Animation Vacation
Museum Shcool July 10-14
Big Idea: To learn Stop Motion Animation using Digital blue Camera technology and the art of storyboarding and storytelling in a fun and interactive classroom.
The following is a day to day lesson plan followed during the week. The challenges were modified for each age group, 4th and 5th grades in the morning, and 6 and 7th in the afternoon. Classes were 2 hours in length.
Monday
Objective: To explore the idea of animation, learn basic camera techniques, and produce a 15 second film.
· Introductions and ice breakers (10 minutes)
Explain how class will work
1. Sign in with museum school attendant
2. Discuss/Debrief previous day’s exercises
3. Show example of daily challenge
4. Teach new lesson
5. Produce film
6. Showcase
· Brainstorm about animation. (5 minutes)
What is animation? Where have you seen animation? What aspects do you like/dislike?
· Flipbooks (10 minutes)
Pass out supplies-paper, pencils.
Show examples of bat and bird in a cage
· Show short animation film that exhibits ONLY the basic concepts. No special effects or sound.
· Pair up groups and assign laptops (6 to 7 groups of two kids)
· Daily lesson (30 Minutes)
Camera Introduction
Supplies needed: laptop, digital blue camera, straw, pipe cleaner, popsicle stick, backdrop (tri fold foam board.)
· 1 second of filming = 15 frames
· small, slow movements = fluid appearance. Example: wave of hand. Take a pic, move hand little, take a pic. Move hand a lot, take a pic. Run film. Looks like hand is normal, then it jumps.
· Stable background = no distractions. Always use a background!
· More frames per movement = slower speed of character. Example: take five pics per hand movement. Take 1 pic per each movement. Compare the speeds during play back.
· Link clips in a storyboard reel.
· Trash function/ delete if hand is filmed
· How to save work. Export to desktop. Save as museum school-name, time
· Set free with supplies and make a 15 second film (50 minutes)
· Showcase (15 minutes)
· Clean up
Debriefing AM: Ideas of animation were limited to cartoons. Some spoke about digital technology in reference to Pixar Studios animation. Therefore, flipbooks were a fun activity to show how simple sketches can come to life. Kids wanted to make more, and everyone took their examples home. Showing the example films really fired them up! Some kids wanted to begin to tinker immediately instead of listen to instructions. I feel that the approach I tool to the class, with a short lesson at the beginning was the best solution for such a large group with the time limit. Had the workshop been longer, I would have definitely allotted time for them to play first, ask questions later. However, since time was limited, they had to have a basic foundation first to orient them with the program and then have time to create. Kids really picked up techniques fast. They were able to make two or three films by the end of the day. The showcase was a good idea, but I feel like the kids would like the full time to tinker as the challenges get more complex. Therefore, after today, the only showcase will be the final films on Friday.
Debriefing PM: Concerning the ideas of animation, the older group spoke of some animae animation as well as Disney films. Lots of video game references that I was not hip to were also examples given. After the lesson, the second group took more time to digest and analyze the example film. They took their new knowledge and had a short discussion that I was happy to facilitate. Like the morning group, they worked well and were able to make several films. Therefore, each student had the opportunity to not only use the computer, but also manipulate the characters.
Tuesday
Objective: To learn how to incorporate special effects, sound and text into films and to produce a 45 second film.
· Discuss and debrief about previous day’s lesson (10 minutes)
· Show a short animation film that exhibits all of the concepts. (5 minutes)
· Daily Lesson
Supplies needed: laptop, Digital Blue Camera, straw, pipe cleaner, popscicle stick, lego piece, backdrop
· Linking clips with different transitions
· Insert text box (film a blank screen)
· Insert special effects
1. graphics (explosions, alieans, etc.)
2. change color of camera film
3. Add movie clips
4. Edit length of clips
· Sound
1. Insert music clip in one scene, and it goes entire film.
2. How to get a music clip in only title scene (export, import)
3. Stock sound effect insert
4. Recorded sound effect
· Set free with supplies and make a 45 second film (65 minutes) or until 10 till end of class
· Clean up and save! (10 minutes)
Debriefing AM: Beginning of class was brilliant. It really helped to do a refresher course. I made sure I listed all of the previous day’s points on the board as a reference as they announced them. Students were anxious to see a new example film and were ready to learn how to make all of their characters interact with sounds and graphics. After the film, students had a short attention span. They wanted to film immediately. I quickly showed them the menus of where to find the special effects, how to make title screens and record sound. After that, they had about 80 minutes to film. The most popular new character was a lego man. It is important to challenge the students to create non violent films. Encourage them to be “more creative.” They want to be original, and they want to make their parents proud. With the explosive graphics and siren sound effects, it is easy for them to fall into the “battle scene.” I created some examples of how to make pipe cleaners into characters instead of “swords.”
