How are stop motion movies made? How do you effectively tell a story with stop motion animation? What materials do you need to do it? Guillermo del Toro once said that stop motion was probably the, “purest art form,” due to the artist’s ability to control every aspect of the film. In order to create an immersive experience, the animator has to perfect imperfections; such as a child forgetting to shut a door, or an old man trying to grab a cup but missing it on his first try. A full feature film, with teams of dozens of animators can take months just to film a single scene. It’s no wonder that del Toro also remarks that, “stop motion is an artform kept alive by madmen.”

For my capstone project I created a stop motion short film. This art form isn’t entirely new to me, I’ve made stop motion films before. What made this film different was that I wanted to move beyond what I had done before. My goal was to design and build puppets from scratch, build and decorate a set for them, and use them to tell a short story. I wasn’t as focussed on telling a story with this film, so I could focus more time on the puppets, so I used a dream I had last year where Mr. Kamal made an army of evil robots to take over the school. Overall I am satisfied with what I created, and through this capstone found a new appreciation for stop motion animation that I didn’t have before.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/iYt2Jzn62EE

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mK3SAK3pwn-f9BEXQoL1Hsf9PM9Y2MUfUo6wMVwEc4c/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone project, I aimed to dive deeper into the field of animation. Animation has always captivated my interest. It has played a crucial role in my life since childhood through various animated movies and shows. Eventually, I decided to initiate a learning program that I managed during an internship course to help others learn about animation and how it’s done. During this animation ILP, I thoroughly guided the participants through the animation process. We were able to create some amazing animated objects while learning. However, the achievement wasn’t complete without fostering a safe and diverse learning environment for my team to thrive and establish new friendships.

Here’s the Link to my “Process Paper”: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XGmqnSt73YNbgi5TATkgi_-optg6ipG8p4CGxZAFlEM/edit?usp=sharing

Down below ill attach a little animation I made! <3 (click it to see it move.)

For my capstone, I decided to make three different videos or reels that help highlight three of the more important programs and events at Science Leadership Academy. The three things that are shown in the reels are the Ultimate Frisbee team’s season, Educon 2023, and the Engineering Career and Technical Education program. The three different reels required hours of acquiring footage over extended periods of time, interviewing people at the events or in the programs, and long periods of editing and creating multiple different versions before deciding what the final version should be. The order in which they were completed was the Educon reel first, the Ultimate Frisbee reel second, and the engineering reel being the final one completed. I believe throughout the watching of these videos ou can see the evolution of the interviewing and editing process with myself becoming much better at both as the year went on. Both interviewing and editing styles are both acquired by practice, and my capstone project allowed me to not just discover my own, but in my research discover others editing styles and how the overall video industry does their event reel filming and editing. For the overall process, I would say hitting all five of the core values makes the Capstone process different from other schools. Inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection are what education stands on at SLA, so the process of a capstone is really trying to make something that benefits your school community while making sure each of the core values is represented in your efforts.

Process Paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x0GlOwZMPqiNEBipivQ6YTPluL71xvEKMjd2RxCOKpA/edit?usp=sharing

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XQF9XqIwv_SxbMlh5dBAqqeL0_5pHJsFRBaKBSaZ6Nk/edit?usp=sharing

Digitized Capstone: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aPmwCj-RGh9XBzoeMYDAansSaBCoIMxD?usp=share_link

For my capstone, I created a digital magazine called “Sugar Snaps” and two original songs. The songs were created using the Digital Audio Workshops (DAW) Cakewalk and Logic Pro X. I chose this project because I want to be a musical artist professionally and photography, production, and songwriting are all skills that will be vital to my career path so it would be a strategic use of time to design a project that encompasses all of those skills. To complete my capstone, first I researched inspiration for “Sugar Snaps”. I wanted it to be somewhat bright like “Fruits Magazine” but also creatively realistic like “Nana” stills and manga covers. Separately, I worked on my music in the Digital Audio Workshops “Cakewalk” and “Logic Pro X.” The largest obstacle I encountered was overall inexperience with every skill involved in my project except for writing music. I did not know how to edit photos, mix or master music, and both were technical skills so my musical abilities did not help with getting through those. My schedule in high school has always been hectic so I’ve never had the ability to get involved in the music scene in Philadelphia which always made me feel stagnant and incompetent. This project allowed me to push myself away from the negativity I focused on and devote my time to music production skills, which were a lot more accessible and just as important in my opinion.

Link to Hold You: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RnfQpbvQekK2CyBO8057OucYFMVRydNM/view?usp=sharing

Link to Booboosoosa’s Lullaby: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zZ4jkYwJK1U3VBnKex9OuBBy8y6Cqivd/view?usp=sharing