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This fun activity, brought to you in partnership with the , will channel your child's creativity and show you how can use a smart phone or tablet to create a cool stop-motion animation.

What is stop-motion animation?

Animation is a way of making a film from lots of still images. Each image is slightly different from the one before, and when they are played back quickly, it looks like the image is moving!

Here are the instructions for you and your child.

Here are our simple instructions to make a stop-motion animation with your child

What you'll need to make your animation

• A camera on a phone or tablet
• Something to keep your camera stable: a tripod works best but there are many creative options such as building a stand out of building blocks, using the edge of a chair or table or even using books to balance a spirit level or ruler
• There are a variety of free stop-motion animation apps that you can use on your tablet, phone or laptop to help you create your animation, or you can use the in-built camera app or software and piece your animation together on a video creator afterwards

Or you could use…

If you don't have a phone or camera you can create a flip page animation and for that you'll need the following:

• A sticky note pad or a notebook
• Something to draw with

For the original animation and more from the BFI’s ‘How to animate’ series, visit .

Instructions to make your stop-motion animation

Step 1

Start by making a storyboard. This is a series of pictures which tells you what will happen in the animation.

Step 2

Create the characters for your animation using paper cutouts. Think about how they will fit onto your background, but make sure they can move around!

Step 3

Now, create your background - your animation could happen on the floor or on a table top, or you could use fabric or a large sheet of paper to draw/create a background for you scene.

Step 4

Set up your camera and tripod - make sure it's stable and won't wobble around when you film.

Step 5

Open the app to start animating!

Step 6

Take a picture

Step 7

Then, move your character a little, press the picture-taking button again to take the next picture. Hint - make sure your hands are out of the picture!

Step 8

Do this until as many times as needed to tell your story from the storyboard.

Step 9

When you finish taking the pictures, you can export the photos as a video within your chosen app, or put it together in a video creation app, or by using one of the many free GIF makers available online

Step 10

Sit and watch your animation in wonder!

Or - Make a flip page animation

Step 1

Go to the last page of the sticky note pad or book.

Step 2

Draw something on a corner of the last page.

Step 3

Now start off by drawing the same image again on the page before, but make it a little different(for example, if you drew a circle on the first page your circle on the page before would be a little bigger, and then even bigger on the page before that – get it?)

Step 4

Once you’ve finished drawing, flip the pages and watch your handy work!

The is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom.

Original art and animation by Reza Ben Gajra

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