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The ULTIMATE Guide to ADOBE ANIMATE CC! (AKA Flash) - Tutorial

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I was first inspired to explore stop-motion when I met influential art ed dude Mark Jones. He's the genius behind some of the best stop-motion animation videos designed, written, and created by kids. I was lucky enough to see him at my state art ed conference a few years back. If you haven't seen these videos - watch them before you go any further!

See more on Mr. Jones' YouTube channel.

After seeing the potential, I asked myself: How do I do this with MY kids?

As with many great collaborations, I initially worked with one of my colleagues to bring this idea to fruition. Below are the documents and adaptations that have worked well in my classroom. Each year I tweak or change something to make the project more successful for my students. I encourage you to build on the foundation I'm providing here! Let's go!

Teacher Prep

Note: Many of the resources listed are available for download further down in this post!

Below are the steps that you can take if you'd like to try this project with your students.

Of course, this is just a starting point. Change and adapt these steps to fit your teaching style, timeline, and students.
1. Prepare a PowerPoint to introduce the project.
2. Choose a theme...or not.
Depending on your preference, you can narrow the topic to something such as "color theory" or "transformation." But, keep in mind... some of the best videos have come from having no parameters at all!

3. Create a playlist of stop-motion video examples to show your students.
Use YouTube, Pinterest, or a bookmarks folder to help you organize!
4. Make and print worksheets to guide students through the process.
5. Make a list of what materials you will make available to students.
Consider everyday materials like markers, crayons, scissors, and glue. I also provide my students with poster board, construction paper, and modeling clay.
6. Develop groups of students with the classroom teachers. 7. Familiarize yourself with iMotion, and prepare a mini-lesson where you make a short video as a demo for your students. 8. Introduce and launch the project!
Student Prep

The worksheets I reference in the list below are grouped as a packet for downloading. I recommend printing off a large number of each page. Each student and group will use a varying number of these worksheets throughout the unit. I have my students check in with me after each step so that I can ensure that they are on track. Before they can start to build their sets, they pitch me their movie idea! This step makes for a fun check-point.

Here are my students' steps throughout the project.

1. Brainstorm stories individually

2. Brainstorm stories in groups

3. Come up with a story as a group and propose it to me

4. Build sets and props

5. Shoot movie

6. Finalize and export

7. Share with others

8. Fill out rubric

Helpful Hints

Doing stop-motion in the art room is a big undertaking. Here are a few helpful hints I've learned over the years.

1. Keep your students on track with a PowerPoint slide featuring the daily goal.

2. Make room to store the extra materials you will have, and create, with this project.

3. Check out Nic Hahn's unbelievably amazing posts about technology and animation on her blog Mini Matisse for inspiration.

4. Be prepared to keep some groups more on track than others.

5. Have an iMotion exploration day so students can familiarize themselves with the app and the stop-motion process.

6. This year, we chose to do movie awards. It was a fun addition to the process. Students were able to practice their critiquing skills and recognize each other's work.

Downloads/Resources

Prepping the students and keeping them on track are keys to this project's success. Below are 3 resources I've created to help. I hope they work in your room as well!

1. Power Point Presentation
You can download the PowerPoint presentation that I use to introduce the lesson by clicking the image below. It contains a brief overview of stop-motion animation, key vocabulary and more!

2. Packet
Here is a packet that includes worksheets, storyboard tools, and rubrics. Download away!
3. Stop-Motion Animation Examples
Below is a list of my favorite stop-motion examples to show my class. As always, preview them yourself to determine if they are appropriate for your students. Keep an eye on YouTube's sidebars as well.

As with any project, it is most successful when you make it your own and adapt it for your students' needs and interests. Please feel free to use and adjust the documents I've included to implement your own stop-motion animation unit. Students get extremely excited about this unit. So much so, that many begin to make these animations outside of the art room. Encourage them to share these. Who knows? Maybe you're teaching the next Walt Disney!
Do you do animation with your students? What are YOUR helpful hints? What videos would you add to the list of examples? Do you have any of your students' videos to share?!

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A Complete Guide for Stop-Motion Animation in the Art Room - The Art of Education University

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I was first inspired to explore stop-motion when I met influential art ed dude Mark Jones. He's the genius behind some of the best stop-motion animation videos designed, written, and created by kids. I was lucky enough to see him at my state art ed conference a few years back.

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How to Write a Script (Format): Making an Animated Movie (#2)

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Download Article

Storyboards are, more or less, comic book versions of movies. They illustrate the camera angles, timing, look, and action of a film so that you can work efficiently on set. It also helps think up creative, artistic shots and prepare for issues or problems before they you're trying to film them.

Storyboarding a Scene

1. Complete your script before getting started on the storyboards. If the script is a template for how a movie will sound, storyboard are the template for how they look. Storyboards are how you visualize how actors, props, backgrounds & camera angles will fit together in any particular scene or sequence of shots. It is your chance to visually map out the film before expensive cameras, actors, and crews are waiting around on set.

That said, one of the jobs of a storyboarder is to take the script and improve on it by adding visuals. You must know the full arc of the story before you get started.

2. Fill in the scene's dialogue and sounds underneath the drawing. Remember, you're basically making a comic book version of the movie, so you should add essential sound effects as well. Don't worry if it doesn't all fit -- you're just giving markers to the director and crew about where the sound is matched up, so ellipses ("...") can help.

3. Fill in essential notes about movement, sounds, or special effects. If a scene requires a little fake blood, then make a note of it either using a red pen or jotting it down. If the shot requires a long, continuous take, use arrows to indicate how it all flows together. While there are proper terms for all of this, the most important thing is visually telling the story however you can. If it makes sense as a guide to filming, put it in.

If the camera isn't cutting, but lots of things are happening, you can use multiple boxes for one "cut." Whenever something happens, you need a new box, even if the camera doesn't move.

Improving Your Storyboards

1. Avoid flat, two-dimensional compositions by always angling the camera. What you don't want is a completely flat floor, where the camera is at a right angle to the ground. Tilting the shot slightly gives your storyboard three dimensions, even if it's only a slight shift. Straight on shots are almost never as exciting as dynamic, 3D compositions.

Use the foreground and background to your advantage as well -- don't put every character or thing on the same depth line.

Don't forget about the far, far background either -- it is a good place to create depth.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons to break this rule, such as creating a perfectly symmetrical shot. Just know why you're breaking the rule before you do it.

2. Try writing the scene out as prose if you're struggling to get started. Sitting down and starting the scene, making difficult choices like camera angle and composition, is hard if you're not sure what direction you want to take things yet. A good intermediate step is to write out the scene like a short story. What parts pop out as important, what details stick out as you're writing, and what are the key actions in each shot? You can then edit this mini-script as a practice run before drawing.

Stick to just 1-2 descriptions for each shot or scene. You're not writing a novel, you're writing a guide.

3. Study cinematography. Storyboards are, in essence, practice shots of a movie. As such, they goal is to use the boards to set up actual lights, cameras, and sets to mimic the shot your drew up. Diving deeply into shot types, color composition, camera angles, and more will greatly increase your toolkit as a story board creator.

