While professionals will use hundreds (if not thousands) of working parts, the basic setup of a stop motion film can be quite minimal. Originally, movies in this style were made by exposing an image onto a film reel, one frame at a time. We have come a long way since then, with the industry standard being done on computers with dedicated still-frame cameras, but the basic process is largely unchanged. People interested in just jumping into the craft can get away with a smartphone, some Lego sets, and a little imagination!