Stop Motion Animation
Stop Motion Animation – What is it?
Stop Motion Animation is an excellent way to have students begin to explore the world of movie making. There are several stop motion animation apps and programs that help you begin your journey. Stop motion animation can be very simple to extremely complex. Most students will recognize stop motion animation from movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Wallace and Grommit and Coraline. Many of your students may have already explored stop motion animation on their own. There are several stop motion apps for iPad and programs for laptops available. The apps developed for the iPad are quite user friendly. Programs developed for laptops can be a bit more tricky, and better suited for a more advanced user, they are great programs to work with once you have the basics down pat. Many apps are free, but require in app purchases to be fully operational or you must transfer your captured images to iMovie to do the final editing. Upgraded versions of the “free” apps often have built in editors as is the case with Stop Motion Pro. There are also stop motion apps available for a fee. |
Stop Motion Animation Creativity! Where will your students go?
To get started using stop motion animation in your classroom try using the free apps available such as Stop Motion and Lego Moviemaker. They are excellent starting places to get your feet wet, but require in app purchases to get the whole host of features available. |
Now that you have the basics of stop motion animation it is time to build on your skills. The following apps are not all free but each costs under $10.00. The extra features provided are worth the money spent and provide a much more professional end product. Stop Motion Pro (by cateater) costs $6.99 and is well worth the price. This version allows you to add music, voice, sound effects and screen effects. It is easy to use and the best jumping off point to improve the quality of your stop motion videos. Smoovie (Open Planet Software) costs $9.99 for iPad app. There is a free trial for Mac to start, but the full purchase price $39.99. The button below links you to a youtube video introducing smoovie. |
You are ready to take your stop motion animation further! Check out the other resources below that will introduce your students to more advanced programs!
|
There are many open-source apps, programs, and tools you can use to help make a stop motion artifact.
Retrieved from ETEC 510 Classnotes March 9, 2016
How can I use Stop Motion Animation in my makerspace?
Stop Motion Animation has taken the educational world by storm, especially with the introduction of easily accessed apps, user friendly interfaces and the use of green screens! There are many guides to help inspire educators to use Stop Motion Animation as a tool to support a multitude of curricular areas. These guides are part of the open source community and creative commons. They are free to download for classroom use!
Take the link below to an ISTE article on Stop Motion Animation with Elementary Students
If you are interested in one program that incorporates claymation, stop motion and cartooning check out FRAMES
Take the link below:
Stop Motion Animation Lesson Planning
Stop-Motion Animation Workshop by the National Film Board of Canada:
Experience the National Film Board of Canada’s stop-motion animation workshop online. This web module will teach you how to produce stop-motion animation videos and introduce you to NFB stop-motion animated films. It offers instructional videos and step-by-step lessons. The 7 lessons have been designed for an intermediate (Grade 7–9) art curriculum, however, they can be easily modified to suit other age levels and subject areas.
Stop-motion animation can be integrated across the curriculum in subjects as diverse as math, social studies and media literacy. We recommend introducing stop-motion animation as a learning activity or even as a tool for students to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject area. Why not collaborate with other teachers in your school to create an interdisciplinary learning activity?
Stop-Motion in the Classroom: Claymation
Why Claymation in the classroom?
A ball of clay is a ball of possibilities!
Students have much experience filling in multiple choice bubbles.
Fewer have had the experiences of rolling a ball of clay to create a bubble, a ball, a globe or an atom. What happens when that ball then transforms into a cell, a star, a head of a famous American or an archeological artifact?
Claymation can be a great way to grab student attention for an extended period of time and to engage them collaboratively in a subject you really love or a subject you are searching to make more interesting to them.
Creating a stop motion animation is an exciting way to engage students in collaborative learning, careful planning and on the fly problem solving. The subject of your students’ animations can be as diverse as their imaginations or it can be tightly knitted to core subject matter. Regardless of the main theme of your workshop, students will be using many skills and working in teams to arrive at a final animation. They will shift gears moving back and forth between detailed planning and in-the-moment creative decision making.They will need to write, use their math skills, oral skills and people skills (how do you to react when someone accidentally sits on your carefully crafted Red-bellied newt or gets a big pink thumb in the picture frame? ) Take two!
Smile and enjoy the process of the collaborative journey as much as the end product.
Stop Motion Animation Student Challenges!
Here are student challenges to help you get started using stop motion animation.
Stop Motion Resources
Learn More!Anybody with a computer, camera, internet connection and a little bit of creativity can create animated films for the masses. The Klutz Book of Animation is a how-to-guide for this newly accessible art form. Real-life samples and free downloadable software are available online. |
Animation StudioThe kit contains everything you need to create your own amazing stop motion animated movies. An educational and fun gift for kids of all ages.Includes the HUE HD camera with mic; the HUE Book of Animation, a 60-page full color book; a mini stage with background and ‘green screen’ and stop motion software with sound effects, printable activities and backdrops. |
Minecraft Stop-Motion Movie CreatorMake one-of-a-kind Minecraft films! The Minecraft Animation Studio combines real-life objects with a mobile app so that kids can direct their own beginnings and endings. Use your mobile device to aim and shoot then swap out environments to tell a different story. Includes 1 movie stage, 6 different backgrounds, 3 exclusive mini-figures, a device holder, and over 18 other accessories |
Cool Find!This is a free downloadable book available from iBooks. Lesson plans by grade included! Additional Resources:
|
Do you have a lesson idea to contribute? Please contact us to share your idea with our community of educators! |
via Makerspace for Education
November 24, 2019 at 11:59PM