Drawing a storyboard is cheap, but shooting is not. If working on a larger film, you need to know the rough difficulty of shots to know if they're feasible. Way high-up shots may look amazing and fit the film, but helicopter filming is very expensive!

Storyboarding Like a Professional

1. Learn the terminology of common camera angles. Don't simply rely on drawing to get your point across -- the film world is full of vocabulary that makes your job easier and your storyboards more precise. Writing down camera angles helps camera crews quickly see what shots they must prepare for, and lets you see if you're getting accidentally repetitive with your shot choice.

Establishing Shots: Quick shots that illustrate the set, location, or start position of the characters.

Full, Medium, Close, Extreme Close: If you're showing a character, how much are you showing? Full (FS) shows the whole body, Medium (MS) shows waist up, Close (CU) shows shoulders and head, and Extreme Close Up (ECU) shoes only face.

Up Shot / Down Shot: Up Shots look up at a character, while Down Shots look down from above. "Worm's Eye" and "Bird's Eye" are the extreme versions of each.

Over the Shoulder (OTS): One of your most important terms, these shots have one person or thing on the side of the frame, back turned, while looking at another. Very common in conversations between two people.

Two-shot: When both characters, usually speaking to each other, are both in the frame at once. When drawing dialogue, two-shots often alternate with OTS shots.

POV Shots Are simply when the camera mimics the point of view of a character.

2. Familiarize yourself with camera motions to illustrate moving or changing shots. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but it is a good primer on writing coherent storyboards. Whenever you want to add one, write the actual camera motion on the storyboard.

Tracking is when the camera follows the action without cutting, like following someone as they walk down the street. Use arrows to indicate motion, and multiple frames if needed.

Pans are when the camera simply rotates in one direction, often following a character as they move or exposing something near them. Draw an arrow illustrating the camera's direction.

Trucks are when the camera physically moves in or out. Imagine a shot of a TV, then the camera slowly "trucking" back to reveal a family watching the TV in the living room. Use 4 lines, pointing from the center of the screen out to the corners, to show trucking.

Rack Focus is when you have a blurry object in the background and a clear one in the foreground, then the focus shifts from one to the other (it can go in reverse, too). Draw a line indicating where the focus starts and where it moves to.

3. Make appropriate notes of transitions between shots. The following cuts are some of the most common in film, and must be noted in your storyboard. Each one requires a small drawing alongside the words, visually representing the transition. Start with a small rectangle, representing the screen, right before the dialogue, then fill this rectangle in with your transition:

Fade In/Fade Out: This is simply when the image appears or disappears slowly from a blank screen. For a fade in, draw a triangle pointing left. For a fade out, draw a triangle pointing right.

Cross Dissolve: When one image is slowly faded into the next one. To draw it, make two intersecting triangles in the box, starting from all four corners. It is the fade out and fade in drawings superimposed on one another.

Wipe: When one image physically moves across the screen, revealing the next shot underneath it. Simply draw a vertical line in the center of the rectangle, and an arrow running through it to indicate which way the first image is moving.

4. Remember basic blocking instructions to help set the scene and actors. The following terms refer to an object's place in the shot. It can also help directing motion, such as if a character walks from the back of the shot to the front, which could be expressed as "BG → FG."

Foreground (FG): The area close up to the camera.

Midground (MG): The center of the frame

Background (BG): The are furthest from the camera.

Off-screen (O/S): Helpful if there is a noise, dialogue, etc. that the viewers can't see, or if a character enters or exits the frame completely.

Overlay (OL): When one object or image is superimposed on another but both are visible.

5. Aim for clarity, not perfect symbols or vocab, if you are confused. The ultimate goal of a storyboard is to visually tell the movie, not to pass a vocabulary test. While you should always strive to learn the terminology, you want the storyboards to be easily read by directors, cinematographers, and the rest of the crew. If you have an idea but don't know how to express it, use your drawing skills to convey the point as simply as possible. Arrows, notes, and multiple panels should all be used to share your creative ideas when words don't suffice.

Imagine a long, singular shot, like the beginning of Raging Bull. While there is no cut, you could never contain that shot in just one panel. You'd need to string many panels together with arrows, notes, and dialogue to plan the shot out.

The vocab lists above are far from complete -- there are hundreds of words, shots, and cues a pro storyboarder uses. To be a professional, you should keep researching professional terms.

If it helps, you can fold a piece of paper into 6 squares, to frame your scenes easily or download a free storyboard template from the internet.

Don't make them perfect-- a rough sketch is fine.

Storyboarding software often has a database to help keep track of script info, props, locations, camera directions, etc.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 285,362 times.

How helpful is this?

Updated: October 22, 2019

If you want to draw a storyboard to help lay out a scene, draw squares for each scene, leaving room for dialogue underneath. Think of it like a comic strip, where each square represents a shot or scene. In the first box of the scene, establish the location and any important objects. Try to imagine telling the story visually. As you draw out the action in the scene, make a new frame for each significant action or camera movement, and use arrows and notes to show any character movement or other changes. Read on for tips on how to use camera angles to help tell the story!

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 285,362 times.

"I'm a newbie to film making, but I have some idea of how to storyboard. This page helped to remind me of the level of detail to bring into every drawing, and how to make each frame meaningful." ..." more

"Thank you! This article really helped me to create a storyboard, and it effectively and easily explained to me the different methods of portraying various situations and scenes." ..." more

"I learned some useful tips from this and my storyboards have improved. Whoever made this is super good at art and I would totally read some of their stuff." ..." more

"Before it, I made a story board without title and made it like a comic book, adding the dialogue in the scenes. It helped me in making a better one." ..." more

"Terminology in common use of the camera in the section "storyboarding like a professional" was really helpful in particular!" ..." more

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Storyboards are, more or less, comic book versions of movies. They illustrate the camera angles, timing, look, and action of a film so that you can work efficiently on set. It also helps think up creative, artistic shots and prepare for...

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Notes on Journal Prompts journal writing prompts

The journal writing prompts on this page are grouped into the 4 quarters of a standard academic year. You, of course, may choose to use any of these at whatever time you like.

There are eight graphics on this page to serve as general visual bookmarks. Additionally, please consider using the following text links to jump to specific points on this page:

1st Quarter Journal Writing Prompts
Note: If you'd like to make these really POP (and save yourself some effort at the same time), you may be interested in Journal Jumpstarts, Volume 1, which contains prompts 1-20 listed below.
1. Write about going back to school after summer vacation.

2. Write a thank you note to a friend who gave you onion and garlic-flavored chewing gum.

3. Draw an imaginary constellation. Write a story such as ancient people might have told about it.

4. Describe a real made-up dream or nightmare. journal writing prompts

5. Write about your favorite childhood toy. journal writing prompts

6. Write out the best or the worst day of your life.

7. Finish this thought: if I could change one thing about myself (if you can't think of anything, you might want to consider telling how you got to be perfect!)

