Stop Motion Animation

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Last year, we got the best birthday present for my 10 year-old son, Cody; a gift that not only keeps him entertained for hours, but also develops skills and talents and fosters creativity. To me, those are the best kinds of gifts! I think one of the best parts of parenting is seeing my kids use their imaginations and create!

A couple of years ago, Cody had a teacher who taught him how to do stop-motion animation. Stop Motion Animation is a technique used in animation to bring static objects to life on screen. This is done by moving the object in increments while filming a frame per increment. When all the frames are played in sequence it shows movement. Think of “The Lego Movie”, or “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.

Cody developed a deep interest in stop motion, and was able to do a few little things on his chromebook from school, but he was very limited on what he could accomplish with it. So, we decided to buy him a stop motion animation software kit so that he could have the proper tools for what he wanted to do. This is the kit we bought him:

It comes with a USB camera that attaches to a computer, easy-to-use software and an instruction booklet. It is really simple to use; he taught himself! Granted, his teacher introduced him to it at school, but it really isn’t difficult to learn.

It is time-consuming, though. But I’d rather my kid spend hours being creative and developing a skill than sitting in front of brainless TV or video games all day. Cody has made several videos since his birthday last May, and he entered one of his videos into the PTA’s “Reflections” contest at school. The theme for the contest was “Heroes” so he made a video about a bank robbery that was unsuccessful because of our hero law enforcement officers. He entered the contest, hoping that his short film would win.

Here’s his video. He has a Youtube (monitored by Jeff and me) where he likes to upload his videos. He has big dreams of becoming a successful Youtuber and retiring his dad early with all the money he rolls in, ha ha. I love that he has goals! Feel free to subscribe to his channel; it would make his whole day.

I have to say, not bad for one of his first videos made! I wouldn’t have the patience to complete something like this, so I admire the hard work that he put into this.

And guess what? He did win 1st place at the school level, and he went on to compete at the district level where he won 1st place again! I have no idea how many (or how few) films were entered in his category, but regardless, he put a lot of effort into this project. I’m really proud of him!

After winning at the district level, Cody went on to compete at the county. First place winners at the county level would move on to compete at state.  Cody was really hoping that he would move on. He was so excited when we arrived at the award’s ceremony last week. I was nervous. Even though I thought he’d done a great job on his project, I wasn’t sure that it was state level material and I knew how hopeful he was to move on. I felt butterflies in my stomach when they announced his category. We tend to be a little competitive in our family; we like to win. Losing is hard and I knew it would be a big let down for Cody if they didn’t announce him as a winner. I could see the hope and anticipation in his face. When they called his name for an honorable mention, the hope washed away and was replaced with disappointment, but he put on his brave face and went on stage to receive his consolation medal. He smiled while he was up there, but I could tell he was pretty bummed and I was pretty bummed for him.

Hard as it, losing isn’t always a bad thing; if you even want to call it losing. You only lose when you quit. I think that if we won everything every single time we did it, we would be missing out on a lot of valuable lessons in life. Learning how to pick yourself back up after you’ve fallen down is how you learn to stand strong. There will always be something (or someone) to knock you down in life; how you rise determines your success.

Losing is the beginning to success. When things come too easily, we don’t learn how to work hard to get what we want. Losing makes us want to work harder. I know Cody was disappointed for not moving on, but he also listened intently when they announced the theme for next year’s contest. The wheels in his head are already turning and brainstorming ideas for next year’s video.

The day after the awards ceremony, Cody was back in his room making new videos, figuring out how he could improve on his movie-making and editing skills. Next year he will move up to the junior high division, so he has his work cut out for him. This time, he used his Stick Bots in his film that we got him for Christmas. We got him the Stick Bot animation kit for Christmas and it comes with a green screen, which he’s still figuring out how to use. He has a little more editing work left to do on this film, but I’ll post it when he’s finished. In the meantime, here’s the Stick Bot kit, for anyone with a child interested in film making!

Check back for more video updates from my little film-maker!