Belgium/Rochefort: children bring their imaginations to life with stop motion
Why not learn the basics of cinema and dream of a César or Oscar at an early age? In Rochefort, in the province of Namur, ten youngsters are making their own animated film using the stop motion technique. This animation technique involves taking photos of scenes and moving the subjects slightly before taking another photo. By speeding up all these shots, a video is created.
For these children, it's a chance to give free rein to their creativity. From the superhero who has to beat an alien, to the animal battle, to the TV presenter who announces that a monster is eating up the whole town, stop motion lets them bring their imaginations to life. Before making their film, they have to create all the sets and choose the characters themselves. "We take whatever we want: drawings, toys from home, fruit, humans, Playmobil, really anything," explains 11-year-old Félix.
Then it's time to put it all on a tray. This can be done on a simple, well-lit table, in front of which you simply place a smartphone to take the shots. Free stop motion applications are available.
3, 2, 1... Action!
The kids love the technique, so much so that this is already the second stop motion course some of them have attended. "I like it because you can animate whatever you want, it's a bit like bringing objects to life," confides Avril, 11.
You have to be very meticulous to ensure that the result is realistic, because"with every image taken, every little flaw will show up", explains Nino, 11.One minute is 1,440 images, so it's a lot of work," adds Joshua, 11.
The stop motion technique in animation is far from new, but it's now much more accessible, thanks in particular to tablets and smartphones.Before, you needed big equipment, lots of lighting and a camera. You couldn't see the results directly, but now you just press Play to see all the photos scrolling by," explains Etienne Grégoire, the course leader.
The aim of the week for these children is to create a three-minute animated film on the theme of nature. They also get to create the sound effects and soundtrack for their film.
Who knows, maybe these kids will become the filmmakers of tomorrow.
Source: www.rtbf.be/article/
