Do you know the movie, Coraline? It’s a stop-motion 3D animated film directed by Henry Selick in 2009, based on Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline. The film was beloved for its mysterious and eerie visuals and storyline. The story is about Coraline, the main character, who discovers a hidden door in her new home that leads to another world. The movie is set to re-release worldwide at the end of August to celebrate its 15th anniversary. 

Henry Selick, who previously directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, chose to promote that film using Tim Burton's name. However, with Coraline, Selick independently took the helm of the project.

  The film uses a technique called stop-motion animation, where each movement of a character is captured frame by frame and then compiled into a moving image. The character models used in the film are known as "puppets" or "animatronics." When people animate, puppets are fixed to specific devices to perform some sophisticated movements. 

  Sometimes, you can see the traces of modifications on the puppets. For instance, the famous Wallace & Gromit puppets have the holes in the eyes for eye movement or the addition and removal of clay on the skin leaves fingerprints. In Coraline, more intricate puppets were used. the characters' faces were designed to allow the lower jaw to move separately to create realistic speaking motions, and wires were inserted into the fingers to capture delicate hand movements. 

  The process of creating every possible movement of a character is incredibly detailed, a fact that becomes evident when you watch the short making-of videos available on YouTube. These videos showcase the creators' unwavering dedication to crafting every prop, from character costumes and environmental settings to facial expressions, hand gestures, and even individual strands of hair. The use of wind-up mechanisms to facilitate movement and the recreation of immovable parts as slightly altered versions of the same structure further underscore the creators' commitment to their craft. 

  One of the enchanting aspects of stop-motion films is the meticulous manual crafting of even the smallest details, which are then seamlessly integrated into the film. The 100-minute film Coraline, for instance, took a staggering 3 years and 6 months to create, with 2 of those years dedicated solely to prop creation. 

  Henry Selick’s notable works, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, both feature a fairy-tale-like world and main characters experiencing wonder and dread as they travel between the real and fantastical worlds. The stop-motion technique that Selick employs enhances these distinctive features. Each work by Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman has a dreamlike and fairy-tale atmosphere, and it combines well with Selick's imagination and quirkiness to create these exceptional films. If you haven't seen them yet, I highly recommend watching them, especially with the upcoming re-release of Coraline.

Park Jiwon Trainee Reporter

fieso03@mail.ulsan.ac.kr