Let's have a look at some examples of cut-out animations we did with my students:

Exercise 6: Cut-Out photocopies

We cut parts of photocopied images of Blosfelt's photographes. Blosfelt photographs natural plants, leaves and seeds. We used this parts to create strange and more realistic figures.

After creating their characters, each student imagined a short story scenario and made their Story-Boards,
deciding and describing the scenes they would shoot and the movements their characters would do.
They also noted on the story boards the duration of each movement in seconds and in frames.

Then they painted any background they would need for their characters to move in.

When everything was ready we started the shootings.
The cut-outs were moved on the backgrounds a little for each frame shoot.
The story-board serves as a guide to every move they make.

You could see some parts of our movie
in Flash Player. Click on the links below
[1 part ]  [2 part]  [3 part]

Exercise 7: Cut-out photocopies of human figures

In an animation, titled "Our strange world", all the kids wander in a strange world where everything moves and changes
We used cut-outs of painted papers, colourful backgrounds and photographs of ourselves moving.
-First the students decided their scenarios and painted their Story-Boards.

-Then the performed all the movements they would have to do in the animation, according to their Story-Board.

-They photographed their movements step-by-step, one pose after the other.

-We printed the photographes and cut the figures putting numbers on the bach side, so as to find easily the correct sequences.

-Then they moved the cut-outs and shot each position for two frames.

-For the figures of themselves it was a little more difficult, since they had to change their positions
on the backgrounds and also change the successive phases of the figures' motion.

this is a series of frames from the animation

You can see the whole animation in streaming video. Click here.

Exercise 8: cut-out figures in combination with 3D backgrounds

In our animation titled "Midnight Dance" you are driven to a deserted and possible haunted hotel
where nobody lives anymore. Everyone think it is empty, but in the nights... all objects and furniture come to life and start dancing all over the place!

This idea is based on the very meaning of "animation", that is to give life to inanimate objects!

The students draw different objects and furniture of their choice, after we have seen carefully
and discussed many gravoures, and books' illustrations.
They also created a 3D model of a room of this imaginary hotel,
decorating it in the same style.
The rooms' models would serve as scenery for the shooting and the objects as actors.
Each student made his own room and objects and then they created their scenario and detailed Story-Board
Every position, movement and its' duration were described and numbered in frames on the Story-Board.
The sounds that should play at each scene were noted down on the Story-Board as well

	makets of rooms

Then they put lights to create an atmospere in the rooms, and shot the scenes of the story.
The shootings were done by a Bolex 16mm film camera. That means we had to be very carefull
with every movement, because we had to send the film to a laboratory to develope
and we could not check the scenes we recorded, until much later.
All the students collaborated in the shooting: animating objects, recording frames,
checking the story-board, and counting the frames on paper.

In the end they animated their end titles by cell animation (frame by frame drawings)
and they also made an animated interview, recording themselves frame by frame (pixillation)

You could see the animation on streaming video - click here.