Amazing Animation
Build a spinning zoetrope and make your own animations!
Explore:
- Science of Animation
- History of Animation
- Flipbooks
About This Crate
Photo sequence by Edward Muybridge, circa 1880
- Did you know? When you watch most movies today, your eyes and brain are seeing and putting together 24 pictures every second!
- Many of today’s animated films are made by computers. The first full-length film to be completely made in this way was the original Toy Story movie in 1995.
- The early animation technique of making stop-motion films is still popular today! From dancing emojis to homemade stop-motion videos of LEGO figurines to animated "GIF" photos that appear to move all on their own, modern stop-motion animation is everywhere. You might even find a few examples on the KiwiCo website!
Repurpose your crate
Ta-da! Your very own clapper board!
Materials
- Kiwi Crate box
- Scissors
- Brad
- Chalkboard contact paper or chalkboard paint
- Black and white paint
- Paintbrush
- Chalk
- Optional: ruler and pencil
Directions
- With your grownup assistant’s help, cut off the lid of your crate. Then cut off the flaps and set them aside for later. The big rectangle will be your clapper board’s slate, or chalkboard.
- Grab the longest flap you just cut off. Trim off the rounded edges, then cut the flap in half long ways. This piece will be the clapstick.
- Cover the slate in chalkboard paper or paint it with chalkboard paint.
- On the clapstick, use the regular paint to make diagonal black-and-white stripes.
- Line up the clapstick along the top of the slate. Ask your grownup assistant to poke a hole through both pieces in the top left side.
- Push a brad through the holes, then flatten the legs in the back.
- Use chalk to write the name of your movie on the slate. Hold the clapper board with the clapstick pointing up. Then swing the clapstick down and call, "Action!"
Movie directors use a tool called a clapper board to match up the movie's sound with its moving images. Turn the top of your crate into a clapper board and use it to direct your own stop-motion movies!