8. If and when I raise children, I'll never...

9. I have never been more frightened than when...

10. Persuade a friend to give up drugs.

11. Five years from now, I will be... journal writing prompts

12. Write about a day you'd like to forget.

13. Invent and describe a new food. journal writing prompts

14. Describe an event that changed your life forever, or make up and describe an event that would change your life forever.

15. Describe someone who is a hero to you and explain why.

16. Write about a time in your life when you struggled with a choice and made the right one.

17. Imagine yourself in a different century and describe an average day in your life.

18. Which character from a book would you most like to meet and why? journal writing prompts

19. Three goals I have set for myself are... journal writing prompts

20. What would you do if 300 mice had just gotten out of their cages in a pet shop where you worked?
Just like the above 20 prompts, prompts 21-40 listed below have not been "dressed up" much. To see them in their finest clothing, you may want to download Journal Jumpstarts, Volume 2.
21. What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store overnight?

22. What would you do if you woke up one morning to find yourself invisible?

23. What would you do if you were able to communicate with animals?

24. What would you do if you could travel into the future?

25. What would you do if you could travel into the past?

26. What would you do if someone just gave you $1 million?

27. What would you do it all the electricity in the world just stopped?

28. What would you do if you could travel free anyplace in the world?

29. What would you do if the dinner served to you in a fancy restaurant came with a fly in the mashed potatoes?

30. Write a list of at least 50 things that make you feel good.

31. Describe the perfect day. Put in as many details as you can. Make it a possible day, not a "dream day."

32. Who is the person from history that you would most like to meet and talk to? Why? What would you like to ask?

33. Who is the person from literature that you would most like to meet and talk to? Why? What would you like to ask?

34. Compile a list of words that describe you as a child. Compile a second list that describes you as you are now. How are these lists the same? How are they different?

35. Compile a list of inanimate or animate objects to which you might compare yourself metaphorically. (I am a windmill. I change direction or my thoughts whenever someone talks to me...)

36. Tell about what triggers anger in you or someone else.

37. Invent a monster and describe it. Tell where it lives, what it eats, and what it does.

38. What is your favorite kind of weather? Why?

39. What is the best book you have ever read? Why did you like it? Did reading the book change you in any way? What way?

40. Write about what you didn't do this weekend.
Prompts 41-60 (listed below) are included in Journal Jumpstarts, Volume 3.
Just display the prompt of the day via your digital projector, SMART Board, or classroom TV and take a break from your whiteboard for awhile!

41. Think about an incident that happened to you and exaggerate in the telling. Make it into a tall tale.

42. If you were ruler of the world, what things would you banish absolutely for all time (rain on weekends, eggplant, and so forth)? Make a list. Use your imagination.

43. If you could go back in time anywhere and "anywhen," where/when would you go and why?

44. What law would you like to see enacted which would help people? How would it help?

45. What commercial on TV do you dislike beyond all others? What about it is particularly annoying to you?

2nd Quarter Journal Writing Prompts

46. Design some gadget, machine, building, or other creation that might enrich the future. What does it look like? What does it do? How does it function? In what ways might it benefit people?

47. What current fashion in clothing do you particularly like or dislike? Explain. journal writing prompts

48. Convince someone why music or art or computers are important in your life. Make them appreciate your viewpoint.

49. If you had $100,000, how would you spend it?

50. Be a building you know well. Talk about your life and memories.

51. You are to tell a person from a distant planet or from another era what pollution is. Make that person understand what causes it and why it is bad.

52. If you could do something that you never have done before, what would it be? Why would you want to do it?

53. Begin a list of questions that you'd like to have answered. They may be about the future or the past.

54. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date and why?

55. Write one characteristic or habit about yourself that you like and describe it. Or write about one thing you don't like about yourself.

56. What is your hobby? Why do you enjoy it?

57. If you could go somewhere where you've never gone before, where would you go and why?

58. What's, if anything, would you be willing to fight or even die for? Explain your answer.

59. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? Why would you make this change?

60. Is there a machine you feel you could not live without? Explain.
The following prompts (61-80) are included in Journal Jumpstarts, Volume 4. Just like all of the volumes in the Journal Jumpstarts series, Volume 4 features 21 high-quality animations that add "punch" to the prompts. Use these animations in your own Powerpoints wherever you choose to do so.
61. Write about what you think you will be like and what you will be doing 10 years or 20 years from now.

62. Did you ever stick up for someone?

63. Describe your neighborhood bully.

64. Write about a baby-sitting experience.

65. Describe a great fort you built for a great game you played as a child.

66. Write about an enemy who eventually became your friend.

67. Write about a time you cheated and got caught.

68. Write about a privilege you earned.

69. Write about the stray animal you brought home.

70. Did you ever send away for something that turned out to be a disappointment? (Or order something over the Internet)

71. What is it like to go shopping with your mother? journal writing prompts

72. Write about a time you performed in front of an audience.

73. Write about a difficult decision you had to make.

74. Write about learning to skate, to ride a bike, to climb a tree, or to turn a cart wheel. journal writing prompts

75. Did you ever get lost in a strange town?

76. Were you ever locked in or out? What did you do?

77. What was it like to spend your first night away from home?

78. What was it like to come back home after a long vacation?

79. Write about a disappointment. journal writing prompts

80. Write about something minor that turned into a big deal.
The following prompts (81-100) are included in Journal Jumpstarts, Volume 5. All of the prompts in the Journal Jumpstarts series are titled and listed in a clickable table of contents, making it easier to determine where to resume.
81. Did you ever win or lose a contest? Tell the story about what happened.

82. Write about something you desperately wanted when you were younger.

83. Did you ever know someone who had "everything"?

84. Write about the time as a child you played in one of the following: treehouse, a cornfield, a construction site, a junkyard, an abandoned house or barn, a stream, a cemetery, a swamp, a pasture, railroad tracks.

85. Did your mom or dad ever make you wear something you hated?

86. Write about a time you were talked into something and you regretted it.

87. Were you ever in a helicopter, limousine, racecar, hot-air balloon, submarine, or horse-drawn carriage?

88. Did you ever forget something really important? What happened as a result?

89. Write about an experience in a hospital.

90. Were you ever accused of something that you didn't do?

3rd Quarter Journal Writing Prompts

91. Write about a disastrous trip or vacation.

92. Were you ever given a responsibility that you couldn't handle? journal writing prompts

93. Were you ever in a fire, flood, tornado, or hurricane?

94. Describe the best concert you ever attended.

95. Write about a window you broke or something valuable you lost.

96. Did you ever catch fireflies? Crickets? Frogs? Snakes?

97. Write about a time you tried to help and ended up making things worse.

98. Did you ever break an important promise?

99. Write about moving to another city or neighborhood.

100. Describe an outdoor game you used to play in the summer time.

101. Write about building sand castles or mud pies.

102. Did you ever meet a famous person?

103. Write about mowing the lawn, burning leaves, or weeding the garden.

104. Describe the club you organized as a kid.

105. Describe a car or bicycle accident you were in.

106. Write about being a misfit.

107. Write about a day spent in another country.

108. Write about a time you out-smarted someone.

109. Write about going shopping for new clothes.

110. Did you ever turn someone in or tell on someone and feel bad about it later?

111. Imagine that you are an animal in the zoo. What type of animal are you? How do you feel about being caged? How do you feel about people that visit and watch you?

