FURTHER FOOTAGE: https://www.newsflare.com/video/334720

17-year-old self-taught animator Ben Treat makes a perfectly realistic clay stop-motion animation using an iron, paper and clay to create the illusion that a row of fruit is being flattened.

The cool video, which received over 1.7 million views on TikTok, the social media platform favoured by Gen Z, was filmed on July 22.

Footage shows the intricate behind-the-scenes process and the completely satisfying final product.

Ben, from Fort Collins in Colorado, told Newsflare: "This was animated when I was 16-years-old.

"It was a seven-hour process. One hour of set and props, five hours of animating and one hour of post-production.

"A fun fact is that I bought the iron for $2 at goodwill and the paper for 50 cents per sheet at the dollar store, and spent less than $5 on the entire production.

"Stop motion is created by taking individual pictures, 24 per every second of animation, and applying tiny changes to give the illusion of movement!"

Ben (@franticframes) boasts over 265,600 followers on TikTok and over 29,100 followers on Instagram.

This is a stop Motion animation using objects paper and even clay to create an effect that the iron is flattening the fruit. This was animated when I was 16 years old (now 17) it was a 7 hour process 1 hour of set and props 5 hours of animating and 1 hour of post production. Fun fact is that I bought the iron for $2 at goodwill and the paper for 50 cents a sheet at the dollar store and spent less than $5 on the entire production