Why do I advocate for educational stop motion animation
projects? Because I myself made one in high school:
Granted, the animation speed is about twice as fast as it
needs to be in comparison to the transition slides, but I remain proud of this
work that combined my then-strong fascination with lawn gnomes with an ongoing
love of Parisian culture into a cute little video.
I recently took a college-level course in digital animation,
during which I discovered that the 18 and up set still loves making stop motion
animation. While some classmates pushed toys and other easily manipulated
objects in front of the camera lens, my project features more cut-paper
animation:
Why, then, do students of all ages get so much out of this
art form? I believe it speaks to our intrinsic human desire for storytelling.
Art is filled with stories, but sometimes the chosen media
can hinder more than help "performances." Students who are young and old,
familiar with tech or not can easily grasp the mechanics needed to make an
object move across the screen. All it takes is a little push from the student's hand to move the object, and another push to click the button of
the camera to capture a still frame. Move the object enough times and push the
button enough, then process in a computer program and you’ve got yourself a
movie!
Stop motion animation is a democratic medium, one that –
thanks to the magic of photography – ensures what students place in front of
the lens will reappear onscreen. It doesn't require the skill sets associated with other
art forms, such as drawing or sculpture creation, which students who don’t consider
themselves “artists” and/or lack confidence in these areas might worry will result in work that differs from what
they “see” in their mind’s eye. I believe that, much like the theater arts I
mentioned in my last post, stop motion animation is an ideal art medium to incorporate into new
STEAM classroom curriculum because it's a prime example of creative project-based learning.
Beautiful! Would you like to help mentor in the class tomorrow!! I think you're experience with this is spot on. I find it interesting to think of the medium as "low threshold" in the technical sense. I do ask then, what teaching strategies would you implement to introduce stop-motion animation to your future class. What "animation" challenges (or motivational activities) might you come up with? This would be a springboard to brainstorm for tomorrows class since you've had some hands-on experience with the medium. I also love the diversity of styles this medium presents which we will explore tomorrow. Thanks for sharing and if its ok, I'd love to highlight it in the class. Finally I should ask, what was the motivation behind the rainbow piece? Do you have recommendations for artists you'd have students explore.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!!!