112. Write about a time your parents embarrassed you.

113. Describe learning something from a friend.

114. Write about a time you gave someone good advice.

115. Write about the funniest thing that ever happened to you.

116. If you had to escort a visitor from outer space for a 30-minute tour of your community, where would you begin and end?

117. Be a grape that becomes a raisin: describe how it feels to shrink, to shrivel, to become dry and wrinkled.

118. Be an icicle that becomes water. Describe how it feels to be cold and firm and full of beautiful crystals but only to melt and lose your shape.

119. You go to the store with your parents and baby brother. Your parents go into a store and tell you to watch your brother. You take your eyes off your brother for just a minute and you can't find him. You...

120. I really hate it when my mother/father/sibling...

121. What if the use of robots in school becomes a workable reality?

122. What would you pack in your suitcase if you could not go home again?

123. You have just met an alien from another planet. He wishes to take a student back to his planet. Convince him you would be the perfect specimen for him to take.

124. If you could change one law, what law would it be and how would you change it?

125. How forgiving are you when a friend lets you down? Explain. Give an example.

126. What if you were named principal for the week? What would you do?

127. If you could only speak twenty words for the rest of your life, what words would head your list and why?

128. It started out as an unusual Monday morning, when I...

129. As I approached the deserted house at the end of the road, I saw...

130. Do you think girls are raised differently from boys? If so, in what ways?

131. Do you think you are treated differently because you are a boy or girl?

132. Do you think men and women are equal in today's society? Why or why not?

133. Do you think a woman will be President of the United States in the near future?

134. Two men or women have it easier in our culture? If so, why do you think so?

135. Have you ever wished you were either older or younger? What would you consider to be the benefits? The problems?

4th Quarter Journal Writing Prompts

136. Describe what you think of as the typical mother.

137. Describe what you think of as the typical father.

138. Do you think women should take men's last names when they marry? Why or why not? jo urnal writing prompts

139. Would you rather have a brother or sister? Why?

140. Describe a fight you had with your mother. Now tell it from her point of view.

141. Write a short biography of your mother.

142. Write a short biography of your father.

143. Visualize a time when your mother was laughing. Recall a time when you two shared a good laugh over something.

144. Write a physical description of your mother. Write as if you were looking at a movie rather than a photograph.

145. Concentrate on a particular habit that your mother has and write about it.

146. If you had three wishes, what would they be? (Do not ask for three more wishes) journal writing prompts

147. What is something special and/or different about you? Why do you think it is special or different?

148. Write about two things that your family has taught you.

149. Write about some of the things that you worry about.

150. Describe a happy memory of your family. journal writing prompts

151. How do you know someone loves you, even if he or she doesn't say it?

152. Name one thing you like about yourself and why you like it.

153. Imagine yourself as a teacher. What type of student would you like to teach and why?

154. Name and describe a teacher who made a difference in your life. What did that teacher do that was so special?

155. What makes you proud to be an American?

156. Describe the one thing that gives you the most comfort.

157. If you could be a character in any book, TV show, or movie, who would you be and why?

158. If you had to work in any store at your favorite mall, which store would it be and why?

159. Describe the most difficult thing about being your age.

160. Describe one possession that means the most to you.

161. Who is the most important role model in your life?

162. Describe your best personality trait.

163. If you could study one subject in school that wasn't offered, what would it be and why?

164. If you had a chance to live anywhere you could, where would it be and why?

165. Write about the pros/cons of year-round school or a four-day school week.

166. Write about your favorite sport.

167. Is the school year too long? Too short? Why?

168. What does your summer usually consist of?

169. Who should be paid more, professional athletes or teachers? Why or why not?

170. What class do you enjoy the most and why?

171. Write about the worst fight you ever had with a friend.

172. If you had only one month to live, what would you do?

173. Describe your dream house.

174. Who is your favorite person to be with? Why?

175. What would be your ideal job when you grow up? Explain.

176. If you could guest star on any TV show, what would it be and why?

177. What do you think your life will be like in 10 years? 20 years?

178. Describe how you would manage your own radio or TV station.

179. What is your definition of success?

180. The saying goes, "Money cannot buy happiness." Do you agree or disagree? Why? journal writing prompts

Return to Daily Teaching Tools from Journal Writing Prompts

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180 Journal Writing Prompts: Enough for Every Day of the School Year

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The journal writing prompts on this page are grouped into the 4 quarters of a standard academic year. You, of course, may choose to use any of these at whatever time you like. There are eight graphics on this page to serve as general visual bookmarks.

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All the PUPPET SECRETS from animation Kubo and the Two Strings

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How to DESIGN a GREAT CHARACTER - Step-by-step drawing tutorial!

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Don Bluth Animation Tutorial:  Getting the Feeling

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Chuck Jones - The Evolution of an Artist

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Chuck Jones - The Evolution of an Artist

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Chuck Jones - The Evolution of an Artist

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Stop Motion, The making of "Live for the moment"

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Stop Motion, The making of "Live for the moment"

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The Art of Animation and Motion Graphics | Off Book | PBS Digital Studios

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My Stop Motion Movie - frames per second

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Intro to Adobe Animate 2020 [1/4] | Beginners Tutorial

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Step 1: Draw!

I decided to make a(n anatomically incorrect) lower body skeleton. This way, it should be obvious where I will make my joints. A lot of people like to make character puppets, but I would encourage you to try to make something amorphous or abstract if that is more interesting to you. It will suit this project fine as long as it is made out of more than one paper segment. Try sketching without having anything in mind, and see what happens. The surface of your hand or the length of a pencil tend to be helpful approximations for a reasonably-sized puppet.

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Step 2: Segment

Once you have decided what you want to make, think about how you want it to move. Where does it need to bend to make its movement? Does it walk or jump? Does it slither? Creating more joints will allow for more subtle movement.

Mark on your drawing with dotted lines where you will need to segment the puppet to add joints. Then draw each segment separately as a cutting guide.

Important: When you are drawing, account for some overlap. Note which segment of a joint you will want to lie underneath and which on top. It might help to mark which paper segment you want to lie underneath at each joint. Add 1/8" to 1/4" to the bottom-lying segment.

Step 6: Tape Thread to Reverse Side

With a very small piece of tape, secure the thread to the reverse side of the paper in whatever direction it wants to go . If you bend the string into an angle, it might make your joint stick at an angle rather than remaining loose and flexible. Do not cover the hole! This will also make your joint stick. Instead, tape beside it.

Step 7: Tape Thread to Adjoining Segment

Place segment A on top of its adjoining segment, which we will call B. Both segments should be face down right now. We are looking at the side that no one will see in the animation.

Here is the tricky part! Cut off another small piece of tape. Add this tape first to the thread itself (it helps to use an X-acto), right where the string comes out of the hole, and facing down like the first piece. If you place it too close to the hole, the joint will be stiff (difficult to position, get fluid movement). If you place it too far away, the joint could be too loose (easy to blow away). I usually place the tape about 1/16" to 1/8" away from the hole. Then secure the thread to the segment B. It might take a couple tries to see where on segment B the tape should be in order to get an appropriate look for your puppet.

