Category: Animation

Week Ten

3/27/2018

Ok Go Sandbox to the Rescue

This week was the first week of the last marking period. It was also a short week and the week before Spring Break. As you might guess, students' minds were not super focused on starting new, intense work, nor were they really ready to begin a big project only to have to pause it for a week of break before getting back into it again.

Lucky for me, I have a great teaching partner in the STEM room and we decided to take advantage of this week with a short collaborative based on the new teacher resource: OkGo Sandbox.

I have used their resources before in my classroom; using this resource was a whole new experience. Not only did students get to see the video employ the concept of flip books (which was what we decided to end the marking period on for our 3rd STEAM collaborative this year), they also got extended learning opportunities to discuss gravity, timing, and other STEAM concepts that help make OkGo's videos one-of-a-kind pieces of art. This was also a great way to reflect on the NAEA conference from last week that focused on the theme of Art + Design = STEAM.

Students were excited to work collaboratively on this project, it only took about four days to complete, and we even got a retweet of our activity from the website! Students love knowing their work will be seen by others and you can see a compilation of completed flip books my our 7th and 8th grade Art and STEM students below:

Automata's Complete

STEAM students worked on completing their Automata's this week. It was fun to see them create something that moves through the use of engineering principles in this project. We were also able to connect it to the film Hugo and the book it is based. Again, one of the big points from the NAEA conference in Seattle this year was how art is the intersection of all disciplines in life. This project was such a great articulation of that and my students did such a nice job of working together to create interesting results shown below:

ArtPrize10 Collaboration

In addition to all of the STEAM projects completed this week, we also started our ArtPrize10 collaboration. I am excited to see this project come together, especially since we are working with all six schools in our district. To kick it off this week, students painted a fingerprint of paint and then used a sharpie to create a self-portrait. We were able to discuss concepts about color and abstraction as well as diversity and collaboration in this process. We will be doing more with this once we get back from break!

Week Two

9/16/2016

Starting with STEAM

For the first full week of school, the STEM teacher and I combine our classes for a STEAM collaborative. This allows for us to start the year out showing the students that we use common language and methods for design thinking.

Students use their sketchbooks to map out the process, so they can have it available as they move from my class to his (and visa versa) at semester. For Design Thinking, we use DICE (Discover, Ideate, Create, Evaluate). We used to use a longer process, but have found that this fits just right.

Lights, Camera...

After students were introduced to the basics of video production and given a variety of topics to choose from, they got into their groups and started working on scripts and storyboards. Students know from past examples that a well done video could mean recognition in a variety of venues and used that to help generate new and innovative ways to approach topics like "Building Character" and generating a "positive digital footprint."

Students spent the later part of the week actually filming their work based on the scripts and storyboards they crafted. It was interesting to see groups make choices on whether or not they were going to "act" in theirs or use animation or use a combination of both.

It will be fun to see hoe these works come together in the end and the showcase that follows as they are featured in our 2nd Annual STEAM Film Festival.

1st Annual STEAM Film Fest 2015

9/27/2015

Friday was a great day. Not only did it still feel like summer outside, it was also a day to finally view and celebrate the work students have been doing over the past two weeks. Earlier this summer, the STEM teacher and I took a day of planning to map out quarterly collaborations. Because we see the same students (but at different times of the year), we wanted to really utilize the potential to show them the overlap in our content and glean the most out of the learning experiences.

Although it was a bit scary at first because we had never combined grade levels, classes, or thrown such rigorous challenges at our students so early in the school year, it turned out great! It offered an opportunity for older students to coach younger ones, a way for us to show design thinking in action using common language, as well as a chance for students to push themselves to tell stories in interesting ways using technology and learning the science behind how animation works.

Here are some of the favorites from the event that will make their way to local and state (maybe even national) competitions:

Like a Blur

2/27/2015

So many things have happened this week, it is kind of like the semester is just blurring right past me! First, I am excited to say that Empty Bowls is only three weeks away. We finished the big bowl to be auctioned off at the event to the highest bidder this week with signatures from the BCWMS team.

Students are also finally glazing their bowls, which will be given away at the event as a reminder of those we are helping.

Students also finished their videos and animations this week, in preparation for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival and Digital ID PSA competitions. This project was funded as a result of a MACUL grant. Here are some of the student pieces:

7th grade students also worked on the computer this week, learning more about how to use Photoshop as they shared their interests and likes in their profile collages (see a full gallery of images here):

Nick: I used more than one brush tool with different colors because I thought that by doing that, I would make it unique. I tried to make my background different from anybody else's. I also used the stroke tool so I could make the outline of my face more prominent and so you could make it out better. I choose the things I did because they represent things that I like. I put some teams that I like, some foods that I like, and some things that I like to do. For example, I put a MSU logo because that's my favorite college and I put Kentucky because I know a kid on their boy's basketball team.

