Lesson: Introduction to Stop-Motion Animation
In this lesson, students learn how animation works and make simple flipbook animations. They are then introduced to the pre-production, production and post-production process by planning and making a shot stop-motion animation. The lesson ends with a film festival of students’ videos.
Grade range: 1-3
Teacher Material: https://pressbooks.pub/buildingblocks/chapter/introduction-to-stop-motion-animation/
Student Material: https://pressbooks.pub/buildingblocks/chapter/introduction-to-animation/
Time Frame
| One class period (45-60 minutes) | Two or three class periods (90-120 minutes) | Extended Unit |
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| Activities |
Introduction to Animation Flipbook Animation
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Introduction to Animation Flipbook Animation Planning a Stop-Motion Animation Producing a Stop-Motion Animation
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Introduction to Animation
Flipbook Animation Planning a Stop-Motion Animation Producing a Stop-Motion Animation Post-Production of a Stop-Motion Animation |
Preparation:
Watch the Instant Expert video on teaching stop motion animation below:
[h5p id=”17″]
The interactive video includes knowledge-check questions. If you would rather watch the video without the questions, you can do so here.
- Make sure that you are able to show the embedded videos and activities.
- You may wish to try creating your own flipbook ahead of time, which can serve as an example for your students.
- If possible, provide students with small squarebound notebooks for the flipbook animation activity. If that is not possible, you can have them use index cards or even the corners of any kind of exercise book. (It’s important that the paper not be too soft, so that it will turn crisply when flipped.)
- Print enough copies of the Stop-motion Animation Checklist and Storyboard template for each team (one copy for every 4-5 students) plus a few extra copies of the Storyboard template.
- Provide cardboard or other material for making video backgrounds.
- If students are not able to draw backgrounds, you can download and print these:
- Desert background by GigiStudio9 (Creative Commons license)
- Jungle background by Dewlshock (Creative Commons license)
- Forest backgroud by Ackuray (Creative Commons license)
- Snow background by Kurt Kaiser (Creative Commons license)
- Provide plasticine or modeling clay. (Alternatively, you can use small toys instead if you have them available. It’s best if the toys are all on more or less the same scale, such as Lego figures.)
- Though not required, iPads will be the easiest device to use for creating Stop Motion Animations. Other device possibilities that will also work are tablets, iPhones or Chromebooks.
- The basic idea is that each teach of 2-3 students will need a camera to capture a photograph/frame after another, without anything moving but the clay characters. The iPad, tablet or phone will need to be anchored or secured to the table, so as not to move during the creation process.
- See image below, with the iPad clipped into a clip, and then screwed into a tripod. A few DIY options for securing your devices can be found here.
[h5p id=”8″]
Note: You don’t necessarily need a “professional” version of any of these. You can do stop-motion with a phone instead of a tablet and make a stand out of Lego blocks or similar materials instead of using a commercial stand.
A few examples of stop motion animation apps are Stop Motion Studio and Clapmotion. You can find more exmaples here.
Note: The chapter “Post-Production of a Stop-Motion Animation” uses the app Stop Motion Studio as an example. If you are using a different app, you may wish to skip or modify that chapter.
Accessibility Considerations
A range of considerations can ensure that the stop motion animation exercise is as inclusive as possible. On one hand the process can be adapted to ensure all kinds of learners are able to undertake the activity. Conversely, you can guide students through design considerations that will ensure their animations are accessible to others.
Consider the medium through which the stories will be told. Some mediums, such as Lego blocks, will require more fine motor skills than other mediums such as clay.
Keep in mind that if you are using pixilation (using people to do the stop motion animation) the process can be long and that no one should be required to stand/sit/pose uncomfortably for an extended period.
Learning Outcomes
Big ideas/key concepts: Students will understand that…
Media are constructions
- Media works are the result of work and conscious choices by creators
Each medium has a unique aesthetic form
- Video media, such as animation, create the illusion of movement through many slightly different still images
Key questions:
- How does animation look like movement?
