Download - Origins of Animation GAEA Presentation
by Amy L. Johnson
• Full art unit designed to take learners from the beginnings of animation to current CGI.
• 7 lessons with 3 product-based outcomes
• Culminates in the publishing of a student-made claymation project
• Entire unit is online at http://originsofanimation.wikispaces.com
General Overview
Lesson Overview
• Lesson 1: Thaumatropes• Lesson 2: Flip-Books• Lesson 3: Storyboards• Lesson 4: Character Design• Lesson 5: Backdrop Design• Lesson 6: Shooting Claymation• Lesson 7: Editing & Publishing Claymation
Foundation PPT
• “Creating Movement: The Origins of Animation” is the foundation presentation
• Presentation overviews all projects, gives examples, and defines various animation terms
• Presentation has embedded animations and links to exemplar videos on YouTube.com
Thaumatropes
You will need:• Two 3 x 5 in note-
cards per student OR two 3 in diameter circles per student
• pencils• markers• 2 rubber bands per
student• “How To Make a
Thaumatrope” worksheet
Flip-Books
You will need:• 20-30 3 x 3 in sheets
of paper per student• Pencils • Colored pencils• 1 small binder clip
per student• “How To Make a Flip-
Book” worksheet
Storyboards
You will need:• Storyboard
worksheet• Pencils• Story• Markers/colored
pencils
Character Design
You will need:• 1 brick of oil-based
clay per character• 2 pipe cleaners per
character• Storyboards• 5 x 7 in sketch paper• Pencils• Markers• Clay modeling tools• scissors
Backdrops
You will need:• 18 x 24 in paper• Pencils • Markers • Tempera paint• Paintbrushes
Shooting
You will need:• Digital cameras• Extra batteries• Books for “tripods”• Claymation
characters• Backdrops• Masking tape• Pens/markers
Shooting Cont’d
Editing
You will need:• Windows Movie
Maker (WMM)• Computer• USB Drive• SD Card• SD Card-reader
Editing Cont’d
Windows Movie Maker (WMM)
• Unit relies on WMM instead of iMovie because most schools interface with PC as opposed to Mac
• WMM is video editing software included in MS Windows Me, XP, Vista and 7
• It can be download for free: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx
• Click-by-Click directions on how to move import pictures, begin a stop-motion movie, and editing in WMM are available on the wiki
Editing Cont’d
Embedding Music
• Students must find and download royalty free music for their videos
• A great website for finding royalty free music is http://freeplaymusic.com
• Directions on how to download and embed music into WMM are available on the wiki
Publishing
• Completed student claymation movies can be uploaded to YouTube.com
• Encourage the teacher to do all uploading
• You will need to get a YouTube.com account (free)
• Click-by-click directions on how to upload videos to YouTube.com can be found on the wiki
Assessment
• The thaumatrope lesson, flip-book lesson, and story-board lesson, and backdrop lesson each have their own assessment
• There is a longer, more comprehensive assessment for the shooting, editing, and publishing of the claymation video.
Questions?