Monday, 1 June 2015

A Very Special Visitor (Monday!)…How Lucky Are We?!?!

Today, we were so fortunate to have another parent visitor come in and teach us something new.  Chandra spent an hour with us teaching us all about stop motion animation.  We were involved in every step along the way…creating our backdrop (drawing the setting for our film), creating characters (2 monsters made of playdoh), creating our opening credits, and filming the actual movie.  We worked in groups of 3 or 4.  

Below is an overview that Chandra provided to explain her session with us today.  Please click on the link below to see the finished masterpieces.  She's right, they are hilarious and so much fun to watch!


Wee Creative Co.’s stop motion workshop:

In the workshop, we introduce the concept of stop motion using iPads. Over the course of the one hour session, students learn video animation skills and complete group work.

During the creative process, our focus is on fostering the imagination, collaborating and cooperating with peers using digital technology.

Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. (Wikipedia definition: stop motion)

The Dancing Monsters project allows students to practice character movement; manipulating their playdoh monsters in small increments in between capturing photos so the monsters appear to be “dancing”.  The results are hilarious and unique. In addition to the video making, students begin the project by colouring a backdrop and adding a title. 

To view the results: 


Workshop series prepared by Wee Creative Co.






First step, draw the backdrop...







Next, create your monsters….






googley eyes are extremely important!



start filming!







monsters are moved in tiny increments to make them appear to be moving in the final movie
















Here are the backdrops that the groups created today.  Such creativity and collaboration!  



Finally, we got to sit together and watch the finished films.  Giggles and more giggles!

This was such an amazing experience for all of us (me included!)  It is astounding to think that in the span of 1 hour, 20 5 and 6 year olds were able to work together to create 6 creative and imaginative short films using stop motion animation.  Chandra, we would like to express how thankful we are that you came in and taught us so many things today!






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