What is animation?
Frames from a third grader’s animation of chicks hatching
What type of animation does each of these pictures represent?
Do you think that when we use new technology, it still takes a long time to create a stop motion animation?
These are some of the questions I asked Friends Lower School students at last week’s Animation Assembly in the Meetinghouse. Together we watched a 1985 behind the scenes movie on how John Clark Matthews animated Frog and Toad and the more recent ending credits of The Boxtrolls. Both movies helped students understand the incredible hard work that goes into making a stop motion film.
Children then saw stills from stop motion animations by Friends Seminary students.
They also examined where in the world this year’s NYICFF Short Films One animators created their films. Several, including Anatole’s Little Saucepan, Submarine Sandwich and Imagination were made with stop motion techniques.
Катерина Чепик (Kate) the creator of Imagination is from Kiev, Ukraine. At the end of the assembly, I shared the three questions that I had emailed her.
When did you first become interested in making animations?
What are some of the materials and methods that were used to create Imagination?
What do you think helps make a good story?
She made us a special movie with the answers to the questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVnb0fxtK6E
Thank you Kate!