Homemade Stop Motion Animations

You can have your favorite toys star in your film.

Technically, all film is stop-motion animation because what is being presented is simply a series of still frames whizzing by, usually at 24 frames per second. But in common parlance, stop-motion animation refers to movies made by stringing together a series of frames that depict puppets or clay figures moving by having the directors move the figures slightly between pictures. Stop-motion animation can also be done with live-action actors, lending the film an interesting visual appearance. Although not difficult to make, stop-motion films can be tedious to frame and shoot, so be ready for the hours of work ahead.

Things You'll Need

• Digital camera
• Tripod
• Film subjects or actors
• Computer with video editing software

Instructions

1. Set up the first scene, either with the figurines you'll be moving or with your actors. Make sure you have adequate lighting for your picture.

2. Set up your camera on its tripod so that you can see everything.

3. Lock the tripod in place.

4. Take a picture of the scene.

5. Move the scene subject very slightly as it would evolve if it were moving at a normal pace. To get a fully realistic appearance, you will need to take 24 pictures for what would amount to one second of movement. However, 5 or 10 pictures for every second of action will still make sense and make the film truly look like stop motion, almost like a flip-book.

6. Upload all the files that will make up your film to the computer.

7. Drag the clips in order into the video-editing application of your choice, such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. You could also use animated GIF-creating applications for short stop-motion animations.

8. Set the display time for each clip in the video-editing application. Make the clips display for the right amount of time so that it plays at however many frames per second you had in mind when shooting.

9. Export the film either as an .mp4, .mov, .gif or other movie/animation type.

Tips & Warnings

• If you reshoot one of the frames, be sure to delete the first take so that you don't end up with duplicate shots.

References

• History of Stop Motion Animation