Step 10: Color!

Add some color to your puppet. Watercolor and gouache work well. Cut away any visible tape with an X-acto knife, and your puppet is done!

See notes below to see how I changed my design over the course of the project. You might find yourself doing this, too!

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How to Make a Jointed Paper Puppet for Animation

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How to Make a Jointed Paper Puppet for Animation: Making moving images is gratifying and fun--especially when you use your hands. The world's earliest known animated features were created with paper cutouts, pieces of paper that lie flat on a background and are moved frame-by-frame in front of a ...

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How to Write a Script for an Animated Cartoon

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How to Write a Script for an Animated Cartoon. Animated cartoons are fun to watch and a great challenge to create, as they require creativity, ingenuity, and detail. A successful animated cartoon starts with a good script that fleshes out...

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Mickey Mouse "bottle shocked"

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Mickey Mouse "Bottle Shocked" Storyboard Comparison 2016

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This is a storyboard-to-final-picture comparison of the Disney Mickey Mouse episode "Bottle Shocked" which I directed and storyboarded. Enjoy! 
If you like you can watch the entire cartoon at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCOMWXLLjLg

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Don't you just hate writer's block? Some say it's a disease that only creative workers succumb to. Some say it's a curse. Others argue that it doesn't exist at all. But just about everyone has been there-sitting in front of a blank screen, fingers itching to create a masterpiece. And nothing happens.

For me, the most bizarre thing about writer's block is that it strikes randomly. Most of the time, I'm overwhelmed with more ideas than I can possibly write about. But then I'll sit down to write and my mind goes blank. Sure, I flip through my notebooks and review all the ideas I've stockpiled, but nothing feels right. I want something fresh. I need a new angle.

To help break through this block, I started turning to creative writing prompts. And then I started making up my own prompts. The result: 1200 Creative Writing Prompts, a book designed to spark ideas for writers.

Creative Writing Prompts

Today I'd like to share a mash-up of creative writing prompts, all of which come from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. There are no rules. Write a poem. Write a short story. Write an essay. Aim for a hundred words or aim for a hundred thousand. Just start writing, and have fun.

1. The protagonist is digging in the garden and finds a fist-sized nugget of gold. There's more where that came from in this hilarious story of sudden wealth.

2. Write a poem about something ugly-war, fear, hate, or cruelty-but try to find the beauty (silver lining) in it or something good that comes out of it.

3. An asteroid and a meteoroid collide near Earth, and fragments rain down onto the planet's surface, wreaking havoc. Some of those fragments contain surprising elements: fossils that prove life exists elsewhere in the galaxy, for example.

4. The story starts when a kid comes out of the school bathroom with toilet paper dangling from his or her waistband. Does someone step forward and whisper a polite word, or do the other kids make fun? What happens in this pivotal moment will drive the story and have a deep impact on the main character.

5. Revisit your earliest memories of learning about faith, religion, or spirituality.

6. Use all of the following words in a poem: bit, draw, flex, perilous, bubble, corner, rancid, pound, high, open.

7. Write a poem about a first romantic (dare I say sexual?) experience or encounter.

8. Write a personal essay describing an exotic animal you'd like to have as a pet.

9. Silvery flakes drifted downward, glittering in the bright light of the harvest moon. The blackbird soared.

10. Write a tongue-in-cheek, satirical tribute. Tell bad drivers, rude customers, and evil dictators how grateful you are for what they've done. Do it with a wink and a smile.

11. Write a story about a detective solving a crime that was committed against his or her partner or a crime that his or her partner committed.

12. Three children are sitting on a log near a stream. One of them looks up at the sky and says...

13. There is a magic talisman that allows its keeper to read minds. It falls into the hands of a young politician.

14. We've seen cute and cuddly dragons, mean and vicious dragons, and noble dragons. Write a story about a different kind of dragon.

15. Use all of the following words in a poem: dash, hard, staple, billboard, part, circle, flattened.

16. Write a story set in the distant future when humanity is at a fork in the evolutionary road. Some humans are evolving; others are not.

17. The kids were raised on the mantra "Family is everything." What happens when they find out their parents aren't who they pretended to be? Will the family fall apart?

18. Write a poem about one (or both) of your parents. It could be a tribute poem, but it doesn't have to be.

19. Turn ordinary animals into monsters that prey on humans: dog-sized rats, killer rabbits, or a pack of rabid mountain lions. Give the animals intelligence and set them loose.

20. A twinkling eye can mean many things. Write a poem about a twinkle in someone's eye.

21. What determines an action or person as good or evil? Who gets to decide what or who is good or evil? Write a personal essay about it.

22. Write a poem about your body.

23. The protagonist is about to drift off to sleep only to be roused by the spontaneous memory of an embarrassing moment from his or her past.

24. Write about the happiest day of your life.

25. Use all of the following words in a poem: feast, fire, modify, squash, robbed, forgotten, understated.

Now It's Your Turn

Did any of these prompts inspire you? Do you ever use creative writing prompts to ignite a writing session? Tell us what gets your pen moving by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

To get more prompts like these, pick up a copy of 1200 Creative Writing Prompts today.

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Don't you just hate writer's block? Some say it's a disease that only creative workers succumb to. Some say it's a curse. Others argue that it doesn't exist at all. But just about everyone has been there-sitting in front of a blank screen, fingers itching to create a masterpiece.

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Athletic Male Standard Walk. Animation Reference Body Mechanics

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How to Design Characters // 6 Tips & Tricks!

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Don Bluth Animation Tutorial: Monkey See Monkey Do.

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12fps vs 24fps Stop Motion Animation Frame Rate Comparison

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How To Storyboard: Making an Animated Movie (#3)

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Writing Prompt Generator - Your story idea generator | Story Shack

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Generate your next creative writing prompt ✔ Close to 3 billion possible fiction ideas and growing ✔ Genres, characters and more!

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ISLE OF DOGS | "Making of: Puppets" Featurette (2018)

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Female Standard Walk - Grid Overlay. Animation Reference Body Mechanics

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Brookes Eggleston - Character Design Forge

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Museu Valencià de la Il.lustració i la Modernitat

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Creating an Animatic: Making an Animated Movie (#4)

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This site provides (completely free) writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks - and some fun anagram vocabulary games.

Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more. Did I mention it's all free? Have fun :-)

- Update March 2022: the Anagram Game now includes a choice of dictionaries
- The site now includes an Anagram Solver
- The Scrabble Trainer now includes practice in J, K, Q, X and Z words

Generate a random first line for a story.

Prompts to encourage freewriting.

Generate a plot-line at the click of a button.

Generate two characters, a setting, a situation and a theme. Change the elements until you are happy with your plot.

Another freewriting exercise. Make connections between random nouns.

Writing prompts to help with dialogue writing.

Create a 'What If?' scenario to write about.

Browse my collection of writing exercises.

For poets and songwriters. Enter a word to find rhyming and similar-sounding words.

Generate a selection of words and use the suggestions to kick-start your writing.

