Stop Motion Studio: Animation

You need: a small notebook or sticky-note pad · pencil · a circle of card · string or a pencil for spinning · felt pens

1. In the bottom corner of each page, draw a ball at the top of a bounce. On each next page, move it down a little until it hits the ground, then back up.
2. Flick the pages from the back to the front and watch the ball bounce.
3. For the thaumatrope, draw a bird on one side of the card and a cage on the other (upside down).
4. Attach string to each side, twist it and pull, or tape it to a pencil and spin it between your hands.
5. Explain what you see and why.

How you'll know: The movement looks smooth, and you can explain that your brain joins quick-changing pictures into one moving image.

Go further: Draw the ball squashing when it hits the ground and stretching as it falls. Does it look more alive?

You need: a device with a free stop-motion app · a tripod or a book stack and Blu Tack · a plasticine ball or a coin

1. Fix the device so it can't move. Tape a start and finish line on the table.
2. Move the ball across in 24 frames, moving it the same small amount each time.
3. Play it back at 6, 12 and 24 frames per second. Time each version.
4. Work out: if your film is 30 seconds at 12 frames per second, how many photos do you need?

How you'll know: You can explain how frame rate changes speed and smoothness, and you have calculated the photos your film needs.

Go further: Try animating 'on twos': take two photos of each position. How does it look at 24 frames per second?

You need: oil-based plasticine · pipe cleaners or aluminium foil for a skeleton (armature) · card, split pins and scissors for cut-outs · toothpicks for detail

1. Choose clay or cut-out. For clay, twist a pipe-cleaner or foil skeleton with legs, arms and a head loop.
2. Cover it with plasticine, keeping the feet wide and flat so it can stand.
3. For cut-out, draw body parts separately on card and join them with split pins at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.
4. Give the character big, clear eyes. Make two extra mouths or eyebrows you can swap for different expressions.
5. Test: can it stand, bend and hold a pose for a photo?

How you'll know: Your character can hold at least three poses and show two feelings.

Safety: Take care with wire ends (fold them over); wash hands after using plasticine; check for allergies.

Go further: Design a character from your context (a tuna, a kōura, a kererū) with features that match how the real animal moves.

You need: storyboard template (6–10 boxes) · pencil · a stopwatch

1. Write your story in three sentences: who wants what, what goes wrong, how it changes.
2. Split it into moments, one per box.
3. In each box, sketch the shot and write the shot type (wide, medium, close-up), the action, any sound, and how many seconds it lasts.
4. Act the story out with a stopwatch to check the timings add up to 30–60 seconds.

How you'll know: Someone outside your group can read your storyboard and tell you the story.

Go further: Add arrows to show movement and camera moves, like professional storyboard artists do.

You need: a cardboard box · coloured paper, paint or printed photos for a backdrop · tape and Blu Tack · small props

1. Cut away one side of the box so the camera can see in. Paint or glue a backdrop at the back.
2. Add a ground (paper, felt, sand in a tray). Keep the background simple so the character stands out.
3. Look through the camera. Use the grid (rule of thirds) to place the character where the lines cross.
4. Tape down the set, props and camera stand so nothing moves between frames.
5. Mark camera positions for each shot with tape.

How you'll know: In a test photo, the audience looks at the character first and nothing in the set moves during a playback.

Safety: Craft knives are for adults, or students with a cutting mat, steel ruler and close supervision. Use low-temperature glue guns only.

Go further: Build a set with a foreground layer (grass, rocks) to add depth.

You need: your set, character and storyboard · device on a fixed stand · a lamp (LED preferred) · a shot checklist

1. Close the curtains and light the set with a lamp so the light doesn't flicker as clouds pass.
2. Only the camera operator touches the device. Use the app's remote or timer if it has one.
3. Move the character a small amount, step back, take the photo. Check the onion skin before each move.
4. Play back after each shot. Reshoot anything that jumps or shows a hand.
5. Tick each shot off the storyboard and back up the project.

How you'll know: Your shots play back smoothly, with no stray hands or jumping props.

Safety: Keep lamps away from paper and plasticine; tape down cables so no one trips.

Go further: Try a hold: keep the character still for 12 frames at an important moment so the audience can take it in.

You need: objects to make sounds (foil, gloves, celery, rice in a container, a bowl of water) · a device to record · a quiet space

1. Watch your rough cut with no sound and list every sound the audience should hear.
2. Experiment with objects to make each sound: snap celery for a crunch, shake rice for rain, flap a glove for wings.
3. Record each sound separately and give it a clear name.
4. Add the sounds in your editing app and line them up with the action.
5. Add music you composed, or free-licensed music, and write the credit.

How you'll know: Every important action has a sound that lands on time, and every sound you didn't make is credited.

Safety: Keep water away from devices; clean up food items and check for allergies before using them.

Go further: Compose a short theme on an instrument or a free music app that plays whenever your character appears.

You need: a projector or large screen and speakers · your exported films · a demonstration set · programmes or a welcome slide made by students

1. Order the films and write a two-sentence introduction for each one.
2. Set up a behind-the-scenes table with sets, characters and storyboards.
3. Welcome the audience and invite them to try animating one frame on the demonstration set.
4. Screen the films. After each one, the group answers two questions.
5. Collect audience comments on cards to read afterwards.

How you'll know: Your audience understood your story, and you can name the moment they reacted to most.

Go further: Enter your film in a school or local film festival, or share it (with permission and no faces or full names) with the group it was made for.