This document provides an assignment brief for a stop motion animation project. The purpose is to develop skills in stop motion animation production and enhance organizational skills through project planning. Students will produce a 30 second pilot for a pre-school animated series. Tasks include researching stop motion techniques and history and presenting this to the client. Students must also plan production roles, storyboards, and documentation for pre-production. Sources for research are provided. The assignment will be graded based on explanation of techniques and development of stop motion animation.

1. Assignment brief
Qualification BTEC Level 3 in Creative Media Production (Interactive Media)
Unit 33: Stop Motion Animation Production
Unit number and title
Unit 1: Pre-production techniques
Start date
Deadline
Assessor name
Assignment title Pilot for Pre‐school Animation Series – Assignment 1
The purpose of this assignment is to:
Develop learners’ skills in the production of stop motion animation, using traditional frame by‐frame methods to animate 3D materials such as
objects, puppets, clay figures and other models.
Enhance your organisational skills by planning the production of your stop motion animation.
Scenario
The BBC are looking for young animators to join their large production team and produce, at least, a 30 second pilot for a new pre‐school
children’s animated programme. Every media production involves planning to enable the project to be successful. This process is referred to as
pre‐production. As part of this assignment you are required to have the knowledge and understanding of what pre‐production is and how you
apply it to your animation.
Communication is essential when planning a production and you will need to ensure that your production team (if working individually all
planning needs to be documented and evidenced) meets regularly to provide updates on pre‐production tasks that are completed and
outstanding. As part of your pre‐production evidence, you must keep a record of meetings that take place and any decisions made and agreed
on by your production team or if working individually any meetings with your client.
As part of the planning for this assignment you will be involved in designing storyboards and a detailed dope sheet outlining what is required for
a successful animation. As a production team (or individually) you will further develop your storyboards, dope sheets and detailed drawing of
characters etc. Further development of your chosen dope sheet and storyboards will be decided through regular production team meetings.
For this assignment you must research and assign production roles and produce pre‐production documentation. Your group (or individually)
must also produce detailed storyboards and production planning documentation in preparation for the production phase of your stop motion
animation.
Tasks Grading Criteria Mapping
Task 1 UNIT 33 P1, M1, D1
At the first stage the BBC would like you to present to them your understanding of the techniques, the
development, the developers, genres and forms of Stop Motion Animation. Examples need to be included from
some of the following areas Techniques (persistence of vision, stop frame, and frame rates.) Pioneers including
Joseph Plateau, Edison, Lumiere brothers and developers including Ray Harryhausen and Aardman Animations.
Finally genres and forms for example, TV Animation and music videos.
You can either produce a word processed written report or a PowerPoint Presentation for the Art Director at the
BBC that shows your understanding of some of the techniques, the development, the developers, genres and
forms of Stop Motion Animation.
Either
* Your written report or powerpoint needs to be embedded onto your U33/U1 blog as evidence OR
* Your written report or powerpoint will be submitted as evidence
Sources of information
VLE/Moodle for all pre‐production documentation and the majority of U33 resources.
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2. Grant J – Masters of Animation (Watson‐Guptill Publications Inc, 2001) ISBN 978‐0823030415
Lord P – Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3‐D Animation, 2nd Edition (Thames & Hudson, 2004)
ISBN 978‐0500511909
McFarlane T and Beck J – Outlaw Animation: Cutting‐edge Cartoons from the Spike and Mike Festivals (Harry N
Abrams, 2003) ISBN 978‐0810991514
Noake R – Animation: The Guide to Animated Film Techniques (McDonald and Co, 1988)
ISBN 978‐0356158723
Priebe K – The Art of Stop‐Motion Animation (Delmar, 2006) ISBN 978‐1598632446
Websites
www.aardman.com – the Aardman Animations website
www.anim8ed.org.uk/resources_tech_3d.asp – the Anim8ed website
www.filmeducation.org/primary/animation/technique.html – the animation pages of Film Education
Websites
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/Filmmakingguide – BBC information about film making
www.bectu.co.uk – roles in the media industries
www.celtx.com – free pre‐production software
www.primary‐film‐focus.co.uk/filmpreproduction.html – information about film production techniques
Grading Criteria
This unit is internally assessed
Unit 33
P1: describe the techniques M1: explain the techniques and D1: comprehensively explain the
and development of stop development of stop motion techniques and development
motion animation with some animation with reference to of stop motion animation
appropriate use of subject detailed illustrative examples with elucidated examples
terminology and with generally correct and consistently using subject
use of subject terminology terminology correctly
Understand the techniques and development of stop motion animation
Techniques: persistence of vision; stop‐frame; frame rates
Development: pioneers, eg Joseph Plateau (phenakitoscope), William Horner (zoetrope), Emile Reynaud
(praxinoscope), Edward Muybridge, Edison (kinetoscope), Lumière brothers, George Pal; developers,
eg Willis O’Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jan Švankmajer; contemporary work, eg the brothers Quay, Tim
Burton, Aardman Animations; genres and forms, eg TV animation, channel idents, cinema, advertising,
music videos, computer games, mobile phones, websites
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