I have watched students make claymations before both in person and through videos so I understand the process. However, I do not recall creating my own stop motion prior to this course. The process uses aspects of photography and film in that each photo becomes a frame in a moving image. I learned that with the help of an app such as Stop Motion Studio what seems like a rather time consuming and monotonous task, pausing to make a slight change then taking a shot and continuing over and over again, can turn into quite an efficient, satisfying, and engaging process.                                                                                 

      I explored my surroundings for content and took advantage of the flourishing, colorful garden and my still collie (my other one is not such a great model in comparison). Before I shared my work, I made sure that I altered the speed to best suit the flow of the frames. I went back and forth playing between 5, 6, and 7 frames per second as I realized how much of a difference each one makes visually. I iterated, or repeatedly watched the “same” “GIF” after making tweaks and adjustments each time until I was satisfied. For four of them I used some or all of the frames in reverse to “finish” the loop. I also got rid of or moved any images that made the “GIF” choppy. For example, in Buttons with Shades I deleted a beginning frame and moved a shot that did not match the flow of her head moving downwards. I moved the one frame and duplicated it at the end to add some humor and allow her to hold a pose.

      Additionally, I created a prototype using a magnifying glass over a rose starting with a blur, but played around some more and created another similar “GIF” to experiment with beginning in focus. Although, I think both are interesting, I believe Plucked Pedals is my most successful one. Unfortunately, it seems I may have captured too many frames for the conversion process to handle so you could not see the full effect of the center of the flower looking like it was running away towards the end. I believe a stop motion of 35 frames or more is too large to convert to an animated GIF into photos.

      Nonetheless, I think incorporating stop motion using this app or a similar one would be lovely as part of an introduction to a ceramics class for K-12 in hopes that ipads or phones are available. Students would have the chance to explore/investigate with clay and see the possibilities and attributes of the material without feeling obligated to make a specific or familiar form (which they would have the oppurtunity to do in future projects). This would let students be able to spend more time on the process of making shapes and moving pieces rather than worry about the aftermath of a lot of single images waiting to be converted into a short clip. Of course, stop motion could also be used in teaching a photography course. It would be a great interactive (and less of a screen) experience if students could go out to the (court)yard of the school using the app to connect with and notice their surroundings (light, shadows, etc).