Stop-Motion Animation: Production

We are looking at a scene set up by a woman to create a stop motion animation video, and there is a red record button visible in the upper right of the iPad screen.

We’re observing a woman who’s set up to show us how to do stop-motion animation; she has her light brown hair in a ponytail. She’s wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and black pants; we see her sitting in a chair, next to a small brown table; she is holding a stand for a small tablet.

The environment includes the warm glow of a lamp behind her. To the left, we see a dark wooden chest of drawers with some art pieces on top, and to her right, we see a wooden table with a background of a forest, a sheet of craft paper that is a tan-like color, and various clay figures and objects to be used for her animation. There is a ring light just out of frame, which she later turns on.

At [00:00:02], she holds up a few pages of her storyboard. She then points towards a scene that is placed behind and to the right of her. We see a painting or poster-sized artwork of a forest and deer as its subjects. In the lower right of our view, on the table are a giraffe-looking piece, as well as some colorful items sitting next to her storyboard.

At [00:00:11], she then points to the tablet that is holding her camera, which is facing the scene, as she describes her process; the words “Prepare your animation set” appear on the screen. As the woman moves her arms around the set to describe her process, she is careful to keep the tablet out of the way. At [00:00:16], the woman is directly looking at the camera and explaining that if you do not have a background, you can use a wall or sheet.

At [00:00:52], the words “Anchor your device” appear on the screen, and at [00:00:58], there is a change in view to show us an iPad that is standing with a Lego stand, followed by a picture of the iPad sitting on a cardboard stand.

At [00:01:20], the screen displays, “We are using the app Stop Motion Studio”. At [00:01:36], the words “Fat Gecko iPad Bracket” appear on the screen, and then she holds a black bracket, that looks like a hand, towards the screen.

At [00:02:06], the screen shows the words, “Try to control your lighting”, and she looks over to the lamp set to the side of her; at [00:03:19], the screen shows, “We need a photographer or cinematographer, and an animator.” The woman then places a couple of animated figures at the edge of her set, and says, that she will be the photographer, cinematographer and the animator. At [00:03:36], the screen displays, “Capture one image at a time with the red button.”

The woman sets up one of the clay figures in front of the camera, and then takes ten initial photographs, which will give an initial sense of stability.

The woman moves one of her animation pieces slightly into frame, and takes an image on the screen of her iPad. At [00:06:04], the screen displays, “Adjust Onion Skin” on left side of screen, to see the last frame. She shows us how the ‘onion skin’ feature, located on the left of the screen, will let you see a faint version of where the characters were in the previous image.

At [00:06:19], the screen displays the words, “Move your character just a little bit between each frame.