Seeing stop motion on Blu-ray was a revelation. It was like you were puppet size on the set yourself. So now we’re in 4k and it’s like the stop motion sets are real and we have 4K vision.
Coraline opens with a stop motion characters searing puppets. Every piece of material has strands and wrinkles. Remember, Coraline was in 3D so it was designed for depth.
The ground looks stepped on, fields of grass and stone paths tactile. Hairs on the cat move from frame to frame.
Inside Coraline’s home is palpable as a mundane family dwelling. It’s aged like a home bought from previous owners. This is a distinct contrast to the surreal other home Coraline discovers.
The other home glows bright and is fully decorated and colorful. Light shines on Coraline blue hair and the Surreal garden blooms colorfully.
Coraline has good surround sound effects too, whispers and winds behind you,
The 4K enhancements of Paranorman are more subtle but no less impressive. You can definitely see the minute differences from frame to frame. Not fingerprints, but rather the texture on the face changes with every expression because it’s literally a different head so the texture is in different places.
A tear running down Agatha’s cheek is striking. The long hair of the zombies too, as strands stray in single frames but go back into the dangling lock.
It is a darker film with a horror movie aesthetic, even more than Gaiman so it’s very shadowy and the sets and characters hold up. It’s calibrated for night so really comes to life when the monsters come out more than the act one setup.
Horror sounds swarm the rear speakers. Thunder, buzzing and spirits roar in the background. A shaking spray paint can does too.
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