Nichole: I used a couple tools while working on this project. One of those tools is the quick select tool. You use this tool to select the background of an object. After you have selected want you need you can either change the background or delete the background. Another tool I used was the fill bucket tool. You use this tool to fill large empty spaces with a color of some sort in stead of taking a long time to use the paint brush tool to color it in. Ok so I put a lot of things in well "myself". First I put a picture of Nik Stauskas because he is my idol. I put a cross in me because I love going to church and learning about god. Then of corse I put a maroon 5 thing because they are my favorite band. Then my last one I put the quote "Teamwork makes the dream work" because this quote always keeps me going and It is so true too.

8th grade students started planning out their first major project on Identity this week by learning about artists who employ this theme, seeing past student work, and sketching out their own ideas. We also worked on some drawing methods that they could use, too.

Animation Extra

2/19/2015

Students are continuing to work on their videos (which will be complete on Monday). Some are getting done a little early, so I have challenged them to create an animated GIF using work from the other BCPS Artsonia school galleries and upload it to Schoology for a badge.

Here are some of the results so far:

This project was inspired by students from Apex High School in North Carolina who did this with our students a couple of years ago. Thanks again to Ian Sands for the idea!

Storyboards and Filming

2/17/2015

Students are working on videos that are being created to inform their peers about making quality choices both in life and online. This project is funded through a MACUL grant that helped us purchase cameras, tripods, and other accessories like SD cards. Videos will be complete just in time to compete in the Meijer Great Choices Junior Film Competition, The Digital ID PSA Challenge, and the DAFT Film Festival!

Before filming, animating, or editing their films, students brainstorm ideas based on the topics outlined in the competitions. We also learned some basics involving the process on the CheckThis poster found here. Students then worked together to create a script, make a storyboard, and plan a production schedule. The best part of teaching this is explaining that you do not need to film in order (rarely any film gets made that way) and seeing students group scenes together and plan out how they are going to divide up the work. Students document the process by making notes on their storyboards and production schedules each day to track progress and see what is left to do. Students will be creating the footage for the next few days before putting it together in iMovie, editing, and submitting it to the various competitions.

Some students work in groups using Photoshop to animate their clips before editing them together in iMovie.

Some students use the Cannon cameras and tripods to film their scenes.

Some students use stop motion techniques with cameras and tripods to tell their stories.

Lots of Choices

11/26/2013

For the past two weeks, students in both 7th and 8th grade classes had a lot of decisions to make as they worked through their projects. 7th grade students focused on story-telling as they worked on creating videos, video games, or comics. 8th grade students worked with form as they decided what to create with paper. You can see all of the results on our online gallery, but here is a peek into the process below:

7th grade students used the website www.gamestarmechanic.com to create their video games. They focused on telling a good story and weaving in other class content in their games.

Some students chose to tell their story through a comic.

Other students created their videos for the Meijer Great Choices Video Competition to focus on Healthy Choices, Character, or Diversity.

Here are a few of the finished sculptures created by 8th grade students. You can see more on our Artsonia gallery.

collaborating

2/12/2013

A few days ago, a teacher from Apex High School asked if any teachers had work they would like to see animated from their students. I immediately thought of our Exquisite Corpse assignment as being a fun image to see animated. I sent them the link to our Artsonia art gallery for them to select the images they wanted to work with. They did not disappoint - check out what the students from the Apex High School Arts program did with our student's drawings:

Animations

12/4/2012

7th grade students are starting to finish their animations today and upload them to Moodle. Once there, I can access them to share with the class. Tomorrow everyone should be done and we will plan a viewing party later this week. Until then, students have the option to create a variety of things from their Art Projects List (a list of ideas and project starters to help students decide what to do when they are done with a project). The two videos above were created by students using Photoshop (top) and cameras (bottom).

More Animations and Printmaking

11/28/2012

As you can see from the images above, students are fast at work with their animations. Some brought in things from home to animate, while others are using cut paper and Photoshop. It is fun to see the different animations come together and I look forward to sharing them when we are done.

8th grade students are progressing with their project. Today we went through four artists who use printmaking to create their images. Rather than me writing about it, you can check out the Prezi below.

We will start to transfer our edited images tomorrow so we can begin the printmaking process. Check out one response to this presentation by an 8th grade student:

My conclusion overall would be that even though these artists use a similar process to make their pieces, they all have differents meanings to them and they depict completely different things with different meanings and moods in them. But some of them compared to one another, such as Kathe's to Swoons, they both have these sketchy parts to them but the mood/feeling is completely different. I think that Andy Warhol is a very creative person thus his success and I have this feel coming from Banksy's work that is like a free feeling, also similar to Swoon's. My overall favorite would probably be Swoon and Banksy's work. -- Kathy, 4th hour

8th grade Printmaking Project on Prezi