8th Grade Stop Motion Animation
8thGrade Stop Motion Animation
Student in 8thgrade Digital Media Art & Design created stop motion animation music videos! First, we talked a bit about the history of stop motion and shared a few examples of different styles of stop motion. Then students got into groups of three and picked a song to animate. I assigned each group a decade and music genre and it was up to the groups to choose a song. We spent a couple days working through a planning packet I created to help guide students through each aspect of their animation.
Once we got through the planning phase, students built sets and props using paper, cardboard, and digitally-rendered image printouts. This part of the process was quite tedious and students sometimes lacked motivation but spending time during this stage and paying attention to small details really pays off when it comes time to filming. I felt it up to the students to decide if they wanted all flat objects to animation or a more 3D set.
Next we moved into filming. Students had access to two classroom iPads or they could use their phones to take pictures. I encouraged students to build a stand for the Ipad to keep it steady during filming. The filming process also took a couple days but if students staying on task and have a clear plan for their animation, it goes by pretty quick. The final step of the process is dropping the images into Windows Movie Maker, which students already had on their laptops, adjusting the timing of each frame, and adding the music clips. Students worked with 30 second sections of their songs and ended up with about 300 slides to fill those 30 seconds.
Set from “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire
Group projects in middle school can be frustrating but by working together, students were able to produce some fantastic videos!
Categories Spring 2018, Student Teacher Blog