Clay Animation
Handout
Team Member:
Position:
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Goals
The main goal of the project is to create and produce a clay animation video that tells a
story. One of the objectives of this project is to give you a creative forum to showcase
the skills you have learned throughout your technology and visual literacy courses. To
accomplish this, you are required to adapt a familiar fairy tale into script form and create
appropriate clay figures, scenery and props to support your story.
Another objective of this project is to give you the opportunity to use technology in a
useful and meaningful way. Finally, you are required to view, critique, and assess your
own work as well as the work of their classmates.
Assessment
This project is designed to communicate a story through a visual presentation. Students
use their knowledge of color, design, space and other art elements in conjunction with
technology skills to successfully complete this project.
Upon completion of the videos, students reflect upon and assess the characteristics and
merits of the videos by viewing them and critiquing them through a student-made rubric.
Students discuss the components that make the videos successful, such a selection of
media, filming and editing techniques, and the processes used to tell a story. Following
the discussion students create a list of effective criteria to be used to critique and assess
all student work.
Content
In the introductory project, you are asked to create a short video where your clay
characters have to perform a minimum of two tumbling movements on a stage. You have
to create a storyboard, background scenery, props, and characters. You will be limited in
size, scale and clay color. The purpose is to create a basic character, setting and story
line for your animation. You will also have to learn how to manipulate your clay figures
and shoot stop action digital photos in a logical sequence. As part of this initial project,
you will download and edit pictures in Corel Draw, sequence and adjust trimming, record
voice-overs and music, add titles and credits with final output to videotape.
Steps
Pick student groups for introductory project. We recommend 4 – 6 students per group.
Storyboard and clay character development to be completed by the end of week 1 (not
limited to in-class time)
Backdrop, stage frame construction and props to be completed by the end of week 2.
Walk through of storyboard and technical problems should be resolved by the end of
week 3.
At this point, groups are split into digital photographers and movie specialists. Students
who are assigned to be photographers practice taking digital photos and downloading
images onto their computers. Once they are proficient at taking pictures and
downloading them they begin shooting the animation photos. Clay figures are moved at
a fraction of an inch while being photographed to create an animated sequence.
When all digital photos are taken to complete the introductory project, the movie
specialists begin the process of editing, manipulating and creating the actual animation.
Both steps take between 2 – 3 weeks depending on complexity of introductory clay
animation projects.
When all student introductory videos are complete, students view and critique projects
using a student-created assessment rubric.
At this point you are ready to begin your final clay animation project. The process is the
same as in the introductory project.
Once groups have selected their stories, some students will be working on clay figures,
backdrops, and props while others are working on storyboards and scripts. All
preliminary work must be completed before the walk through.
A complete walk through of script and storyboard will take 3 class periods, depending on
the length of the story.
Groups begin photographing clay figures to animate their stories. This takes 3 – 4 weeks.
Clay Animation Checklist
Team: _______________________________________
______________________________________
Planning
Has the story been selected?
Has each group member been assigned a task?
Have you determined which tools you need to complete the task?
Has a storyboard been developed?
Has each scene been designed and background/s created?
Are all project-related graphics, movies, animations, and sound clips located in one
folder?
Are all clay animation figures and props created?
Have you successfully completed a walkthrough for each scene?
Content
Is the story clear?
Does the animation tell a story?
Does the design of the animation support the story?
Is the animation appropriate for the audience?
Is there a title screen?
Is there a credits screen?
Design
Are the fonts used consistent and easy to read?
Is there a good contrast between text color and background color?
Are consistent transitions used?
Is the background consistent where appropriate?
Are the sounds used appropriate to the content?
Is the text free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors?
Are the graphics clear?
Are the animations complimentary to the story?
Is the animation interesting?
Group Work
Did all group members remain on task?
Did each group member contribute equally to the presentation?
Are all materials stored properly and cleaned up at the end of each class?
Are project deadlines being met?
Multimedia Project Rubric
Project title: ____________________________________
Student team: ___________________________________
____________________________________
Rank on a scale of 1 – 4 with 4 being the highest rating:
4 = excellent
3 = good
2 = fair
0 = no evidence
1 = needs improvement
Preliminary Work:
Students adapt a fairy tale
0 1 2 3 4
Students completed storyboards
prior to beginning animation work
0 1 2 3 4
Students focused their story into
workable scenes
0 1 2 3 4
Design
Animation contained multiple elements
such as text, graphics, clay figures,
scenery, sound, video, and animation
0 1 2 3 4
Animation contained all presentation
elements: introduction, body, conclusion
0 1 2 3 4
Students showed that design elements
such as contrast between text and
background; graphics and video are not
intrusive and enhance the presentation.
