Stop-motion (animation)
• Production: Stop-motion is a basic type of video animation where still images are put together in a software app or video editing software.
Objects are moved slightly and a still image is taken after each motion. The images are put on a video timeline with a short duration between
each – and they will start to move automatically. The video is like a cartoon. Stop-motion is a wonderful introduction to the idea of “moving”
images.
• Possible mathematics content: Stop-motion is especially suited for mathematics content where animation works well: showing symmetry;
explaining fractions; explaining shapes;
The intermediate task introduces video production. The key difference is that still and moving images and audio are edited. We have chosen stop-motion as the key intermediate example since it is a playful activity but also an activity which can be done nicely without the children appearing in the video or hearing their voices (which is a concern in some schools across Europe). Stop-motion also helps to understand how all videos and moving images are produced. They are a sequence of still images. A “moving” image does not actually exist; it is created in our brains. When we see roughly twenty-five still images per second, our brains transform them into a moving image.