The founders of Aardman Animations, Peter Lord and David Sproxton, started animating while they were at school together. As with all great careers there has to be a special element, and in this case it was a 16mm Bolex注 camera owned by Sproxton's father. “If we hadn't been able to borrow that camera, I would probably be in accounts or something now,” mused[沉思] Peter Lord.
（英国）阿德曼动画公司的创始人彼得·洛德和大卫·史波克斯顿从一起上学时就开始创作动画。要干成一番大事总有一些特殊的机缘，在这个成功故事里的特别因素就是史波克斯顿父亲的那台保莱克斯16毫米摄影机。“如果我们当初没借到那台摄影机，我现在估计会从事财务之类的工作呢，”彼得·洛德若有所思地说。One of these early sequences[片段] featured a character called Aardman, a send-up[滑稽的模仿] of Superman. They sold that 15-second sequence to the BBC, and when the check arrived they needed a bank account. “The bank wanted to know the name of our company, and we told them Aardman. So for the next 30 years we've had to say, ‘My firm is called Aardman Animations,'” explained Lord.
这些早期制作的短片中有一个角色叫“阿德曼”，是超人的恶搞版。他们将这段时长15秒的短片卖给BBC。对方汇来支票，他们必须开一个银行账户。“银行问公司的名字是什么，我们就说是‘阿德曼’。于是在接下来的30年里，我们只能说：‘我的公司是阿德曼动画，’”洛德解释道。
While we talked in this Oscar-winning studio, where Wallace and Gromit were born, it seemed inevitable[不可避免的] to mention the influence of computer on stop-motion animation. “Our finished material is still shot on film. We think it still gives the best image,” he said.
我们在这个屡获奥斯卡奖的动画工作室里聊天——这里也是华莱士与格罗米特的诞生地——电脑技术对定格动画的影响似乎是一个必然的话题。“我们的最终成品仍然是用胶片拍摄的。我们认为这样才能达到最好的画面效果，”他说。
Even if they could scan puppet[玩偶] characters into the computer and animate them on the screen, “there is a fundamental difference between working with your hands and working on the keyboard,” the animator explained. “For all of us animators at Aardman now, we are trained in this craft[手艺], just like a musician or a painter, it's all hand and brain. You grab the puppet with two hands, and you feel the whole thing move. The camera has to move right, the light has to be right, the actor has to do the right thing—make-up, costume, everything has to be right. Just for one moment in time. That's the way we work. I believe that the humanity[人性] in what we're doing, the process, all comes through in the final film.”
即使他们可以把泥偶的形象扫描到电脑里，在屏幕上进行动画处理，“用双手进行控制和通过键盘操作有着本质上的区别，”这位动画家解释道。“现在阿德曼的动画师都对这一门手艺训练有素，就像音乐家或画家那样，靠的是双手和脑袋。你拿起泥偶，用自己的双手感受它的一举一动。摄像机要跟上，灯光要打好，演员要到位——化妆、服装，一切都必须准确到位，成败在此一举。这就是我们的工作方式。我相信从我们所制作的东西以及整个制作过程里流露出来的人文元素，都能在最终的影片里得到体现。”
“For a young person, which is more important—storytelling or craft?” Lord expressed his concern when I asked him for some advice. “If a young person in college wants to make a name for themselves, I would say get a great idea, a great story, and tell that. I'm not saying forget about technique, but I'd rather see flair[才能] and energy and humor. There are so few really good films that a good story with a good punch line[（故事中的）妙语] just communicates so well and makes the audience wild. So, my advice to young animators? Tell a good story, for heaven's sake.”
“对年轻人来说，哪一点更重要呢——讲故事，还是动画技巧？”当我向洛德寻求建议时，他表示担忧：“如果一个年轻的大学生想闯出自己的名堂，我会建议他先想一个好点子、一个好故事，然后把它表现出来。我并不是说不管画技高低，但我更想看到才华、激情与幽默。现在的好动画太少了，一个好故事加上妙语连珠的台词便足以扣人心弦，让观众为之疯狂。你问我要给年轻动画人提什么建议？看在老天的份上，讲一个好故事吧！”
注：保莱克斯公司（Bolex）是瑞士最著名的照相机和光学镜头制造商，其产品性能优异，被誉为摄影机当中的“劳力士”。16毫米摄影机产于二战前，是电影摄影中的专业机型。