CLAY ANIMATION

Marybeth O’Brien

Grade 4 Teacher

Huntington Elementary School

WHAT IS CLAYMATION?

Claymation is the generalized term for clay animation a form of stop animation using clay

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-animation.htm

The term claymation was coined by its creator, Will Vinton, owner of an animation studio that worked with clay artists to create clay animation.

Claymation involves using objects or characters sculpted from clay or other moldable material, and then taking a series of still pictures that are replayed in rapid succession to create the illusion of movement.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-raisin.htm

HAVE YOU SEEN?

WHAT GOES INTO ANIMATING CLAY?

Artists sculpt the characters out of clay and often support the sculpture with wire molds underneath.

To create the illusion of movement, the position of the sculpted characters is altered slightly in every still photo, or frame.

Claymation generally requires a storyboard or background for the characters to be set against and to develop what they will do or say.

Depending on the length of production, the same character may need to be sculpted hundreds of times.

PRINCIPLES OF CLAYMATION Camera and Lighting positions must

remain constant Clay movements should be minimal

within each picture Human hands must not appear in

pictures The simpler the scene…the more

noticeable the clay animation becomes Hard work will produce a magnificent

creation, but the size of the video may only be a BLINK!

300-600 pictures creates a 45 sec-1 min video

PURPOSE OF CLAYMATION The purpose of this Clay Animation

project is for students to work cooperatively in the presentation of a classroom curriculum topic utilizing lab hardware (computer, camera) and software (Image Blender) while referring to the Classroom Applications Guidelines sheets demonstrating capability of following directions. It’s very important to have a good time doing this!

EQUIPMENT Backboard/Poster Board Modeling Clay Toothpicks for Body Part Support Fishing Line Sequins, etc. (decoration) Styrofoam Digital Camera Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, etc Movie Player Program Computers

A FEW TIPS FOR THE TRADE Do not huddle around figures (may

leave shadows) Make sure figures aren’t too heavy Toothpicks are helpful to support figure

body parts Fishing line VS string so that it is

invisible Slow, gradual movement of figures Take many pictures 200-600! Simple and few characters (too many to

move gets complicated)

A FEW THEMES OF INTEREST Bean plant growth over time Bird nest building progress Student change during school year Science:

Food chain Forest procession Water cycle Solar System Butterfly metamorphosis

Social Studies: Pioneer and Indian Thanksgiving Story of Rosa Parks ‘I Have A Dream’ speech Geography Around the Word

LET’S GET STARTED 1. Select two or three students to work on your Clay

Animation with. Be sure to select partners that you are able to work well with.

2. Collaborate with your partners to come up with a well thought out storyline for your animation. The storyline must have a beginning, middle, and end.

3. Create your background scene using ONE (1) poster board. Your background should not be a quick scribbled picture but a well planned and thought out scene that coincides with your storyline. ALL group members must work on the background scene cooperatively

4. Create your clay figures. Do not waste modeling clay or leave any mess for someone else to clean up. Your characters must have been approved, created by all partners, and done with care.

MORE STEPS 5. Make many small moves with your figures

and step back when taking the pictures so that you do not create a shadow on the picture

6. After completing all of your shots transfer your pictures to the H: drive once you are signed on as Hunt Student, place them in the file named Obrien, then Claymation Pics and create a new folder with your project name on it.

7. Open your pictures in MovieMaker. You will need to search for your folder on the Server. Create your animation according to the Movie Maker steps.

HOLLYWOOD QUALITY

You need to be ready to start taking pictures at the beginning of the class time so that you are able to take all of your shots and not have to start again on a different day. Your animation will not move as smoothly if you have to stop in the middle of shooting pictures.

Once the camera/tripod/background are in place, don’t move them an inch! Animations look much more realistic if the background and camera are not jumping back and forth

Turn on ALL of the lights in the classroom so that you will have plenty of light to see the animation activity

…WATCHFUL EYE AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Take turns taking pictures and moving the characters so that each member has the opportunity to do all of the jobs

Make MANY SMALL moves with your characters. No big movements that jump your character from point A to point B. You want 50 pictures not 15. The more pictures that you have the better your animation will be.

Finish up at least 5 minutes before the end of class so that your pictures can be transferred to your folder. Do not leave until your pictures are transferred. We don’t want your animation lost

Clean up all of your mess. Throw away your background, save whatever clay that can be reused.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC4 3 2 1

Organization

Animation is well organized with a beginning, middle, and an end that explains concept very well

Animation is thought out but is missing one of the expectations of beginning, middle, end, or teaching a concept

Animation is weak in attempt to show any of the expected beginning, middle, end, or concept

Animation does not flow with a beginning, middle, or end and does not effectively teach a concept

Content Covers topic in-depth. Subject knowledge is expressed well

Topic includes much knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.

Topic includes some information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.

Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.

Materials Materials are totally prepared and ready at the beginning of class on assigned day

Materials are prepared with one or two minor fixes

Materials are not prepared at the beginning of class and project must be started 5-10 minutes late

Group is not ready to begin project within a 10 minute time period of class beginning

Cooperation

Group members worked well together with all participating in all areas of project

Group members had one or two minor issues during the preparation of project

Group members had several issues during the preparation of project that required teacher to step in

Group members had so many issues that teacher had to step in on several occasions to get project accomplished

Hardware Students followed direction on Classroom Applications Guideline sheets for camera, computer, and Server use

Students followed most of the directions from Classroom Applications Guideline sheets for camera, computer, and Server use

Students required help on a couple of uses of equipment and were not relying on Classroom Applications Guidelines sheets

Students do not rely on their Classroom Applications Guidelines sheets and are looking for constant help from teacher or other students

Software Students followed direction on Classroom Applications Guideline sheets for steps on using Video Blender, saving to the server, and burning one copy for the group

Students followed most of the directions from Classroom Applications Guideline sheets for steps on using Video Blender, saving to the server, and burning one copy for the group

Students required help on a couple of steps of Video Blender, saving to the server, or burning one copy for the group and were not relying on Classroom Applications Guidelines sheets

Students do not rely on their Classroom Applications Guidelines sheets and are looking for constant help from teacher or other students