As I've pointed out profusely, I simply adore stop-motion. Among the plentiful films that have been created, there is one that I truly adore: "Adventures of Mark Twain - The Mysterious Stranger". What strikes me about the movie is not only the development of the plot, but also the individual characters and background which are mostly crafted out of a plasticine-base. Seeing as I have mainly animated stop-motion with plasticine, I found the film to be utterly inspiring in terms of scenery and visuals, as 99% of the debris is made of clay. For an example, during the scene where the main characters encounter Satan (40:05), the mask Satan uses as his face constantly changes appearance and molds to match the emotion he is relaying and the eeriness that his existence brings. While Satan has been depicted as a horned, goat-like devil, this sequence re-establishes the ambiguity of his figure (and what he presents, for some view Satan from an optimistic point-of-view, particulary Laveyan Satanists) and insinuates that the devil can morph, that the devil can appear in many forms, that the devil is omnipotent. By the end of the scene, his face turns to resemble a skull, depicting the death he may bring. All of this done with technical ingenuity with clay-morphing, the most useful skill a stop-motion animator may have. However, what I like the most about the film are the colors which are used, which are dominantly cold-colors that persist in the background. This adds a firm level of contrast between the foreground and the background, making it visually more appealing.
"Adventures of Mark Twain" -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJb3Gady7Vc
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