Stop Motion Evaluation - Review

Overall I was really proud of me and Leah we were so crushed that our other stop motion animation hadn't worked but instead of it bringing us down we produced something even better. Some people may consider it to not be a stop motion animation but it is an animation made up of snap pictures so technically we covered the brief. We did enjoy doing the final stop motion animation but I think if we were told that we had to make another one again we would probably run away! It was incredibly stressful and required a ridiculous amount of patience which I don't have. I think our stop motion animation was really good, not only did we use all the techniques well but we also portrayed our message well. Overall it was a huge success!

Stop Motion Assignment - Final piece

We decided to meet up and do our stop motion animation again but this time with a completely new idea that would use a camera and myself. Simple and quick to do. We agreed to stick to bullying as it is a common thing within the world and we thought it would be portrayed well. Basically we wrote on sheets of paper messages and would then hold them out in different ways with Leah taking constant pictures. To get more of an effect we did it in black and white and I used my terrible acting skills. When we finally finished it looked really good and we placed the photos within movie maker to edit the ones we didn't need and to change the speed of some of the clips. We did have a problem at first with movie maker refusing to slow down some of our pictures but luckily Leah was able to resolve this issue and we finished with a very good stop motion animation.

Stop Motion Assignment - First attempt

Being good friends with my partner in this project meant that we were constantly discussing what we were going to do with our project, passing ideas back and forth throughout April and composing all our ideas together. We final decided that we would try and do something simple so as not to make things more complicated than they needed to be but also portraying our message clearly. We came to the decision of doing our stop motion animation using a white board and board pens. By drawing on the white board it would be a easier to rub out and show our characters moving, it would also mean we didn't have to make anything before hand other than what we were actually going to do. We were able to set up the white board so that is was upright and made it easier to draw upon, we also used an ipad on a stand as this meant we could use the software imovie which is where you take photos and it turns it into a movie for you. We also decided our project should be about bullying. The overall drawing process was incredibly tedious, it took us a very long time and didn't look as tidy as we wanted it to, however were more interested in portraying the message and we never said we were artists! At the end we had a short movie and were happy with how it turned out, the only problem was that when we tried to export it so we could put it on our blog it didn't work. Apparently the file was to big which meant that it was taking to long and the software didn't agree with it. So all our effort was completely wasted and we suddenly formed a hatred for stop motion animation. Luckily Mandy was able to record it for us but we were so disheartened and didn't see the point of showing something that wasn't to the best of our ability.

Chroma key

 

Chroma key is a system where special effects are used to turn a plain green background into any background you want. It consists of layering two images on top of each other depending on their colour hue. This method is usually used in films as it means that the actors can stay in a studio where the background can be changed instead of traveling all over the world. This is also used to remove backgrounds, a colour range in the layer on top is made transparent which shows the image behind it. This technique can be see in weather reports so that the background can move etc.

