Claymation-Trapdoor

Trap Door

The Trap Door…

Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions where nobody goes stands an ancient castle. Deep within this dank and uninviting place lives Berk, overworked servant of The Thing Upstairs. But that’s nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door. For there is always something down there, in the dark, waiting to come out…

We salute Terry Brain and Charlie Mills, creators of 1980s children’s stop-motion animated TV series, 

Read more: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-trap-door/39538/the-trap-door-celebrating-a-much-loved-80s-animated-series#ixzz47hx2ZDHv
 I decided to have a look at this animation from the 80's to find out more about movement of simple forms. I remember finding this quite funny when I watched it years ago with my nieces and nephews and just wanted to refresh my memory and watch it with critical eye.
I did experiment with a wire frame clay clad character but found it incredibly difficult to balance it- even after adding a tail. So I was very interested to look closely at this animation and see how the viewer is entertained with the amount of action going on- it is a very complex set but the characters are very simple forms. Their movement isn't too challenging, just a smooth sliding a lot of the time. In my final piece I have chosen to enhance my main Body Paint character with objects that have claymation features. 
The blinks are rapid, they just go from open to closed eye and there is a blink between each eye movement. I think I will experiment with a 3 stage blink incorporating a half closed lid too on the close or on the open depending on the mood/ reaction I am trying to create.