One of the clubs available to Millbrook South Cavan students is called the EDGE club. This acronym stands for Expressive, Dramatic, Graphical, Energizers! This is a club for creative kids who like to participate in things like photography, stop-animation, video creation, or dramatic pursuits like improv, or stand-up comedy. Students are not required to participate in all of the offerings but can sign up for any activity that interests them.
Members usually meet in the school library at the morning break period on Fridays, but last week those who had joined the Stop-Motion workshop took two hours on Thursday afternoon to complete an exciting project using an i-pad application that helped them create their own video stories where they were the author and director of the action. Also known as stop frame animation, it is an animated filmmaking technique where objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames. As each frame is played in sequence, the technique creates the effect of an object moving itself.
They were charged with creating a story with a beginning, middle and ending using a series of photos that were combined to create a one-minute video. Sounds easy, but anyone familiar with old-school animation techniques can appreciate the number of photos required to create a video of this length.
The projects involved meticulous preparation. Backdrops or scenes for their videos were created on cardboard using paint, Lego and craft materials to set the stage for their story. Their characters and parts of the background were created using coloured modelling clay. The characters and other animated pieces in the story were moved slightly and photographed. The software allowed students to see their previous photo before taking another one to ensure that the movement was not too significant to ensure that their video ran smoothly. An editing featured allowed them to insert new photos to smooth out any bumpy action. Students were advised that it takes twelve photos to create one second of video. They began to do the math and soon understood why they had two hours to complete their project.
Some students chose to work on their own so they had complete creative control, while others preferred to work in groups. Grade five student Taylor designed a set on a beach, with individual rocks of grey clay. Her protagonist was a female turtle. After meeting up with a male, she proceeded to bury a collection of eggs and the video showed the turtles crossing the beach, laying the eggs and seeing the eggs open and the babies emerge.
Other stories included an asteroid landing on a peaceful picnic, a physical fight between Pokemon characters, and a lone fisherman on a lake, casting his line and catching a fish, then turning around to return home.
This particular workshop required supervision and teachers were supported by Michelle Fenn, a retired teacher with experience with the program. Some students took time as their project progressed to watch and edit their project as it progressed while others raced to the finish line, eager to have a finished project.
The project provided an appealing and deceptively educational project where students learned about story-telling, demonstrated their creativity in set and character design, developed an understanding about perspective and photography and applied some math along the way.
These videos will be played at an upcoming school assembly so others can see the stories.
KG