When I was young, I recall watching television shows like “Davey and Goliath” and being fascinated by them. The animation was so different from that of the saturday morning cartoons or the Disney animated feature films that I watched at the time. I remember the wonder I felt when I learned how the animation was created. I could not fathom someone putting so much time into creating something.
Fast forward thirty years and I watched as my own children learned, also with wonder, how these animated films are created. I witnessed several of my sons start to create a “movie” using the technique, only to give up before ever completing the project.
So, when I saw that MediaSmartLibraries was hosting a Stop Motion Animation on a Budget workshop, I knew I had to look into it. The write up for the workshop was enticing; having it presented by Bonnie Epstein from the Rhode Island Museum of Science and Art was another factor in my decision to attend.
And so I arrived at Cole Middle School on November 9, 2016, ready and willing to learn how to transform engagement in my library and school with the use of stop motion animation. The workshop started with a little bit of history, we watched short clips of different styles of stop motion animation, and then we learned what equipment would be needed to run a workshop. A printed list of resources was handed out and then the fun began. On a back table sat many objects of varying size and origin. Each participant was set the task of picking just one object that spoke to them. We then divided into groups of four and got to work creating our own stop motion animation films. Each team member was allowed five frames before passing the director’s hat to the next person on our team. We continued to work through five frames each until our time was up and we were to share our films. There was no time for music, but the films were not lacking in creativity and imagination. Each film was a clear product of the people that created it, watching as the objects seemed to move across the screen melding into new shapes with new meaning was fun for everyone. Seeing the vast differences from one film to the next truly opened up my mind to all the possibilities that are waiting, locked away in the minds and hearts of my students.
I left the workshop, that fall evening, with the intent of finding a way to fund this program in my school library. The next day I started the process of writing a grant in order to obtain the objects needed to create stop motion animation stations in my school, with the intent of teaching my students and teachers how to use the stations. My goal was that once the students and teachers understand how to use the equipment and supplies, each station would be available for checkout, such that the classroom teachers could set up a station in their classroom to allow students to showcase their learning in another engaging and innovative way.
I received word a couple of weeks ago that I have been awarded the grant and Meadowbrook Farms Elementary School will have six new stop motion animation stations up and running by the beginning of the school year next year.