0 1 2 3 4
Content
Story is relevant and interesting
0 1 2 3 4
Students have used creativity in the
design
0 1 2 3 4
Students have used correct punctuation,
Grammar, and spelling, and complete
sentences
0 1 2 3 4
Students show a complete understanding
of video/animation process
0 1 2 3 4
Students have used a majority of original
artwork, animations, video, graphics,
sounds, etc.
0 1 2 3 4
Presentation
The animation is fluent from beginning
to end
0 1 2 3 4
Overall quality of animation
0 1 2 3 4
Project Management
Group members remained on task
0 1 2 3 4
Each group member contributed
equally to presentation
0 1 2 3 4
All materials were cared for and
stored properly
0 1 2 3 4
Group members met project
deadlines
0 1 2 3 4
Final Score:
Comments:
Final Clay Animation Student Assessment
1. View videos from different homeroom groups.
2. As you view the videos, look for things that work, things that make the video fun,
interesting and high quality.
3. List the criteria that you feel make a video work successfully (character design,
backdrops, audio, transitions, titles, smoothness of animation, plot of story, etc.)
4. Share your criteria with the class to help create a common rubric for the class to
assess all animation videos.
5. Once the common rubric is created, you will need to assess your own group’s
work and the work of 4 other groups.
Answer the following reflection questions about your imovie demonstration film. Please
write your responses in complete sentences.
1. What are thee strengths of your film?
2. What needs to be refined or improved?
3. If you were to do this project again, what would you change, add, or do
differently?
Story telling through clay animation
Introduction Project:
Using one clay figure per group member, students will work in teams to write, create, and
produce a clay animation tumbling routine to develop skills required for an in-depth clay
animation production.
1. Creating the figures
Use approximately 28” of aluminum foil to create figure armature.
Roll foil into a tight tube.
1. Fold rolled foil in half, form a small loop for the head.
2. Fold remaining foil tubes in half again to create arms and torso.
3. Use a pipe cleaner to secure torso.
4. Bend feet out.
5. Add a layer of clay over the armature to create a full figure. Be sure to make
extra large feet to give the figure stability. Use the garlic press or other clay
presses to create hair and other features.
The Storyboard
Create a sequence of events in storyboard format to show how your characters
will move through the scenes. Begin with characters entering the stage. The
remaining scenes need to move the characters through at least 1 tumbling movement
(somersault, cartwheel, flips, etc.) and a final bow with an exit off the stage.
Conclude the storyboard with the characters exiting the stage. Use stick figures to
represent characters – keep each scene SIMPLE.
The minimum requirement to pass this introductory animated film is for each clay
figure in your group to walk on stage, complete 1 tumbling element, bow, and walk
off stage.
Your team will earn a B for this minimum project provided the quality of the
work is acceptable. To earn an A, your team must add a second tumbling element.
The overall effort and quality of your production will impact your final grade.
The Backdrop
Using poster board to fit the clay animation sets, design a backdrop to fit the
theme of your production. Neatness, creativity, bold colors and design elements will
impact the quality of your production.
Any text must be easy to read, spelled correctly and NEAT.
The Run Through
Using your storyboard as a guide, run your clay figures through the tumbling
scenes to determine how well your characters move and what additional materials you
may need to successfully complete the tumbling elements.
At this point, you may need to make adjustments to your clay figures, backdrop,
or storyboard to complete each scene as desired.
Once your team is able to successfully complete a run through of your entire
storyboard, you are ready to film!
Filming
You will be using a tripod and a digital still camera to film your clay animation
production. Using tape, label the permanent location for your tripod so that all shots will
be taken from the same spot. This is necessary for consistency and continuity of your
film. You will have to take down your set at the end of each class session.
Begin shooting pictures with all characters off stage. Move characters by
fractions of inches as you move characters on stage. The more photos you take to slowly
move your characters, the smoother your characters will move when the photos are
turned into a video.
Once you complete a full card of photos, you will need to create a folder in your
temporary documents file to hold your pictures. Download photos from digital camera
card onto your computer picture folder. Pictures must be numbered in sequential order.
As you add photos to this folder, make sure you are numbering the photos to maintain the
sequence you need. (Most finished claymation movies have used between 300 – 700 still
photos!!)
Animation
When all photos have been taken, you will download your picture folder onto a
video editing pgm. This is where the animation begins! With your photos in sequential
order, load folder onto movie. You will need to adjust time of each photo to 00:00:05
seconds to allow a quick transition from frame to frame. You can manually manipulate
the time of each frame as needed. Any frames that need to be edited can be copied and
loaded into Corel to make necessary changes. In addition to photo frames, your team will
need to create a title sequence, transitions, final credits (students’ first names only, credit
given to all music used, and credit to any people who provided special assistance or
inspiration), and a soundtrack.
You can preview your movie throughout the process and edit as you go. Make
sure you save your movie as you go. Once all elements are completed, your movie is
ready for final viewing!