Hi, I'm Iona Fabian and I led a two-day Stop Motion Animation workshop as part of the November ILP.
My brief was to enable the students to create a stop-motion animation on a given theme. They had to design and animate forms of transport 400 years in the future. I was working with a teacher who specialised in PE.
The teacher introduced the topic and I then did a brief introduction to animation. We then asked the students to design futuristic forms of transport, then story-board an animation that included their invention. I was impressed with the originality, of the student's concepts, and some of the scientific concepts involved. One group devised a space ship powered by the CO2 from the occupant's breath!
In order to allow the students to work in small groups we used web cams on clamps from the science labs. I usually work with video cameras on tripods, which gives a better quality result, but would be prohibitively expensive in large numbers. I felt that the loss of picture quality was a worthwhile sacrifice for small groups of students to work independently. I was impressed by how quickly the students grasped both the scientific and artistic concepts, and they were very engaged throughout the two days, which is something in itself!
By the end of the two days we had some lovely animations of a wide range of transport ideas!
Specific feedback:
C1: The ability to identify and address new issues and challenges creatively.
The brief gave students the challenge of an over-crowded planet needing to find new methods of transport. The students were given a small amount of time to come up with solutions, and I was impressed with the how animated discussions in the groups were, and the ingenuity of the ideas that evolved.
The second challenge was illustrating their concepts without being able to write or record speech. I think this was a bit of a tall order, and some of the detail they had considered was lost. Maybe next time it would be good to get the students to write down their concepts, just for the record, as it is difficult to portray everything visually, and the resolution on the web-cams means writing in the animations is unreadable.
However, the groups all worked independently and came up with a wide range of ideas.
They also used, with some encouragement from me, and access to a well stocked art cupboard, a range of materials and techniques.
C2: The development and communication of new skills, ideas, knowledge and understanding.
The students were very aware they were off-timetable and part of something a bit different, so I felt thier engagement levels were high. They embraced the conceptual and practical challenges presented with enthusiasm, imagination and creativity. They quickly grasped the principles af animatin, and worked well in thier groups. I was also impressed with how the groups worked together, and were often very patient whilst waiting for technical help. I heard a lot of negotiating occuring over both the content and practical approaches to the animations. As a team-building excercise it was largely sucessful, with even the most reluctant students engaging.
I think this excercise gave them the opportunity to creatively use their scientific knowledge in both a practical and conceptual way.
C4: Co-constructing of learning with young people.
I think that the students picked up on the experimental nature of this project, and the risks the school was taking by having a more open and un-scripted couple of days. I had never worked in quite this way, and the teacher I worked with had never done any animation, or a project like this before. This meant we had to keep communicating with each other, and be very flexible with our plans, responding and adapting to how the students were engaging and performing. The fact no-one involved had worked this way before added to the student's excitement and willingness to co-operate, even when they had to wait a while for attention.
I felt the students responded well to being put outside the normal school routine, and were very active in thier involvement. I felt as though the students were very much part of a team with me, trying to acheive something to be proud of.
