Laika Stop-Motion Feature 'Wildwood' Built From 2,776 Shots Over More Than Five Years

The stop-motion feature "Wildwood," directed by Travis Knight for the studio Laika, required more than five years of work on stage animation and visual effects, according to Variety. The trade publication reported that the production involved 2,776 shots in total. Each of those shots was assembled from a combination of hand-built puppets and miniature sets, with additional elements layered in to complete the frame. Steve Emerson, the film's visual effects supervisor, described the process to Variety. The account lays out how the studio coordinated physical craft work and effects work across the length of the production. For readers in a city where film and animation work is part of daily life, the figures give a measure of the scale of a single stop-motion picture.

With reporting from Variety Film.