World War II Stop-Motion Animations


I have always loved animation and have always had a strong ambition to teach a variety of techniques within my computing curriculum.

In KS1, children learn 2D animation through apps like PuppetPals, Chatterpix and J2E Animate.



At the beginning of KS2, children learn about 3D animation through apps like Evertoon like in this example which shows a cyber bullying victim talking to a friend.


At the end of KS2, I focus on creating stop-motion animation. 

A project can be created with less resources that most people think and over a short period of time. This World War II project was delivered over 2 afternoons and each pair was given:

  • An iPad with free iMotion app installed
  • An iPad stand
  • A whiteboard
  • Around 12-15 toy soldiers  (A tub of 70 soldiers can be bought from Poundland for 80p)
  • A tub of playdough (Also very cheap from Poundland)
  • A box for a plain background
I would usually get children to storyboard their idea first but I have usually found from past experience that children won't stick to their plans once they start animating and it allows them to be more free with their creativity when they start filming. 

The iMotion app is really easy to use. Children can select to manually decide when to capture a frame and they can select the onion skin so that they can see the previous frame's outlines.  

There are easy options to change the frame speed and scroll through to delete unwanted frames in the tools section. 


During the topic, I talk about the 5 different types of animation and this video is incredibly helpful to show the children. 

 

I then set the children the task. At this time of the year, Year 6 are learning about World War II so i thought an animation would be a fantastic way to link their learning to the computing skills they are learning from me. It was important to emphasis that the battles that they will film are a tribute to those who lost their lives and must be seen as solemn and tragic, not a glorified 'all guns blazing' war film. 


After filming was complete, I transferred the footage from the iPads to the PC's using Wifi Photo Transfer app. Another great free app! 

Using Windows Movie Maker, I then demonstrated how they can edit their animations with music, sound effects, captions, titles, and slow motion. We also talked about narration but in the end, none of them used that feature. I downloaded music tracks from Audio Network which were all free of copyright. The gun sound effects came from The BBC Sound effects website and are also free of copyright. 

I used 2 of their films to model what editing features they could use and how it would enhance the animation. 

These examples are below along with some of the children's work. I hope you enjoy them, they are very proud of their creations. 












  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adverts for WaterAid

Image
I've been trying out multimedia projects with Year 5 for a couple of years but never gave the children enough focus to produce a decent film. Then, after watching a project that ICT with Mr P created with his Year 4's on Greenpeace's campaign to stop the production of Palm Oil from Orangutan's rain forests, I was inspired for my children to make an advert for a charity. This meant contributing to a real life campaign, raising awareness, making a difference and giving their ICT learning real purpose.   Mr P's RangTang Palm Oil Campaign   I was also working hard this year to link my work with what the children were learning in class. During Spring 1, Year 5 learn about rivers and the water cycle. So I thought it would be a great opportunity to create an advert for WaterAid, one of the world's biggest charities for helping bring fresh water and hygiene solutions to over 30 countries who don't have access to clean sanitation.  I shared wit
Read more

Green Screen Movies with Nursery

Image
It's never too early to start using technology! I should know, my 3 year old can't keep her hands off my smart phone and tablet! I don't teach Nursery but after a staff INSET I did on using technology in the classroom, I was approached by the Nursery teacher who explained the children were learning about Fairytale stories. Her original plan for one activity was to dress them up and get them to act out Fairytale plays, however after watching my INSET, she changed it from performing a play to creating a Green Screen movie! We set up a little studio in Nursery using two Green Screens for the floor and wall. You can buy a Green Screen from Amazon here. I then filmed the children using the app DoInk. This app is not free but I have downloaded other green screen apps and find this one is the best. I think the price has also reduced recently and is available for £2.99. This app is also only available on IOS app store for Apple devices. It is incredibly eas
Read more

First lesson of the year - Online Safety Competition!

Image
I firmly believe that the first topic that children should learn / review at the start of every year is Online Safety. Online Safety links into every other topic I teach and will be the key to protecting children from online dangers and helping them make good choices when it comes to internet etiquette outside of school. I always run an Online Safety competition for Years 2 - 6 to draw something with an online safety message. This is then displayed on the wall on our Online Safety display. Children can also take home a winning certificate! So far, from my 6 years at Elsley, I have chosen 6 different themes.... In the first year, I wanted to get to know the children as I was new to the school so the competition was to draw a selfie and tweet an online safety message. The template can be found HERE and the accompanying PowerPoint is HERE if you would like to use them. The following year, I had determination to purchase some new robots for the school as they only had a
Read more