Stop Motion Animation Production
By: Ella Jones
STLP Cyber-Reporter
Hiseville Elementary
I was wandering around the various booths at the STLP Regional
Showcase when I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. Why? So I could
look at a showcase that was very intriguing to me. The title fascinated
me: Stop Motion Animation Production. I guess you want to know why I
was so interested, well I noticed the words stop motion and American
Girl dolls and that was all it took to hook me in. I wanted to find out
more from this booth because my sister and I love making stop motion
videos with our American Girl dolls and I was hoping to learn a few new
techniques to make my videos better. This is what I learned.
This project was completed by a girl who is a middle school
student. The student’s purpose was to teach other students how to
make stop motion videos and how to have fun while making them. As I
walked up to the booth, I asked the girl if I could hear her presentation.
She told me that stop motions take a lot of patience and if I mess up
not to get frustrated which is a good tip for me and probably others
too. The next tip was never move the camera between shots because if
you do then the scene will have to be started over and that is a lot of
work.
The student continued with another great tip. Always make sure
the dolls are stable when they are standing because if you don’t there is
a good chance they will fall over then oops you have to start over again.
I have to agree with the next tip, American Girl dolls are the best to use
when making a video. They stand up so well by themselves and look
very realistic.
Finally, she showed me a stop motion she had made using 6
American Girl dolls. The video displayed the dolls in a friendly dispute
over what movie to go see at the theater. It was a spectacular video
and I enjoyed watching it.
As I walked away from this booth, I knew a lot more about stop
motion videos than before the showcase. Now that I know how to
perfect my stop motions, I could not wait to get home and begin
making a new video.