- What choices do we have to make to make a good animated work?
Essential knowledge: Students will know…
- Reading media: Basics of animation
- Media representation: How social media represents our friends, peers and celebrities
- Media health: How media representation of peers and celebrities affects our body image and self-esteem; how to manage the impact of social media on our well-being
- Key vocabulary: Animation, pixilation, storyboard , frame
Performance tasks: Students will be able to…
- Use: Make an animation
- Understand: Analyze the qualities of a good animated work
Curriculum Connections
Strand A: Literacy Connections and Applications
A2. Digital Media Literacy
A2.4 Forms, Conventions and Techniques
demonstrate an understanding of the forms, conventions, and techniques of digital and media texts, and apply this understanding when analyzing texts
A2.5 Media, Audience, and Production
demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships between the form, message, and context of a text, the audience, and the creator
A2.6 Innovation and Design
use digital and media tools to support stages of the design process and to develop creative solutions to authentic, real-world problems
Strand C: Composition (Understanding and Responding to Texts)
C1 Knowledge About Texts
C1.2 Text Forms and Genres
Grade 1: identify simple literary and informational text forms and their associated genres
Grade 2: identify and describe some characteristics of literary and informational text forms and their associated genres
Grade 3: identify and describe some characteristics of literary and informational text forms and their associated genres
C1.4 Visual Elements of Texts
Grade 1: demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between simple illustrations, images, and graphics and the text
Grade 2: identify ways in which images, graphics, and visual design create, communicate, and contribute to meaning in a variety of texts
Grade 3: describe ways in which images, graphics, and visual design are used in a given text, and demonstrate an understanding of their purpose and connection to the content of the text
C3 Critical Thinking in Literacy
C3.2 Making Inferences
Grade 1: make simple inferences, using stated and implied information and ideas, to understand simple texts
Grade 2: make simple inferences using stated and implied information and ideas to understand simple texts
Grade 3: make inferences using stated and implied information and ideas to understand texts
Strand D: Composition (Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts)
D1.1 Purpose and Audience
Grade 1: identify the topic, purpose, and audience for various simple texts they plan to create
Grade 2: identify the topic, purpose, and audience for various texts they plan to create
Grade 3: identify the topic, purpose, and audience for various texts they plan to create, and describe how the chosen text form and genre will help communicate their intended meaning
D1.2 Developing Ideas
Grade 1: generate ideas about given and chosen topics, using simple strategies and drawing on various resources, including their own lived experiences, and learning from other subject areas
Grade 2: generate and develop ideas about given and chosen topics, using simple strategies, and drawing on various resources, including their own lived experiences, and learning from other subject areas
Grade 3: generate and develop ideas about given and chosen topics, using various strategies, and drawing on various resources, including their own lived experiences, and learning from other subject areas
D1.4 Organizing Content
Grades 1-2: sort and sequence ideas and information, taking into account the text form and genre to be used
Grade 3: sort and sequence ideas and information, using appropriate strategies and tools, taking into account the text form and genre
D2 Creating Texts
D2.1 Producing Drafts
Grade 1: draft short, simple texts of various forms and genres, including personal narratives, persuasive texts, and procedural texts, using a variety of media, tools, and strategies
Grade 2: draft short texts of various forms and genres, including personal narratives, persuasive texts, and procedural texts, using a variety of media, tools, and strategies
Grade 3: draft short texts of various forms and genres, including narrative, persuasive, and informational texts, using a variety of media, tools, and strategies
D3 Publishing, Presenting and Reflecting
D3.1 Producing Final Texts
produce final texts, using simple techniques, to achieve the intended effect
D3.2 Publishing and Presenting Texts
present the texts they have created using appropriate strategies, including by reading aloud with expression
A kind of animation where photos of people are used instead of drawings.
A media form that uses many still images to make the illusion of movement.
A series of drawings, usually with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a video.
Framing is what the media makers choose to show us or how they choose to present it.
