Stop Motion for Teachers and Families

Hey there Teachers and Families! Many of you are interested in making films using Stop-Motion! Good for you! You are learning some of the building blocks of making all films.

These are posts detailing some of the fundamentals of stop-motion, in an easy-to-digest format, made by filmmakers who learned it by trial and error. Us @ Barigord Studios.

We’re not experts, but we’ve made so many mistakes, and learned so much from them, that we have to share some of the knowledge. Stuff that will make your life easier, and require less work, and even set you up for more complicated filmmaking down the road.

Here are our stop-motion efforts. We primarily use Lego, but not always.

Getting Started in Stop-Motion with DaVinci Resolve – Yes, it’s complicated, yes it can be scary to try and learn, and yes the interface looks like an airplane console at first glance. Don’t panic. It’s free, and it’s actually pretty easy to use. Let us help you get acquainted.

Getting Started in Stop-Motion with DaVinci Resolve Video Version – Now ready!

Let’s Go For a Roll – Here’s a simple exercise that families or classrooms can do to get their feet wet with many stop-motion basics. Minimal requirements, big payoff. This exercise is based on using DaVinci Resolve. See the above post.

4-Frame Dance Off – (Coming Soon! Check the post for an example of what to do!) Here’s another simple exercise that families or classrooms can do to get their feet wet with many stop-motion basics. Minimal requirements, big payoff. This exercise is also based on using DaVinci Resolve.

Dance Marvels – Here’s an example of a video made from just a few pictures of Lego characters in different poses. It was supposed to be a tutorial but got a little involved outside of the dance moves. Still, with some planning, you can tell a story like this one!

Keeping It Still for Stop-Motion Success – (Coming Soon!) Many stop-motion efforts struggle because the shots are not consistent from frame to frame. Here are some handy and cost-effective ways to minimize wobbly camera work, focus problems, and overall inconsistency.

Minimizing Overcomplicated Movement Through Storytelling – (Coming Soon!) Some movements are really tough, like walking and running. You want to be able to tell the story, but not be held back because a simple scene got too complicated by an action that maybe didn’t need to be there. Here are some great tricks, like using newscasters to report on an important event rather than showing all of it, and using character reactions to support action.

Our Stop-Motion Equipment – (Coming Soon!) So somebody’s getting more serious about doing stop-motion, and it’s time to talk about equipment and how to get some serious bang for your buck. This is what we use.

There are plenty more things to learn, and this is just a start. Check out our content on Youtube, and check back here to see what stop-motion and other filmmaking we’ve been up to!

You can contact us at barigordstudios@gmail.com.

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