Lesson plan based on the gaming seminar

Today we worked in groups to come up with a lesson plan, this is what we came up with. As we had never written a lesson plan before it was pretty difficult, but as time went on we began to understand what we were doing. Below is the finished plan. Games Station Lesson Plan Learning Objectives – Year Six For children to; Learning Objective: •To write a creative story setting based on visual stimuli Previous learning: •Previous Literacy work based on stories/use of consoles children familiar with. •Draw on previous knowledge of the gun powder plot and bonfire night. Key skills Explore, plan, develop and reflect ideas responding to visual stimuli Analyse, structure and organise work Use language creatively Explain, predict and describe Appraise their own work and that of others Resources Dr Who ‘Gun Powder Plot’ game on PC Introduction: 30 mins 1.Explain to children that they will be looking at the Dr Who game on the PC over the course of the week, as a build-up to writing their own creative piece. Ask the children to decide in groups what the ground rules should be for using the consoles, the game and deciding roles. 2.When playing the game, ask the children to record what they are seeing and any words that they may not understand. 3.Once, this has been done the groups will feed back to the class. They will describe what they saw in the game and discuss the words they didn’t understand, discuss definitions. Main activity: 1 hour Groups 4.In groups ask the children to log on and open the Dr Who game. 5.Get the children to play the introduction of the game, to get to the beginning of the ‘Gun Powder Plot’ section. 6.Ask the children to imagine that they are in the game. Get them to discuss where they think they are, what they can see, what they might be able to smell, what they can hear. They can also note what they think people would be wearing during the time of the gun powder plot. With this information they will write a paragraph setting the scene. 7.Once they have done this, they will make hats from, that era, so that they can imagine they are Dr Who. Whole Class 8.Discuss with the children what they know about bonfire night in their ear e.g. what they do, what they see, where they go. Is there a comparison against what happened in the game and the traditions we have now to celebrate this day? 9.What did they learn from the game? Give them a list of words to define from the game. What will they use them for? Ask the children to share their ideas on role play between Dr Who and Guy Forks, which can contribute to a story. Plenary: 30 mins Discuss what they know at the end of the lesson compared to the beginning of the lesson Share their descriptive paragraph with the rest of the class. Questions to explore understanding What do we know about characters, their personality and their appearance? Why are they there? What do they have to do? What helped/hindered you? What previous knowledge did you use? Key vocabulary Setting Scent Appearance Texture Location Assessment of success Marking their own work and observation in the classroom (of role play etc)

Stop Motion Assignment - Practice

Our assignment brief for this module was to work in groups to create a stop motion animation which portrays a message. For this seminar we were told to work in groups to practice our stop motion animation skills to ensure that we were able to use all the software and understood how a stop motion animation works. We decided to do our practice stop motion around the story of dinosaurs, we used lego people and plastic dinosaurs with a background of trees. I really enjoyed doing this stop motion animation and it did give me and my group a number of ideas for our final piece. It also helped us realise the problems that can arise, firstly our figures were to stiff which meant that when we tried to move them it looked awkward, also we kept bumping into the camera which meant that each time we took a new picture it was in a different position and did not look as good. We also released that even though Zu3D is considered one of the best softwares for stop motion animations we decided to look into using a different program.

Zu3D

Today we used Zu3D to create a animation using our drawing skills. I really enjoyed this program it was like 'paint' but you were able to make your images into a movie. There were different settings which allowed you to change the speed add music and edit clips. It did become frustrating after a while as it was difficult to to edit and add music to the parts I wanted but after a while it became easier. This program would be very good within the classroom as it lets the children use their creativity and imagination to create short videos.

We used Zu3D to create our own moving animation using drawings.

Padlet

Today we used Padlet where you can all post on one wall, we were told to answer the question 'From the session last week and from what you already feel about animation, what do you think animations have to offer the learning process?' The whole class was able to add to the wall and we were able to share our ideas. This is a very good program for schools as it allows the children to share their ideas on topics discussed in class, it also means that they are able to keep the brainstorming if it is needed for exams or research.

Created with Padlet

Stop motion cameraless animation

This week we were looking at camera-less animation, at first we were shown a number of clips which contained different methods of camera-less animations such as a zoetrope, praxinoscope and a flipbook, we were placed into groups and given the task of making a zoetrope, which uses mirrors in a circle to create a simple animation. At first we believed we had chosen one of the easier options however it was very difficult to assemble and we were unable to make it work. The mirrors and pictures needed to be in the right position and this was very complicated. In the end we decided upon using four mirrors and eight drawings, this was then placed on a spinning disk, this was then turned quickly and showed a stick man juggling. I think if we had had more time and the mirrors didn't have gaps then it probably would have worked a lot better than it did.

Stop motion animation

Stop motion animation is where you make a physically manipulated object appear as if it is moving. The object is moved in small motions between individually photographed frames making it look as if it was moving. Usually puppets, dolls or clay are used for this sort of animation and it allows small movements. Stop motion animation was first seen in 'The Humpty Dumpty Circus' (1987) it was created by Albert E.Smith and J. Stuart Blackton. One of the most famous examples of stop motion animation is Wallace & Gromit which was created by Nick Park of Aardam Animations. The story centres on two characters Wallace a man who invents useless contraptions and loves cheese, and Gromit a silent but intelligent dog. The films are shot using stop motion animation, creating clay figures and moving them slightly to make them look like they are moving. It is a long process but gives a more rustic appearance.