Create your own story title.

Create a character outline.

There's now a section dedicated to writing prompts for children of primary/elementary school age.

Generate a fictitious,'English-sounding' town name.

Get plot ideas for your own story-writing by looking at the plots of over 100 popular films.

Use images to help you write.

Generate random traits for your characters.

Generate an occupation for your character.

Choose first and last names for characters.

Develop your character into a well-rounded person, quirky habits and all.

Exercise your brain and keep your vocabulary in good shape with this free anagram game.

Another anagram game - each word must contain the middle letter.

Enter a list of letters and discover all the words you can make with them.

Have fun improving your Scrabble vocabulary.

Because every aspiring author needs a back-up plan...

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This site provides (completely free) writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks - and some fun anagram vocabulary games. Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more. Did I mention it's all free?

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ILM: Behind the Magic of the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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Athletic Male Standard Walk - Realtime. Animation Reference Body Mechanics

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Brookes Eggleston - Character Design Forge

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In 1947, the “Reddy Kilowatt” character, created in 1926, was brought to life by means of cel animation by cartoonist Walter Lantz.

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The Illusion of Life | Principle of Animation | 12 Basic Principle of Animation

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Mature Aged Woman Walk Casual - Slow Motion. Animation Reference Body Mechanics

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SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back (1980 TV Movie)

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In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps of how to animate a squash and stretch. Incorporating squash and stretch into animation of a character or even an object such as a bouncing ball gives your animation so much life!

I will show you how to put squash and stretch into your own animation. This is animation! The sky is the limit, so don't be afraid to exaggerate!

Do you remember our bouncing ball tutorial? There was a wee bit of squash and stretch in our ball animation. Let's use our ball as an example to learn about squash and stretch. Look at this example of the bouncing ball. It looks a bit stiff.

Now, in this example of a bouncing ball, notice how the ball elongates as it comes down. This emphasizes the speed of the ball falling. That is the stretch. Then the ball becomes flatter as it hits the ground as it emphasizes the speed and weight of the ball. That is the squash. I exaggerated the squash and stretch for the sake of this demo.

Let's look at the drawings lined up. The start pose of our ball is at the top in red. The ball's stretched pose is in green. The squashed pose of our ball is in red on the bottom. Pretty cool, huh? Now let's animate our own squash and stretch using a character! Let's go!

1. Draw Our Poses

I thought I would use a really fun cartoony character with a bean-shaped body to really show exaggerated squash and stretch. He's a cute little guy, don't you think? We are going to animate our character jumping from the left side of the frame to the right side of the frame.

Step 1

Let's start by drawing a floor guideline.

Step 2

Draw our first pose/extreme. I've started with our little guy in the start position. If you want to have a little extra fun, you can draw hairs on the character's head. As we go along, notice how the hair can be affected by the character's primary movements. That is called the secondary action.

Step 3

For our second pose, our character makes an anticipatory movement down before he jumps.

I put a little bit of a squash into his anticipation pose.

Step 4

Draw our third pose. I'm working very rough! Don't be afraid to get messy and have sketch lines all over the place. Squash and stretch can be messy and fun sometimes!

Notice how our character is beginning to elongate yet I am keeping the character's mass the same. As he is getting longer and taller, his sides are closer together. The character is getting skinnier, but the mass does not change. If he jumps and he gets longer but his sides do not come closer together, he would just look as if he's growing and becoming a giant!

Step 5

Draw pose number 4. He is back to his original mass/size and he is at the top of the frame. He is about to start his descent down.

Step 6

Let's draw our fifth pose. He is starting to become elongated again on the way down.

See how stretched out he is in comparison to the pose before.

Step 7

Let's draw our sixth pose. As the character makes contact with the ground, he's really stretched out as he quickly descends to the ground.

Step 8

Let's draw our seventh pose. Now the character's feet are really planted on the ground.

Step 9

Now that he has come to a stop, he keeps moving downward and squashes as his weight keeps moving downwards. I really exaggerated the squash in pose 8, so much so that his squat little body has hidden his feet! Don't be afraid to really exaggerate when you animate (hey, that rhymed!).

Step 10

Let's draw our ninth pose. In this pose, after he squashes, he stretches slightly as he springs back up.

Step 11

Lets draw our final pose number 10. In this pose, he then settles back down into his end pose.

Notice how pose 9 over-shoots the last drawing, and then he settles back down to his original "size" in pose 10. This adds a little bit of a "cushion" to our action. Our character has successfully completed his jump. Good work! Let's see how it looks!

Really good work! Looks great! It could use an in-between here and there to smooth out the action.

2. Add Some In-Betweens

Step 1

Looking back on the animation, I feel that we could use an in-between between pose 1 and pose 2. This smooths out the motion between the pose 1 and pose 2, which is our anticipation pose.

See how the in-between is positioned between pose 1 and pose 2.

Step 2

Now let's add an in-between between our second and third pose.

Step 3

Looking good! Now we could use an in-between between pose 8 and 9 as he comes up out of his squashed pose.

Step 4

Lastly, he can use an in-between between pose 9 and 10 as he settles back into his normal standing pose.

That looks great! Now that's a bouncy, stretchy, squashy guy!

3. Tighten Up Our Animation Drawings

Now that we have our animation looking sweet, we can start tightening up the line for our character. I'm still working loose with an ink line, but improving small things as I go along.

I want to show you the progress so I left my rough line in light grey. I am inking my final line in black so we can see the line against the grey.

Step 1

Clean up drawing 1. See how I left my rough animation line in grey. I cleaned up the line in black in all the steps just to show you how I streamline, neaten and improve the drawing as I go along.

Step 2

Clean up drawing 2.

Step 3

Clean up drawing 3. Notice how I keep the proportions and feel of my original drawing, but I made small improvements. I made the feet feel more grounded and lined them up more with the feet in the previous drawing.

Step 4

Clean up drawing 4. Notice how I changed the position of the feet slightly so the feet are grounded in the same spot as the previous drains; this way the feet aren't sliding all over the place. Don't be afraid to play back the animation as you clean up each drawing to make sure the animation looks ok as you go along.

Step 5

Clean up the rest of your drawings.

Keep going-you're almost done! Notice how in drawing 12 I improved the position of the mouth. I thought the mouth was a little low in my original drawing.

You are done-this is your last drawing! I cleaned him up and made him look more identical to the original start pose.

Here is our final drawing in all its glory; I am showing it to you sans sketch lines. Good job!!

Congrats! Great Job!

You did a great job! You're really getting the hang of squash and stretch! Try it out on all of your animation: a bouncing ball, a character jumping or falling. Any number of actions can be enhanced by squash and stretch.

Don't be afraid to exaggerate or make the squash and stretch in your animation subtle. It is your special animation, so make it yours! And remember, practice makes perfect, so keep animating!

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Animation for Beginners: How to Animate Squash and Stretch

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In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps of how to animate a squash and stretch. Incorporating squash and stretch into animation of a character or even an object such as a bouncing ball gives your animation so much life! I will show you how to put squash and stretch into your own animation.

