Assignment: Stopmotion Extravaganza

Contributed by Corrie Francis Parks at UMBC

Learning Outcomes

• Learning the Dragonframe interface
• Navigating group dynamics
• Applied animation fundamentals
• Stopmotion techniques

Preparation

Working in groups under the camera allows students to learn from each other in an active environment. I assign students individual Timing Exercises as preparation for this assignment, but find that in the group setting their understanding of animation fundamentals blooms into complexity.

For preparation we watch works by PES, Jan Svankmayer, and selected short-form animation on instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mighty Oak (@mightyoakgrows) on Dec 16, 2017 at 3:31pm PST

I schedule two weeks for this assignment, though it certainly could be longer.

Preparation

You are a small stop-motion studio commissioned to create a 15-20 second animation for Instagram.

Your goal is to reinvent an ordinary object and turn it into something unexpected that surprises and delights the audience.

Requirements:

• The object is the star of the show and you must make it come alive based on the application of the animation fundamentals.
• You must have at least one example of replacement animation.
• You must apply at least 5 of the following animation fundamentals: staging, arcs, easing, overlapping action, secondary action, anticipation & follow through, squash and stretch.
• You may use clay or paper as a supplement to your objects, but the entire piece cannot be clay or paper. The objects should be the star of the show!
• You will be graded as a team on: creative use of materials, fluidity of motion (use those fundamentals!), design and composition, and effective communication.
• You should assess the various skills in your team and negotiate tasks for each person. However, everyone on your team must animate at least one element of the composition.
• Add music and/or sound effects to enhance your animation after you’ve finished shooting.

A note about music: you should always use music and effects that are free of copyright restrictions. If you ever want to post your work online, or send it to a film festival, you will need to have permission to use any music, and copyrighted music is not free! Here are some links to free music and effects available for user under the Creative Commons license:

freemusicarchive.org

freesound.org

Examples