Last watched animation

The last animation I watched was a childs cartoon called Peter rabbit with my cousin. It was based around the story of 'Peter Rabbit' by Beatrix Potter and is about a rabbit and his friends. I did not really enjoy this program, I don't know if this is because it was a childs program or whether it was because it was boring. However my cousin loved it and it has become one of her favourite programs, I think as a child I probably would have enjoyed it though. The graphics were really good however and you could actually see all the individual hairs on the rabbit, you could tell that a lot of effort had gone into it. From watching TV as a child it is incredible how much the graphic and quality of these programs have improved, for me though I enjoy the rustic looking childrens programs such as the moomins and the old postman pat

Enquiring mind & ICT

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the trip to London so instead I conducted some research into a childs enquiring mind in ICT. A child’s enquiring mind is basically where you allow them to figure out how to learn in there own way, developing their own skills at their own pace. A number of groups have been established to encourage children to do this, one of the main ones being Enquiring Mind with 'the aim being 'to enable students to take more responsibility for the content, processes and outcomes of their learning.' It is the teachers role to guide the child down the right path allowing them to learn on their own. ICT has become an incredibly important learning tool in the classroom, it gives teachers the opportunity to teach through interaction and allows them to work in a number of ways. It is also considered an exciting activity by the children, who find it not only helps them to learn but also creates a fun way of doing it. A child who struggles to learn in a normal classroom setting finds the use of ICT allows them to learn at the same level of others as they are able to not only use their listening skills but hand eye co-ordination which is not usually displayed within a normal classroom environment. ICT can be used for almost any lesson as today there are a number of different programs out there catering for different levels and subjects, being able to choose the different style games allows the teacher to decide what skills the child should use, such as strategy, exploration and problem solving, skills not usually used within a normal education setting. By having white boards in the classroom the teacher is able to encouraging learning through interaction and group work, it also helps with communication skills as they can use white boards as a way of presenting their work through presentations. It means that the teacher does not waste time writing work on a board but can instead prepare for the lesson beforehand. (inquiring minds, 2012) It is important for children to be encouraged to develop their skills through activities in the classroom as they will need these in the real world. Taylor (1980) described three different modes of computer use, 'tutor, tool and tutee. When being used as a tool the computer saves the learner time by completing low level tasks quickly and easily, allowing the learner to focus on higher order tasks'. This allows the child to develop on their own quicker. Taylor (1980) Avaialble at: ttp://www.inquiringmind.co.nz/FinalResearchReportJMK.pdf Enquirning Mind (2013) Available at: http://www.wholeeducation.org/pages/story/introduction/513,240/enquiring_minds_4th_year_report_innovative_approaches_to_curriculum_reform.html inquiring mind (2012) Avaialble at: http://www.inquiringmind.co.nz/inquiry_&_ict.htm

Hopscotch

Today we used a program called hopscotch, like scratch this program allows you to create an animation and move the around the screen, you can use colour and create shapes and objects. In comparison to scratch I much prefer this app, it is much easier to use and more entertaining. I think this is because it is more modern and is much easier to create things. The only problem I found was that it was an app available for download which means that for those with only a computer they cant use it. Today even though ipads are available within most schools those without would be missing out on the opportunity to use this program which is disappointing. Below is a link to a house that I made using hopscotch,I really enjoyed this app and would use it again however I did have problems uploading it only my blog. https://community.gethopscotch.com/projects/mansion--8-6csqzxh--mvcsxeee-a

Scratch story

Today we did some work on scratch, we had previously been looking at this before Christmas. Scratch is a program where you can create your own animations using different commands and tools. It is an easy way of creating your own animation and does not take to long to understand. Today we made an animation using this program, I decided to make a short story about a berry being turned green by an evil witch. I actually really enjoyed making this, the software is so easy to use and it did not take me that long to do. I think this is a good program to use for teaching and children will find it really enjoyable. Unfortunately when I was tidying my blog I released that my animation was not working so I decided to create a new animation to show how simple the program was and how perfect it is for children.