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The cinematographer's art often seems as much black magic as technique, taking a few actors milling around a set and turning it into something cinematic, evocative and occasionally iconic. Amidst all the voodoo and mystery, however, there is concrete science behind those money shots so we've identified thirty of the most important camera shots to help you distinguish your dolly zooms from your Dutch tilts.

Aerial Shot

An exterior shot filmed from - hey! - the air. Often used to establish a (usually exotic) location. All films in the '70s open with one - FACT.

Example: The opening of The Sound Of Music (1965). Altogether now, "The hills are alive..."

Arc Shot

A shot in which the subject is circled by the camera. Beloved by Brian De Palma, Michael Bay.

Example: The shot in De Palma's Carrie (1976) where Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) and Tommy Ross (William Katt) are dancing at the prom. The swirling camera move represents her giddy euphoria, see?

Bridging Shot

A shot that denotes a shift in time or place, like a line moving across an animated map. That line has more air miles than Richard Branson.

Example: The journey from the US to Nepal in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981).

Close Up

A shot that keeps only the face full in the frame. Perhaps the most important building block in cinematic storytelling.

Example: Falconetti's face in The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928).

Medium Shot

The shot that utilises the most common framing in movies, shows less than a long shot, more than a close-up. Obviously.

Example: Any John Ford film (i.e. The Searchers), the master of the mid shot.

Long Shot

A shot that depicts an entire character or object from head to foot. Not as long as an establishing shot. Aka a wide shot.

Example: Omar Sharif approaching the camera on camel in David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia (1962).

Cowboy Shot

A shot framed from mid thigh up, so called because of its recurrent use in Westerns. When it comes, you know Clint Eastwood is about to shoot your ass.

Example: The three-way standoff in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966).

Deep Focus

A shot that keeps the foreground, middle ground and background ALL in sharp focus. Beloved by Orson Welles (and cinematographer Gregg Toland). Production designers hate them. Means they have to put detail in the whole set.

Example: Thatcher (George Couloris) and Kane's mother (Agnes Moorehead) discussing Charles (Buddy Swan)'s fate while the young boy plays in the background in Citizen Kane (1941).

Dolly Zoom

A shot that sees the camera track forward toward a subject while simultaneously zooming out creating a woozy, vertiginous effect. Initiated in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1959), it also appears in such scarefests as Michael Jackson's Thriller video (1983), Shaun Of The Dead (2004), The Evil Dead (1981) and The Goofy Movie (1995). It is the cinematic equivalent of the phrase "Uh-oh".

Example: Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) sees the Kintner kid (Jeffrey Voorhees) get it in Jaws (1975). Not the first but the best.

Dutch Tilt

A shot where the camera is tilted on its side to create a kooky angle. Often used to suggest disorientation. Beloved by German Expressionism, Tim Burton, Sam Raimi and the designers of the villains hideouts in '60s TV Batman.

Example: The beginning of the laboratory scene in Bride Of Frankenstein (1935).

Establishing Shot

The clue is in the name. A shot, at the head of the scene, that clearly shows the locale the action is set in. Often comes after the aerial shot. Beloved by TV directors and thick people.

Example: The first glimpse of the prison in The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

Handheld Shot

A shot in which the camera operator holds the camera during motion to create a jerky, immediate feel. Beloved by Steven Soderbergh and Paul Greengrass. It basically says, "This is real life, baby".

Example: The pool hall fist fight in Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973).

Low Angle Shot

A shot looking up at a character or subject often making them look bigger in the frame. It can make everyone look heroic and/or dominant. Also good for making cities look empty.

Example: Darth Vader stomping around the Death Star corridors in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (1977).

High Angle Shot

A shot looking down on a character or subject often isolating them in the frame. Nothing says Billy No Mates like a good old high angle shot.

Example: Andy Dufresne throwing his hands up into the rain having finally escaped from Shawshank prison in The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

Locked-Down Shot

A shot where the camera is fixed in one position while the action continues off-screen. It says life is messy and can not be contained by a camera. Beloved by Woody Allen and the dolly grips who can take the afternoon off.

Example: Ike (Woody Allen) and Mary (Diane Keaton) walk in and out of shot whilst flirting.

Library Shot

A pre-existing shot of a location - typically a wild animal - that is pulled from a library. Aka a "stock shot", it says this film is old. Or cheap.

Example: Every shot of an animal in a black and white Tarzan movie.

Matte Shot

A shot that incorporates foreground action with a background, traditionally painted onto glass, now created in a computer. Think the Raiders warehouse or the Ewok village or Chris Hewitt's house.

Example: The final shot of 1968's Planet Of The Apes.

Money Shot

A shot that is expensive to shoot but deemed worth it for its potential to wow, startle and generate interest. In pornography, it means something completely different.

Example: The White House blowing up in Independence Day (1996).

Over-The-Shoulder Shot

A shot where the camera is positioned behind one subject's shoulder, usually during a conversation. It implies a connection between the speakers as opposed to the single shot that suggests distance.

Example: The opening of The Godfather (1972).

Pan

A shot where the camera moves continuously right to left or left to right. An abbreviation of "panning". Turns up a lot in car chases and on You've Been Framed (worth £250 if they use a clip).

Example: Brian de Palma's Blow Out (1981) - a 360 degree pan in Jack Terry (John Travolta)'s sound studio.

POV shot

A shot that depicts the point of view of a character so that we see exactly what they see. Often used in Horror cinema to see the world through a killer's eyes.

Example: The opening of Halloween (1978) told from the point of view of the child Michael Myers (Will Sandin).

The Sequence Shot

A long shot that covers a scene in its entirety in one continuous sweep without editing.

Example: The 3 min 20 secs opening of Touch Of Evil (1958) in which Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) and Susie (Janet Leigh) cross paths with a car carrying a ticking bomb.

Steadicam Shot

A shot from a hydraulically balanced camera that allows for a smooth, fluid movement. Around since the late '70s, invented by Garrett Brown. Beloved by Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuaron. A lengthy Steadicam shot is the directorial equivalent of "Look ma, no hands!"

Example: Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) taking his new girl (Lorraine Braco) through the Copa by the back entrance in Goodfellas (1990). If you have the time, also see Russian Ark, a 99 minute Steadicam shot.

Tilt

A shot where the camera moves continuously Up to Down or Down To Up. A vertical panning shot. A tilt to the sky is traditionally a last shot in a movie.

Example: The last shot of Robert Altman's Nashville (1975).

Top Shot

A shot looking directly down on a scene rather than at an angle. Also known as a Birds-Eye-View shot. Beloved by Busby Berkeley to shoot dance numbers in patterns resembling snowflakes.

Example: The camera moving over the carnage left by Travis Bickle at the end of Taxi Driver (1976).

Tracking Shot

A shot that follows a subject be it from behind or alongside or in front of the subject. Not as clumsy or random as a panning shot, an elegant shot for a more civilized age. Beloved by Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Terence Davies, Paul Thomas Anderson.

Example: The dolly shots in the trenches during Stanley Kubrick's Paths Of Glory (1957).

Two-Shot

A medium shot that depicts two people in the frame. Used primarily when you want to establish links between characters or people who are beside rather than facing each other.

