Stop-motion animator Kevin Parry, an animator on Laika films such as Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, has made a name for himself online (he has nearly half a million Instagram followers) with reference videos of his own, compiling a myriad of ways people could perform basic functions. For example, in his latest video, he shows 50 different possible ways of getting into a pool (via Laughing Squid).
It’s not easy to make a stop-motion film. I’ve never tried myself, but from an outside perspective, I imagine the two hardest things would be having the patience to shoot frame by frame, and getting the characters’ movement to look at least somewhat realistic. So to help deal with that second problem, animators use reference videos, filming themselves or others doing the desired movement so they have a visual foundation to build upon when moving their characters.
So, Parry covers all the classics: flailing and jumping in like an excited kid, getting pushed in unexpectedly, plugging your nose, gracefully easing into the water with a drink in hand, the belly flop, and of course, the cannonball. Also in the video, he gets into some deeper cuts: catching a football, diving for treasure, walking on water, and being a stuntman shot and falling into the water. If you can think of a method by which to submerge yourself into a pool of water, it’s probably represented here.
What’s your favorite way to take a dip in the pool? Make a splash (or don’t) down in the comments below!
Featured Image: Kevin Parry
