|
|
Clay-animation "How'd they do that?" During our presentation at the 2002 ACTEM Technology Conference, we attended a showcase on making Clay Animation using MAC i-movie. We were so impressed with the process, we decided to give this a try and incorporate it into a webquest.
|
Our first endeavor was to sit down and
brainstorm what subject we could use. We had been in the midst of working
on a Frog's Lifecycle webquest and decided to make a movie to go along with it.
What we would need for props:
Background: box and construction paper.
Modeling
Clay: frogs, bugs, eggs, tadpoles
Water: We cut up the plastic bags from a local store that were blue!
Digital
Camera: Kodak DX3500 and a small table tripod.
Software: Adobe Elements, Windows Movie Maker version 5.1
(Microsoft XP) and Adobe Premiere Pro.
Working with the clay
We used modeling clay as it never hardens. Our large
frog was first made of paper
covered with tinfoil, then last layer - with the green clay.
The position of objects
We found that any small movement is picked up by the camera. It was very important to mark the places we used for props. And we tried to finish a segment of the movie at each meeting.
Using Adobe Elements
We were able to erase the sticks holding
the tadpoles. We tried to give the plastic
bags water quality.
Using Microsoft Movie Maker
We placed our digital stills in . . . one
at a time . . .
using our only software, Movie Maker. Later we were able to bring the
movie to our high school and us Adobe Premiere Pro to convert and save as MPG
for the web.
