Stop Motion

Lucila Roman, Teacher

Asya Dubrovina, Teaching Artist

Dubrovina/Roman CAPE Summer 2023 Planning Form

Welcome to Stop Motion!!

This summer we experimented with various materials to create stories. Stop motion is a process where students took pictures of an action or an object which moved very slowly and took pictures of each small movement. Then by putting the pictures together in sequence, it gives the illusion that the object is moving. Students had to take hundreds of pictures to achieve a few seconds of motion. They used paper, clay, and themselves as actors to create stories individually and collaboratively.

One of our inquiry questions was- How do we slow down to be able to tell a story? Because stop motion is a slow process, students were tasked with planning their characters, movements, and actors ahead of time. Sometimes their stories were more abstract. There was a lot of practice and re-doing. For one of our collaborative stop motions, the students reused a lot of materials they had already made.

Another inquiry question that guided our camp was- What does a story look like from different angles? We approached this question technically. The first step was getting the students to keep the iPad still and their objects in motion. Towards the end of our camp, we could begin to approach the topic of different camera angles. Karla and Enyer, two siblings made a stop motion about the different planets. We also approached perspective from the very literal perspective of how we understand ourselves.

Paper

We made paper based stop motion! Using cut out shapes to make stories or patterns, students worked individually on this project. The goal of this project was to move the shapes slowly and understand how to create movement. Most importantly it was to have fun!

PAPER STOP MOTION.mp4

Clay

Using this malleable material was exciting and challenging. Students had to really plan their movements with clay. Camron is creating his posse for his stop motion titled- Rainbow King.

CLAYMATION.mp4

Collaboration!

Making stop motion is way more fun with friends! Since our age groups were varied, we worked on having older kids mentor the younger kids. Here is Serafina, a 7th grader taking the role of a director.

For the last collaborative stop motion, we used a large area for multiple students to be able to move their characters. This is where we recycled some props and really worked on having them interact. There are two versions of the same stop motion -one with sound and one without. Students learned that every part of group work was negotiation. They took turns taking pictures and moving their characters.

COLLAB.mp4

When props fall on you.

It's exciting to play with clay and cameras.

In the zone working on projects

Collaborative projects in production!

Class Reflections

Our inquiry questions:

How do we slow down to be able to tell a story?

What does a story look like from different angles?

The first question worked very well with the topic of stop motion. Students really grasped this concept of moving slowly by the end of the camp. Without a plan, it was harder to reach their goals! Our second inquiry question- What does a story look like from different angles? was a bit harder to reach. I think the more collaborative projects did connect to our big idea- perspective and looking at something from different angles. My goal was to get the students to use the camera from various angles, but I think that would take a bit longer to grasp since getting students to not move the tripod too much was the first step! Karla and Enyer who were older, were more open to using different angles. Serafina also understood this when we filmed the collaborative game outside of making the course together.

We set up these goals for SEL before the program started. I think we were able to meet all of them through individual and collaborative projects! I let the students really guide the process. There was a lot of conversation about communication and negotiation for students working together.

Recognizing personal qualities and external supports.

Asking students what projects they want to work on as a way to engage them in the process of the class. Since we are working with various age groups, their skill levels will vary.

Demonstrate skills related to achieving personal and academic goals.

By creating a few stop motion projects, we will have goals to meet and by setting a criteria. (taking 100 photos of one action) Students really loved meeting these goals!

Use communication and social skills to interact effectively with others.

Since stop motion is a collaborative medium, students will have to work on compromise and listening to each others ideas.

Recognizing the feelings and perspectives of others.

Since we are working with various ages, I have put together activities that have students either working together towards a bigger goal. (an exquisite corpse story) or older students being mentors to younger students.

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