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Seventh Graders Create Unique Stop-Motion Videos

Source/Author: Amy Brill, Seventh Grade English Teacher

December 07, 2017

Arts

The Monday screening of “The Trojan Llama,” an original stop-motion animation movie by students Victoria D. and Aivey W., marked the culmination of a long-term interdisciplinary project involving seventh grade English, art and technology with a historical focus this year.

The project, in its sixth year at Shorecrest, has become an eagerly anticipated tradition for seventh grade students.

In English class the students spent four weeks developing characters and writing plots, then perfecting them into original movie scripts.
They created models of their characters in art class using recycled bags, paint and fabric.
Once the characters and sets were complete, English and tech classes merged for two weeks to film movies using stop-motion animation on iPads.
Final video touches were made in iMovie.

The Shorecrest teachers’ approach is popular not only with students, but also with fellow educators. The teaching team including Amy Brill (English), Cindy Williams (Art) and Chris Scoby (Technology) presented their project at the Florida Council of Independent Schools conference and have won an FCIS grant for their work!

Students had a new challenge this year besides having their characters go back in time to change history -- all backgrounds, artwork, and pictures had to be original. The movies included historic topics such as the Berlin Wall, The Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-ins, the American Revolution, Egyptian pharaohs and Greek mythology.

“The ideas and scripts floored me this year,” says Middle School English teacher Amy Brill. “We learned so much from these students, not just about the historical events but also about character development within that context.”

This year marked the third annual Film Festival for the final products. The teaching team, with input from student viewers, chose first, second and third place winners. The first place movie, “The Trojan Llama,” by seventh graders Victoria D. and Aivey W. debuted at the Monday, December 4, assembly for the entire Middle School.

The seventh grade stop-motion movies may see a bigger audience this year outside of the Shorecrest community and the students’ school YouTube pages. Four movies will compete in a national film and animation contest through the education powerhouse Scholastic! Awards will be announced in February.