• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

StoryToGo

Exploring storytelling in its many forms in this digital age

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Our Story
    • Our Creatives
    • Join the StoryToGo Community
  • Community Resources
    • Web Monetization Guide
      • Web Monetization Resource Library
        • Web Monetization Tutorials
        • Web Monetization Research Papers
        • Interviews and Case Studies on Web Monetized Projects
      • Web Monetized Content Library
        • Web Monetized Courses
        • Web Monetized Podcasts
        • Web Monetized Social Networking Platforms
    • Podcasting with my Cat
      • Sustainable Funding Series Vlogcast
      • Encounters in EdTech Podcast
      • The Creative Farm Podcast
      • Boma Global Studios Podcast
    • Job Board
    • Storytelling Case Studies
  • Digital Magazine
  • Professional Development
  • Calendar
  • Contact
  • Submissions

Learning Stop Motion Filmmaking With Lego

August 21, 2019 by Erica Hargreave Leave a Comment

As some of you may have guessed, we wear many hats. We are storytellers, educators, technologists, scientists, dancers, and marketers. We love that the work we do allows us to put on those many hats, and enjoy the different experiences and facets of our work, including still getting a little bit of kid time with Ahimsa Kids.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Lefo-Make-Your-Own-Movie.jpg
Loving this book.

Recently with that, I had the opportunity to work with an intelligent and engaging 10-year-old, who once he finished his school work, we were able to dive into the world of edtech and stop motion filmmaking together. Stop motion is something he has a keen interest in, along with lego, and he’d just been given the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book. It didn’t take long after flipping through the book, which was a 2018 Toy of the Year finalist, for me to become just as hooked as he was on the process. So the two of us embarked on making our own first stop motion lego film together.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is How-Animation-Works-1024x768.jpg
Leafing through the pages.

This was a fun cross-curricular project to embark on. In the process, my young student developed and wrote a story, learned to storyboard …

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Storyboarding.jpg
Laying out a scene from the storyboard.

… and filmed a stop motion movie. We brainstormed and experimented with blocking and special effects. My young student’s huge assortment of lego helped with this, along with scene backdrops in the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book and all sorts of items in the LEGO Movie Maker Building Kit (which he’d got for his birthday), from which we learned how to build an adjustable stand for our camera (aka smartphone).

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Backdrop-and-Camera-Stand.jpg
Utilizing one of the backdrops and our newly built camera stand.

Finally my young student troubleshot how best to record the various voice overs for the project, and he and I will eventually edit the stop motion film together – that piece we did not get to on-set, so are planning to get together to finish in the not so distant future. Lego does have a free movie making app to help with the editing process, called Movie Maker, but we decided to use iMovie for this, as earlier on the set, my young student had shot his first documentary and I’d taught him how to use iMovie to edit it.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Setting-up-for-a-new-scene.jpg
Setting up for a new shot.

I have to say, this was a lot of fun, and something I could see wanting to incorporate into my school, if I still taught in a school. With this, I could see this being a full language and media arts project, a station set up in the classroom for kids that finished their other work early, a makerspace activity, or an after school club. It is also a fun at home activity, as well as a great project for homeschoolers. I myself am now looking for excuses to play with making lego stop motion movies in our work – possibly in future tutorial videos for StoryToGo or for one of my Master of Educational Technology videos. My young student kindly gifted me the LEGO Movie Maker Building Kit, and I am going to buy the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book for myself, my nieces and nephews, and a few of my friends’ kids, as this really is such a fun experience. I can see why Lori was so fascinated by her visit to the Laika Studios and learning about stop motion storytelling there.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is flying.jpg
Using one of the backdrops to create the perception of flight.

If lego stop motion or stop motion in general is something that you’ve been having fun experimenting with, I’d love to hear any tips and tricks you may have, and to see your videos, if you want to drop your thoughts and links in the comments below. And if you have been creating lego stop motion or stop motion videos with your students, whether in traditional school or homeschool settings, I’d love to hear about how and what is working for you and your students, in the comments below.

Thanks! I hope you have fun with this!

Filed Under: #StoryToGo, Our Community, Student Stories Tagged With: filmmaking, stop motion, storytelling

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

#StoryToGo is a community designed to reflect storytelling today – shared both through traditional means of oral storytelling, radio, film and TV, and print; in addition to newer forms of media storytelling through the digital arts, including gaming, blogging, online video, and social media.

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

For Free Courses, Webinars, Tech Tips & Job Boards, Sign-Up for StoryToGo eNews

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events.

View Calendar
Add
  • Add to Timely Calendar
  • Add to Google
  • Add to Outlook
  • Add to Apple Calendar
  • Add to other calendar
  • Export to XML

Explore Past Posts

BCIT Media Storytelling Courses

Our Post-Secondary Accredited Courses with BCIT's Media Storytelling Department:

Building Your Digital Media Presence (online)

Social Media Storytelling (online)

Before Footer

Find Us in the Fediverse

On Mastodon:

  • @EricaHargreave

Footer

On the Beat with StoryToGo

Follow along on StoryToGo’s digital magazine for our latest case studies, upcoming free courses and webinars, technology tips and tricks, story musings,  and our latest job boards!

  • Case Studies
  • Tech Tips
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Our Community
  • Courses

For Free Courses, Webinars, Tech Tips & Job Boards, Sign-Up for StoryToGo eNews

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in