Hollywood Stop Motion Studio
HANDS-ON ANIMATION · GRADES 3–5 · 8-WEEK CORE
A hands-on creative studio where students imagine a story, build it with LEGO, and turn it into their own short film.
A little world. Their own film.
Stop motion turns a series of still photographs into movement. Students imagine their own story, plan it out, and build a miniature world using LEGO characters, props, and their imagination! They animate the action frame by frame, then add sound, green screen work, and simple editing. The experience ends with a screening or sharing of the finished films and a chance for students to talk about the choices they made.
From idea to finished film.
Students begin with an idea and turn it into a plan. They sketch storyboards, test movement, build sets, and shape each shot step by step. Watching footage back helps them adjust timing, movement, and position before the film is ready to share.
Idea → Plan → Build → Animate → Revise → Present
What a session feels like.
The 8-week core gives a project time to develop. Early sessions introduce the basics of animation, storyboarding, and greenscreen/sound through short demonstrations and practice. Students try techniques right away and begin shaping their own ideas.
Once their storyboards are approved, later sessions open up into guided production time so students can build sets, animate, and finish their films with support along the way. The program ends with students sharing their work amongst their peers.
More than a finished film.
How much should a character move between frames? Can the audience tell what is happening? What needs to change when a shot does not work yet?
Working through those decisions gives students practice with spatial reasoning, patience, observation, and creative problem-solving. Talking about their work also helps them build confidence in explaining ideas and listening to feedback.
