technology that we are regularly exposed to, audiences the world over can still be thrilled and moved by the expressiveness of stop-motion techniques, an innovation that is more than 75 years old. Old yes, but definitely not out-dated!