Example: Quiz Kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) and Thurston Howell (Henry Gibson) discuss love in Magnolia (1999).

Whip Pan

A shot that is the same as a pan but is so fast that picture blurs beyond recognition. Usually accompanied by a whoosh sound. Beloved by Sam Raimi and Edgar Wright.

Example: Any one of a dozen sequences in Hot Fuzz (2007).

Zoom

A shot deploying a lens with a variable focal length that allows the cinematographer to change the distance between camera and object without physically moving the camera. Also see Crash Zooms that do the same but only quicker.

Example: The slow descending zoom that picks out Mark (Frederic Forrest) and Ann (Cindy Williams) out of a crowd in The Conversation (1974).

Crane Shot

A shot where the camera is placed on a crane or jib and moved up or down. Think a vertical tracking shot. Beloved by directors of musicals. Often used to highlight a character's loneliness or at the end of a movie, the camera moving away as if saying goodbye.

Example: Gone With The Wind (1939). As Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) arrives at the train depot, the camera heads skyward to reveal hundreds of wounded confederate soldiers around her.

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Film Studies 101: The 30 Camera Shots Every Film Fan Needs To Know

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The cinematographer's art often seems as much black magic as technique, taking a few actors milling around a set and turning it into something cinematic, evocative and occasionally iconic. Amidst all the voodoo and mystery, however, there is concrete science behind those money shots so we've identified thirty of the most important camera shots to help you distinguish your dolly zooms from your Dutch tilts.

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"The 2 Faces of Squidward" Animatic | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nick Animation

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Human Anatomy Photo References kick with turn

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Coloring Characters the Industry Way! Photoshop

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Animation Tutorial-Doing the Walk-Part I

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Camera Shots and Angles: Making an Animated Movie (#8)

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"Heat Wave" Animatic | Pig Goat Banana Cricket | Nick Animation

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Photo References for Artist - Dancing variation one hand stand

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Artist Photo References - Handstand with jump from all sides

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Animation Exercises | Beginner to Advanced

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Disney's Frozen - "The Dressing Room" Deleted Scene

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How to Animate Cloth (Keyframe Animation Tutorial)

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Behind the Jump : Running Precision | Parkour Generations

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StopMoStudio - Stop-Motion Animation Workshop

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Experience this workshop online and discover the exciting world of stop-motion animation from NFB workshop experts. After learning how to do everything from storyboarding to building your own ...

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Quickest way to improvement? Practice. It's a simple bit of advice that rings with absolute truth. Articles, tips, mentors, and study will never get you as far as rolling up your sleeves and getting down to work, be it animation or any other skill. Today we've compiled a list of exercises, like animation push-ups, that will get your art skills buff and toned.

Maybe you still need convinced of how important the "Art of Doing" is? Look no further than the early days of animation, especially at the Disney studio. Here were a group of animators (before being an animator was even a thing) who HAD no books to read, or websites to visit, or even experienced animators to ask. They learned via the age old art of hands-on training, experimenting and discovering as they went. And some would argue they created some of the greatest animation to ever be seen. Masterpieces like the dwarfs dancing in Snow White or the terror of the Monstro scene in Pinocchio. So be like them! Get out there and do animation!

Some of these exercises you may have done or seen before; some maybe not. Consider doing each of them, even if you did once previously, because returning to an old exercise to see how much you've progressed is a very valuable experience.

Level 1 Exercises

(Do not discount their simplicity! Here you have the principals of animation, which all other animation is built on. They are worth your time and effort.)

2. Ball Bouncing across the screen

3. Brick falling from a shelf onto the ground

5. Character head turn with Preparing a motion by first going into the opposite direction to build up momentum is called anticipation. The anticipat... anticipation More

6. Character blinking

7. Character thinking [tougher than it sounds!]

8. Flour Sack waving (loop)

9. Flour Sack jumping

10. Flour Sack falling (loop or hitting the ground)

11. Flour Sack kicking a ball

Level 2 Exercises

12. Change in Character emotion (happy to sad, sad to angry, etc.)

13. Character jumping over a gap

14. Standing up (from a chair)

15. Walk Cycle [oldie but goodie!]

16. Character on a pogo stick (loop)

17. Laughing

18. Sneezing

19. Reaching for an object on a shelf overhead

20. Quick motion smear/blur

21. Taking a deep breath [also tougher than it sounds!]

22. A tree falling

23. Character being hit by something simple (ball, brick, book)

24. Run Cycle

Level 3 Exercises

25. Close up of open hand closing into fist

26. Close up of hand picking up a small object

27. Character lifting a heavy object (with purpose!)

28. Different elements of an object or body, come to a stop of different times. This usually happens because an attached, lo... Overlapping action More (puffy hair, floppy ears, tail)

29. Character painting

30. Hammering a nail

31. Stirring a soup pot and tasting from a spoon

32. Character blowing up a balloon

33. Character juggling (loop)

34. Scared character peering around a corner

35. Starting to say something but unsure of how

36. Zipping up a jacket

37. Licking and sealing an envelope

38. Standing up (from the ground)

39. Pressing an elevator button and waiting for it

Level 4 Exercises

40. Character eating a cupcake

41. Object falling into a body of water

42. Two characters playing tug-of-war

43. Character dealing a deck of cards out

44. The full process of brushing one's teeth

45. A single piece of paper dropping through the air

46. Run across screen with change in direction

47. Sleeping character startled by alarm then returning to sleepy state

48. Opening a cupboard and removing something inside

49. Putting on a pair of pants

50. Opening the "world's best gift" and reacting

51. Any of the above exercises using a very heavy character/object next to a very light character/object. Enhance the differences the weight change makes!

Things to keep in mind:

Reading these exercises will do as much for you as reading about push-ups would do for your physical muscles: NOTHING. If you want the benefit, you must animate them. Take a deep breath and just do it.

Do not forget the famous words of Ollie Johnston: "You're not supposed to animate drawings [3D models]. You're supposed to animate feelings." If a character isn't thinking, they aren't alive, and the animation has failed.

Keep it simple! There is no reason to over complicate any of these exercises. Going back to push-ups, would push-ups be harder if while doing them you also recited the Gettysburg Address? Yes. Would they be any more beneficial? No. Keep things nice and simple and clear.

Do your best. There is no reason to do these exercises poorly. Give it your all. You don't have to show anyone, these are for you. You owe it to yourself to try your very best. Something not quite right? Take the time to fix it.

As always, have fun. Push ups are not fun. Animation is supposed to be. Be joyful in your work!

Have any questions about the exercises above? Leave a comment below and we'll answer them the best we can! Someone else may be wondering the exact same thing, so you'll help them too. Likewise if someone is looking for possible exercises, why not share a link to these and give them a hand?

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51 Great Animation Exercises to Master - Animator Island

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Quickest way to improvement? Practice. It's a simple bit of advice that rings with absolute truth. Articles, tips, mentors, and study will never get you as far as rolling up your sleeves and getting down to work, be it animation...

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Advanced Flash Animation - Made Simple! (Tutorial)