If you prefer to use cloud-based software, the Office 365 version of PowerPoint and other browser-based software, such as Google Slides, can be used to create these types of animated shorts.Īlso, because this method shares many of the basic principles of stop motion animation, students can apply what they’ve learnt to real equipment and in specialty software when they gain access to it. With a few basic geometric shapes and TRANSFORMATION as the assignment’s theme, the students were able to create interesting animated shorts using the school’s outdated hardware. So that’s what I started doing and the results were akin to McLaren’s early hand-painted animations, brilliant in their simplicity. Honestly, I don’t know how I didn’t come to this conclusion earlier, but I realized that any presentation software such as, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Apple’s Keynote, could be used to easily make animation shorts! After re-watching works such as Le Merle with my students, I wondered if there was a way to use existing software already installed on the school’s computers to create simple animated shorts.
I often show multiple examples of his work and let the students discover the rest through the National Film Board’s website.
When introducing my class to basic animation, I like to start with the brilliant Canadian filmmaker and animator Norman McLaren. Long story short…they ended up making flip books.įrustrated by this first experience I re-evaluated my available resources. During that first week, I searched for outside funding, donations, rental equipment, and different software licensing options, all to no avail. Having outdated entry level software and low-resolution point and shoot cameras, I invited the students to create their storyboards and start by building their sets and characters to buy myself some time. Young and naïve as I was early in my career, I proposed an animation assignment to my media arts class. Having experimented extensively with animation in a post-secondary setting, with unfettered access to overpriced specialty software and equipment, I quickly became frustrated with the resources available to me in the context of a secondary school setting. Due to these sorts of restrictions, I often opt for browser or cloud-based software when possible. As a teacher, it can be frustrating to integrate technological tools in the classroom due to bureaucratic limitations such as restricted download access ( which includes common software updates ), software licensing costs, inadequate computer and network performance, etc.
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