Stop Motion Animator - Career Profile

What does a Stop Motion Animator do? Where does a Stop Motion Animator work? ACR takes a look:

About Stop Motion Animators

Stop motion animators are a unique bunch. They use models, puppets, or clay to create animated features, television commercials, and branded entertainment. Stop motion animation is also called stop frame, model animation, puppet animation, and clay animation. Examples of stop motion animation include The Nightmare Before Christmas, Wallace & Gromit, Celebrity Death Match, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and James and the Giant Peach.

Stop Motion Animator Jobs

Stop motion animators combine the art of photography, narrative ability, and the ability to manipulate lighting and calculate angels to create stop motion animation without digitally manipulating it. The animator creates pictures of objects, characters, or scenes that show them in various positions. When the pictures run together, it appears that the object is moving on its own. This creates one of the most unique forms of animation, which is neither cartoon-like nor similar to computer-generated animations. 

Stop motion animators work for animation studios, film and video production companies, gaming companies, and advertising agencies.

Stop Motion Animator Salaries

As of May 2009, stop motion animators earned a mean annual salary of $62,810. The lowest paid animators earned $32,360 per year and the highest paid animators earned $99,130 per year. Five states offer the highest average salaries for stop motion animators. They California ($74,560 per year), New York ($66,340), Oregon ($62,690), District of Columbia ($62,670), and Connecticut ($62,410). At an average salary of $81,360 per year, animators living in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area earn the highest average salary in the nation.

Becoming a Stop Motion Animator

Employers prefer to hire stop motion animators with a bachelor’s degree in animation, film, or fine arts. They also prefer a minimum of 2 years’ professional experience in production. Entry-level stop motion animators may have some luck with a bachelor’s degree and experience from an internship or other support position, while intermediate to senior level positions will likely require the minimum 2 years’ professional experience in production.

Job Trends for Stop Motion Animators

Employment growth for animators is expected to average 14 percent for the 2008-2018 decade. This is higher than any other field in the artists and related workers category. Wage and salary employment in the motion picture and video industries is also expected to average 14 percent between 2008 and 2018, compared with 11 percent growth projected for wage and salary employment in all industries combined.