Introduction
For week 7 we looked at the use of animation. We decided to look at this over two weeks as there is a lot to focus on. For the first week we have been given a couple of different tasks to complete using various apps and websites. I’ve not had much experience when it comes to animation and have never used it much before. I was quite excited as I felt like it was something I would enjoy although knew some of it would be very time consuming. I feel like animation is an easy way to teach a lesson or tell a story which can be very interactive.
Animation
Jarvis describes animation by stating it “involves the stringing together a sequence of static images, generally so that they appear to move.” (2015, p89). There are many different types of animation, Moving Image Education states that the main five are:
• Cutout – This is considered the least difficult and can be faster than the other types
• Stop-motion – example is plasticine models
• Pixillation – This is where humans are used as the puppets
• Drawn – This is more traditional animation, for example Disney’s classic animation.
• Computer – This is what you tend to find in movies and games. It can also be referred to as CGI
Animation will also help to enhance learning. According to Bertrancourt (2005) there are three main ways it can do so. The first way is it can help to increase pupils’ visual representations. It can also help to effectively layout different processes. Finally, animation can be used to create an interactive way of learning.
The Tasks
For this week we were to explore animation, so we were set tasks to complete. The first task was to see the app Puppet Pals and to create a story on it using voice recording, movement and changing the size of characters. My story was about a knight that went to fight a giant but got scared and ran away. A princess then comes and saves the day. I found this app quite confusing to use at first then I got the hang of it. Since you were not able to move the characters arms or anything, I felt it was hard to create different scenes as they didn’t move well. Overall, I was not a huge fan of this app, but I do feel it’s a simple way to introduce children into creating animation.
We were then asked to look at the moving image education website ( https://movingimageeducation.org/create-films/animation ) which is very useful for information on subjects such as this. We also watched a few tutorials on how to create stop motion animation which we would be focussing on next week.
The final task was to create a short stop motion animation using a bendy figure using the iStopMotion app. My stop motion animation was very simple, and I just had my bendy figure move its arms. I found using stop motion quite difficult at first as its very fidgety but once I got into it, it was really enjoyable. I feel like this would be a fun task for kids as they would enjoy the creative side to this.
Conclusion
Overall, I feel animation has many advantages and can be a useful tool to use in the classroom. Due to their being multiple types of animation it can be used at many levels of learning and many subject areas. I am looking forward to the next week where we will be creating our own Stop Motion animation.
References
- Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.
- Moving Image Education website: [Online] https://movingimageeducation.org/create-films/animation [Accessed: 28 February 2019]
