The
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...](_blank)
-winning
animator Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot (born 2 January 1972) is an Australian stop-motion animation writer, director and producer based in Melbourne, Australia. His five films have collectively participated in over seven hundred film festivals and have received over one ...
. Elliot struggled with ways of describing his unique animation technique and so created this word to aptly express his artistic style.
Meaning
A combination of the words
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...
and
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
, the term is similar to another
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[plasticine
Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...](_blank)
in the
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...
animation community. As Elliot's films explore the details of real people's lives and are the basis of all his animated films, the words
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
and
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
are suitable words to use in describing his work. Each of his films is a Clayography (singular) and as a body of work they are Clayographies (plural).
See also
*''
Mary and Max
''Mary and Max'' is a 2009 Australian independent stop-motion adult-animated comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Elliot and was his first animated feature film. The film was produced by Melanie Coombs and Melodrama Pictures with m ...
''
* ''
Harvie Krumpet
''Harvie Krumpet'' is a 2003 Australian clay animation psychological comedy-drama short film written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot, and narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It tells the life story of Harvie Krumpet, a Polish-Australian man whose ...
''
External links
Adam Elliot official website*
Mary and Max official site*
Olivier Cotte
Olivier Cotte (born 20 June 1963) is a French writer, graphic novel scriptwriter, animation historian, illustrator, and a director.
Biography
Born into a family of artists, Olivier Cotte studied piano, classical dance and fine arts in parallel ...
(2007) ''Secrets of Oscar-winning animation: Behind the scenes of 13 classic short animations.'' (Making of '"
Harvie Krumpet
''Harvie Krumpet'' is a 2003 Australian clay animation psychological comedy-drama short film written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot, and narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It tells the life story of Harvie Krumpet, a Polish-Australian man whose ...
"'') Focal Press.
Animation techniques
Clay animation films
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