Ben Treat is an American stop motion animator following the trends of 3D digital art, Anime style animation, NFT market, and Indie Animation techniques. Stop motion animation is an animation that captures one frame at a time, with physical objects that are affected between frames. It is a technique utilized in animation to bring static objects to life on screen. After you play back the sequence of pictures rapidly, it creates the illusion of movement. Clay figures, puppets, and mini-figures are typically utilized in stop motion animation as they can be handled and repositioned easily.
In today’s times, to receive recognition, the best way to showcase one’s talents is through social media as it helps the creators be their own boss and create without inhibitions. Ben worked with plenty of content creators and followed the social media trends to gain a huge following on his Instagram page @franticframes which helped him develop a career as an animator. He takes pride in being a self-taught artist and seeing his work evolve with time and the appreciation he receives has given him the confidence to do more. During the pandemic, he became more focused on his artistries and initiated more ambitious projects and worked on his skills with frame by frame animation.
When asked what his artworks aim to say he says that everybody has their perception and therefore everybody perceives different pieces of art in their own way. An admirer of art tries to find a piece of themselves when they see a particular artistry. They have their own message; be it pain or happiness.
The message he wants to convey to his fellow artisans is, “Do what you love but make sure to take the time you need to step back”. He conveys such a powerful message in such short words. Whatever we do stays exciting only if we take a break and get back stronger. To improve and be the best at what we do, we need to take some time off work and get back with better and amazing ideas.
His greatest inspiration is the works of Andaman Animations and many talented independent artists. His favorite artists are Lord Victor Hagelin and Alexander Unger, both stop motion animation creators. Ben believes that other artist’s works are the door to your inspiration, for making your own. Getting inspired by someone else’s works only helps in the improvement and keeps one’s art interesting.