Debriefing PM: High energy. Wow! This group of students is a lot of fun. It is amazing what more sleep and lunch will do to a student. Today, there were no strangers. Everyone came into class jesting each other about the previous day and challenging each other. Several students had stories in mind about their new films. Therefore, we made it through our lesson quickly, and they had well over an hour to work on their films. Most films lasted over a minute. They filmed quickly and spent a substantial portion of the time editing the film.
Wednesday
Objective: To explore the necessary elements in a successful story and learn how to storyboard.
· Welcome and debrief (15 minutes)
· Show a storyboard example from ALA and online
· Lesson
Supplies needed: laptops, pencils, colored pencils, storyboard sheets (3 per student)
1. What does every good story have? Conflict/Resolution
2. Why are storyboards important? Get ideas on paper before filming. Saves money. Allows one to organize thoughts and supplies.
3. Who uses them? Movies, commercials, TV
Note: Do not stress about following storyboard exactly. It is merely a tool to help guide, it is not a recipe. Only provide “big picture” ideas. Do not sketch every movement. Use arrows to show direction. Write any dialogue on lines below. Write any special graphics or sounds near the frame.
· EACH student creates a storyboard using yesterday’s film. Must be one page in length (6 cells). No stick figures, must show dialogue and special effects. Once approved my Crystal, may begin next challenge.
· Each team will prepare a two page storyboard for their final film. Must include dialogue, character interactions, audio and graphic effects, no stick figures, no blood, no violence, no killing. Before next challenge, storyboard must be approved by Crystal. Can be colored if time allots.
· Clay will be passed out to begin to sculpt characters. (30 minutes)
· Clean up. Store characters and spare clay in plastic ziplock bags.
Debriefing AM: Not all students were able to finish audio from previous day. Therefore, I gave them the first 20 minutes to finish up any loose ends. All cameras were then taken up and they were forced to focus on storyboarding. Since there were several challenges in the day, students moved at different paces and motivated each other to work. When one group finished another would speed up to catch up. Not all groups were able to finish storyboarding. Therefore, I gave them the option to take home their sheets so they could immediately begin to sculpt once they arrived the next day.
Debriefing PM: They hated storyboarding. They wanted to film. They wanted to film violence. It was a big challenge to redirect some students. Two were forced to start over their storyboards when they turned in fight scenes. Hopefully, they will be able to bounce back and come to class tomorrow ready to sculpt and film.
Thursday
Objective: To create a cast of clay characters, an environment, and a backdrop to film a two to three minute movie.
· Welcome and debrief. (15 minutes)
· Introduce idea of forced perspective and discuss character interactions. (15 min)
· Show example films.
· Approve any finished storyboards.
· Produce final films
Supplies: clay character, backdrops, markers, legos, pipe cleaners, straws, popscicle sticks. There are no limits to the amount of any supplies (with the exception of clay.) Each group is given two packages of Crayola multicolored clay. They can use all or some of the clay. If more is needed, they must share with other groups.
· Clean up. Pass out invitation for parents to attend Final Showcase on Friday.
Debriefing AM and PM: Today, I found that the students spent a lot of time creating elaborate sets and characters. I am nervous that they will not have enough time to film and edit tomorrow. I am not sure where I could have cut time out earlier in the week. With this age group, it is necessary to have plenty of time in the beginning of the week to learn the program. Combining the concepts mastered in the first two days would have been too much information. Likewise, storyboarding is an important tool that I think they all needed to participate in. Simply, for their final projects, this class needs to be longer.
Friday
Objective: To finish final film and present work to parents.
· Welcome and Review the week’s accomplishments. (10 min)
· Explain how students will receive copies of films.
· WORK!!! (until 40 till)
· Clean up (10 min)
· Showcase (30 min)
Debriefing AM: We will live and die by the computers. Unfortunately, we found some computers were not cooperating. For some reason, two were not recording sound. I will have to troubleshoot with them to see if the camera was malfunctioning or if it was the computer. Nevertheless, the students were able to find a good solution; sub titles. Parents were extremely anxious to get inside the classroom. We had to do a bit or rearranging. Many stood at the back. I gave each team the opportunity to introduce their films and speak about their plot. As noted yesterday, students had very elaborate stories. All of the films turned out well. One group even explored the live action feature on the camera.
Debriefing PM: Again, this group was extremely successful. Backdrops were colorful and diverse. Students took advantage of both sides of the foam boards to show changes in scenery. I was very impressed. For different reasons, the afternoon group had some absences during the week which challenged some groups to work as individuals. Regardless, they were able to finish their films. Absolutely great work!
Without a doubt, all week, my job was made easier because of my helpers. Two student assistants and a museum school attendant were essential to the success of the students. This technology is easy to learn and the students have lots of questions about just how far the programs can go. It was great to have experts round to help answer questions and help sculpt characters for some individuals.
posted by Anonymous @ Saturday, July 15, 2006
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