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Week 1
We don't waste any time getting to the fun stuff! In the first session we learn how to use the Stop Motion Studio app and then launch straight into this great introductory claymation exercise. We start with balls of clay in front of the camera. We'll roll them around and morph them into anything imaginable, which helps to get an understanding of timing and movement, and quickly demonstrates the magic of animation.
Week 2
In this session we expand on the skills from the previous week, but this time concentrating on making some clay characters we can bring to life with animation. These model characters can be taken home at the end of the session to go on display or perhaps star in another movie. The guys from GooRoo have been making claymation movies since they were kids so have a lifetime of experience to share with the group. Also some entertaining films to watch and learn from, providing great tips and tricks about how they were made.
Week 3
We all know how much fun Lego is! It's even more exciting when we can bring the characters to life in our own "brick films". We've got a bunch of cool sets and colourful backdrops to choose from, but kids are also welcome to bring in their favourite sets from home. As our animation skills improve, we can try a few more tricky techniques, like airborne animation and realistic walks, while exploring more of the advanced editing features of the app like looping actions and recording voices.
Week 4
Flipbooks are a great introduction to drawn animation. You might have done these in the corners of books before, but we'll use small notepads as the perfect canvas for our mini artwork. Keeping the sketches simple, we're aiming to get 50 drawings done in the session to fill up the notepad and create a unique sequence. When the pages are flicked through quickly, it will give the effect of movement. We'll also turn these flipbooks into videos using Stop Motion Studio to photograph each page.
Week 5
Continuing to develop our drawn animation skills, we'll switch our notepads for whiteboards and pencils for markers, giving us the freedom to create more elaborate and colourful drawings. Expanding patterns and shapes work best as we can now build on the previous drawing to progressively produce an animated piece of art.
Week 6
This session we'll swap our whiteboard backdrop for a chalkboard. We can continue to draw but also do so much more. We'll use cardboard cut-outs, magazine cut-outs and other craft materials like pipe cleaners, pom poms, cellophane, tinsel and of course clay! With so much to choose from we can create virtually anything so are only limited by imagination. Animating our creations on a 2D surface is quick and easy, giving us the time to make our films longer and more detailed.
Week 7
Here's where things start to get a little crazy! We're going to apply the same techniques we've used to animate miniature characters to actually animate ourselves. If it's nice weather we'll go outside or into a wide open space, where we move around in imaginative ways. You can do things that you wouldn't be able to do in real life, like go through walls, slide around on one leg or even fly!
Week 8
As a special treat for our last session, we'll each get a packet of skittles to animate with. This just goes to show that you really can animate with anything! We'll use a whiteboard backdrop so that drawn animation can be included too. Luckily for us, skittles are various bright colours so we can create all sorts of patterns and scenes. They're also really yummy, so at the end we'll have a tasty snack while we watch our films! |
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