PED talk about animation

Posted July 20th 2021 – Updated September 4th 2021

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In this blog post I explain how to create a stop-motion animation movie, which I will talk about in my PedTalk at the EECERA-conference in September 2021.

I can still remember the first time I made an animated movie with the children in the kindergarten where I worked at that time. I remember it as it was yesterday! We had read a book about different fishes and we were creating a story about these fishes.

So, we were sitting outside having circle time in the woods, and we were discussing what to include in the story.

One of the boys said: «We need a shark.»
«Yes, that´s a good idea!» I replied and the other children agreed.
More fishes were included in the story. The boy continued: «The shark can eat one of the fishes. And then the shark must cough up a skeleton — because my cat always does that when he eats fish!»
«Yeah, wow — that sounds fun!» I said. And I could kind of visualise how it would look like.
But then the boy said: «But I don´t know how to do it.»
«I´ll help you,» I replied.

That´s what animation is all about — the magic and the possibility to make anything happen!

The process of making a stop-motion animated story

In the PedTalk I demonstrate and explain how to make a short stop-motion animated story. Here are some «behind the camera» photos.

In these two photos, you can see the scenery – which is just a towel – and the iPad I use to create the animated scene. I move the figures one step – take a picture – move the figures another step – take a new picture – and so on.

In this image you can also see the camera that was connected to my computer, to be able to record the animation-process «live» during the PedTalk.

. . .

A shark and a small fish

When you create a stop-motion animated story, you create an illusion of movement. The little fish is made of clay. The shark´s head is 3D-printed, with a movable jaw, and glued to some soft fabric.

To create an illusion of movement, you take one photo, then you move one of the figures a little bit, take a new photo, and so on.

I use the app Stop Motion Studio, which is available for various devices and easy to use.

When the shark meets the little fish, he eats him, one bite at a time.

To create the illusion that the shark eats the fish, I remove small bits of the fish until the entire fish is eaten.

When the shark has eaten the entire fish, the shark cough up the skeleton. And then the movie is finished.

However, this short movie consists only of 41 images – which is only a few seconds final movie…

In the app – after all the photos are taken – it is possible to copy or delete pictures, add sound, etc.

It is also possible to change the movie speed. The more frames per second, the faster the figures move.

. . .

The shark and the little fish

Here is the final movie

A short animated movie made during a PED talk at the EECERA-conference 2021 – in just 5 minutes.

Click here for more blogposts about animation.