For stop motion artists, time and momentum can slow as they articulately move clay figures frame-by-frame to craft rich worlds filled with music and magical visuals. 

The stop-and-film style of clay-mation reflects the struggle of studying between the textbooks, study guides and snack breaks of college life. Luckily, stop-motion classics, such as “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “ParaNorman,” provide rich instrumentals to help you relax, recenter and become motivated. 

These spirited soundtracks were designed to capture the story without distracting the audience, making these rhythmic beats ideal for doing schoolwork without getting distracted. 

This playlist features the gothic instrumentals from Tim Burton’s classic stop-motion films, like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” composed by Danny Elfman. Utilizing a large orchestra of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion, Elfman switches the key between major and minor, evoking a sense of mystery. These soundtracks are very melody-driven, which aids in attention. 

Elfman’s music, compared with Bruno Coulais’ mix of the waterphone, glass harmonica and gentle vocals for the themes from “Coraline” and “Wendell & Wild,” adds a whimsy that accompanies the upbeat orchestrations from “Isle of Dogs” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” composed by Alexandre Desplat. 

 The lack of vocals within these themes, as well as the mysterious and eclectic sounds, promotes focus as the semester progresses. Dive into your readings, essays and homework with the dynamic melodies of stop-motion animation.