Hello! Tomorrow starts the first of two, week-long camps where I get to teach kids about making brickfilms! I'm pretty excited, and I think they are too since all my classes are full and have a waiting list. I'm starting this thread because I'll be sharing their films here when they're done at the end of the week. I hope this awesome community can show them some love and I'll pass on the comments to them.
We'll be in a college computer lab, so we're using Logitech Webcams, Eagle Animation software, and Kdenlive for editing. I thought about using Resolve since that's what I normally use, but I know that the computers aren't powerful enough to run it without crashing. I might have my first and second graders edit with OpenShot since it's a really simple interface, but I feel like Kdenlive will offer more control for older kids that want it.
My main goal with the software was to use stuff that's free and cross platform so that all of the kids could go home and keep making brickfilms if they wanted. I'll have two classes a day, each class is three hours. For anyone else planning to do something similar, here's our course outline:
Monday: History of stop motion and brickfilms, plan and storyboard the movies, start designing backdrops (14"x22" display boards from Walmart) using crayons.
Tuesday: Finish backdrops, show them how to animate with Eagle Animation, and cut them loose. I plan to have students export each shot individually to make editing easier.
Wednesday: Finish animating.
Thursday: Editing! Putting shots in order, adding sound effects and music. I may bring in a microphone if anyone needs dialogue. Export the movies and I'll bring them home to make a playlist of them. I'll also post them on here for feedback.
Friday: Premiere day! We'll screen the movies in class and I'll share positive feedback with the kids. Since there will probably be extra time, we'll discuss some more complex techniques and talk about further learning.
We'll be in a college computer lab, so we're using Logitech Webcams, Eagle Animation software, and Kdenlive for editing. I thought about using Resolve since that's what I normally use, but I know that the computers aren't powerful enough to run it without crashing. I might have my first and second graders edit with OpenShot since it's a really simple interface, but I feel like Kdenlive will offer more control for older kids that want it.
My main goal with the software was to use stuff that's free and cross platform so that all of the kids could go home and keep making brickfilms if they wanted. I'll have two classes a day, each class is three hours. For anyone else planning to do something similar, here's our course outline:
Monday: History of stop motion and brickfilms, plan and storyboard the movies, start designing backdrops (14"x22" display boards from Walmart) using crayons.
Tuesday: Finish backdrops, show them how to animate with Eagle Animation, and cut them loose. I plan to have students export each shot individually to make editing easier.
Wednesday: Finish animating.
Thursday: Editing! Putting shots in order, adding sound effects and music. I may bring in a microphone if anyone needs dialogue. Export the movies and I'll bring them home to make a playlist of them. I'll also post them on here for feedback.
Friday: Premiere day! We'll screen the movies in class and I'll share positive feedback with the kids. Since there will probably be extra time, we'll discuss some more complex techniques and talk about further learning.
