Frame-by-frame manual photography — stop camera, move subject or actor, expose next frame. Creates jerky or speed-ramped motion. Pop videos and commercials love it.
The camera does not run continuously — it stops after each frame, the talent or the set moves a defined distance, then the next frame is captured. Done. This is stop and go, and anyone who has done it on set knows: it is tedious, precise, and damn effective if the movement has been precisely calculated.
In practice, it works like this: You choose your exposure time per frame (usually 1 or 2 seconds depending on the light and the speed of the subsequent movement), shoot a still frame, stop the camera, the actor or prop master physically moves, say, 5 to 15 centimeters, next frame, next pause, next movement. When compiled in editing or in-camera to video, this sequence of photograms creates a fluid, but noticeably jerky motion — not smooth like normal 24fps, but as if time were hopping forward in tiny jumps. The larger you set the physical offset, the faster the resulting movement appears in playback.
The application is limited, but striking: Music videos thrive on it when artists seem to dance in fragments across the space; commercials use it to assemble or transform products almost magically; title sequences (see also title motif) rely on it to make graphic or spatial movements surreal. The effect is emotional — it grabs attention because the brain registers: this is not normal. Low-budget productions also like to resort to stop and go because you don't need expensive rigs or motor dollies, just time and a tripod.
Important: Consistency is everything. Each movement must be the same size, the exposure must remain constant across all frames (automatic exposure is your enemy), and the frame rate at playback must be correct — usually 24fps or 25fps. A wobbly camera tripod will immediately ruin the look. The lighting situation must also not drift; artificial light on a fixed setting is ideal, no windows with changing daylight. As a DoP, you don't have much to juggle here, but you have to get everything right.