Stop Motion Animation

This project guide written Paint Love founder, artist Julie McKevitt, originally shared on her website, for the weekly Kindness Day tradition she started with her daughter.

Supplies

• A phone that can download an app and can take photos

• Whatever objects you want in your video. Can be things you have lying around- more on this below.

ACTIVITY SUMMARY

Learn to create a stop motion video with your kids to send encouragement and love!

Directions

1. Pick your audience: an aunt (like in our video) teacher, friend, grandparent, a class, or just the world in general

2. Pick your message to write in the video: “I love you,” “You are awesome,” “Great job,” “I miss you,” etc ...

3. Gather your supplies: play doh, popsicle sticks, crayons, pencils, Cheerios, ketchup (whatever you have around!), etc…

4. Make the video: If you are new to stop motion, follow the instructions below on how to create your first stop motion video.

STOP MOTION: THE BASICS

If you can download an app (Stop Motion Studio has a free version) on your phone and take a picture, you can make a stop motion video! Stop motion is a a collection of photos put together to make a static object look likes its moving. You can tell a story or display a product or even write a message of encouragement!

STOP MOTION: EXAMPLES

If you or your kids are not familiar with stop motion, I would recommend checking out Becca Clason and her company So Mighty. She is the the best stop motion artist, particularly with lettering, that I have ever seen. Her work is AMAZING and used by widely popular brands and companies.

For some simpler examples, below are two videos I have made with my daughter using the Stop Motion Studio App on my phone.

At Paint Love, artist Madison Beaulieu led a project at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta teaching teens about stop motion. They created these two videos explaining what “Art is….” and “Art makes me feel…”

STOP MOTION: TOP TIPS

1. Download a stop motion app. I use Stop Motion Studio. There is a free and a paid version.

2. Tape off your filming surface to help you take the photo in the same spot over your stop motion area. If your photo is taken from the same spot every time it will make the movement look better. It would be helpful to have a tripod to hold your phone/camera steady in one place, but it’s not necessary. Sometimes I’ve used books and other tall objects and balanced my phone on top while other times I’ve simply taken the photo in what I estimated to be the same spot.

3. Start with the finished product and reverse the film later. Use your materials to make your message on your filming surface and then move the items away slowly. Once you are done filming you can select all the photos in the video and click “reverse” in the app. The video will look like all the materials magically come together to spell out your message. If you have little ones who can’t spell/write, you can set up the finished lettering and then let them move all the objects away slowly, bit by bit. It’s fun for them to make it messy and choose what they want the objects to do.

4. The smaller the movement = more photos = a more seamless looking video. Think about it this way if you want it to look like a piece of clay is rolling across a table, you will move the clay a teeny, tiny bit take a photo, then move it just a little bit more, etc... If you move the piece of clay all the way across the table in just two pictures, it will not look seamless. It will look like it teleported there.

5. Have fun and experiment! Try moving the objects in different ways..maybe something looks like it is crawling away or rolling up into a ball into a play doh container. Maybe something else is splatting down on the table. Look at examples and then try and experiment. You can even add in your own sound effects. You can’t go wrong and you can make as many as you like. And, if you are anything like me…you will want to do it over and over!!