Tie Downs

Stop motion animation can be very tricky business. One of the first things you learn is that if a stationary object moves unintentionally, it is almost impossible to get it back to it's original position. There have been many times where I have had to reshoot a scene because I carelessly bumped a prop and could not reposition it. For this reason everything, and I mean everything, needs to be tied down or affixed to the set in some way.

There are several different options when considering tie down systems. There are straps, magnets, nuts & bolts, screws, glue, putty, specially designed rigs or even the objects weight can be enough to hold it down. I use a combination of all of them depending on the object itself.

Here is an example of a wing nut and bolt being used to tie down a tree prop. Make sure to use washers so you don't damage the the prop or stage when tightening the bolt.

This prop was made of paper so I couldn't bolt it down directly. I took a little piece of foam and put a bolt through that so it wouldn't rip the paper. I then used a wing nut to affix it to the stage.

This box had writing on the bottom so I couldn't just put a bolt there. I ended up taking a threaded rod, putting a 90 degree bend in it, and attaching it to the back of the box. In the photo above, I attached it to a park bench using a large washer and a wing nut.

I had previously put nuts in the bottom of the shoes of the main character. This allowed me to use threaded rods to hold down the feet. The rods are bent at the end to make it easier to screw them in. Because these rods will be moved multiple times, I am using plastic washers to limit the damage to the stage.

I use blu-tac putty to secure anything that can't be screwed down. I like blue color because it can be removed quite easily in post. The bottle in the photo below it affixed to the hand using blu-tac.

I used wood screws to secure the bench and the pillars. The white mask in the background is using it's own gravity to stay in place. It is made of plaster of paris and is actually very heavy. The backdrop is being held up by magnets so it can be changed out in a hurry.