Anim 22: (from archive 2022) Merry new year, quick run down of a stop-motion short

Stop motion animation is a great way to create short films or videos that are fun and interesting. This post features a stop motion film I made with my friend on a snowy day. There are many apps available for digital devices. The one I used is the stop motion app. This app is free with in-app purchases for more features. The app is straightforward and easy to learn. I did animate over the stop motion to add more variety using procreate(Paid app). I have shared more about procreate in another blog post.

We made this film in a span of a day.

What Is Stop Motion Animation?

Stop motion animation is a technique that has been around for many years. The process works by filming objects in a still position, then moving them slightly between frames to create the illusion of movement.

This article was written about the artistic process of stop-motion animation in detail.

All you need is a few apps.

Just like everything today, stop-motion can be completely made using your mobile devices.

I used my Iphone SE(gen 2) as the camera, with the stop motion app,

Ipad pro- for the effects on top,

and after-effects because it is a tool that I'm familiar with and used to, but you can use any editing software of your choice.

The Snow Day Project

Unexpectedly my trip to Seattle was confined to sitting at home because of the snow. So we decided to use some of the miniature christmas decoration to as the set.

Workflow

First, assemble your set. It can be anything, either everyday objects pencils and sharpeners or a complicated rig.

this is an example of a complicated rig, made out of cycle spokes and chain. You can also purchase remade rigs.

Simple run trough of stop-motion for complete beginners.

1. Set up your scene

2. Take a photo

3. Move the object slightly

4. Take another photo

5. Repeat until you're finished with your animation

6. Once you're done, export it as a movie clip or GIF

Here is a timelapse/ making of this film

In this film, we have not animated any objects, to keep things simple, but this is another example where I have animated multiple characters.

Once I shot the film the way I wanted, I exported the video and imported it to Procreate, where I added the fake expressions and speech bubbles.

and all the sounds are recorded on iPhone. As mentioned earlier I used after effects to compile the whole.

The reason I'm sharing this is to say that it is very simple to do and doesn't require much time.