Cut-out ghosts that move

Every lesson

1. 

   Lesson 1 · 0:58

   A star in pieces

   Your turn: Draw your star in parts, and cut them out. Join them with split pins, or lay them side by side.

   Watch lesson 1 ▶

   What the film says

   1. 0:00

      Hi, I'm Tek. Want to see paper move all by itself? Let's make a cut-out movie!

   2. 0:06

      Here's the trick. Lay a paper character flat. Move it a tiny bit. Snap a photo. Again and again.

   3. 0:15

      Then play the photos fast. Look! It's waving!

   4. 0:20

      Meet Fig, my paper fox. Fig isn't one piece. A head, a body, a tail, two arms, and two legs.

   5. 0:29

      Draw each part on card, and cut it out. Make the ends round, so the parts can overlap.

   6. 0:36

      Ask a grown-up to poke a hole where two parts overlap. Push a split pin through, and open its legs. Now the arm swings!

   7. 0:45

      Your turn. Draw your star in parts, and cut them out. Join them with split pins, or just lay them side by side. Then press Next.

2. 

   Lesson 2 · 0:53

   A camera that stays still

   Your turn: Draw a stage and tape it down. Ask a grown-up for a phone with a stop-motion app, and build your book stand.

   Watch lesson 2 ▶

   What the film says

   1. 0:00

      Fig needs a stage. Take a big sheet of paper, and draw a place. A forest, a beach, or outer space!

   2. 0:08

      Tape the paper to the table, so it can't slide.

   3. 0:13

      Now the camera. It looks straight down, and it has to stay perfectly still.

   4. 0:19

      Watch what happens if you hold it. Everything shakes!

   5. 0:24

      So make a tall stack of books next to your stage. Lay the phone on top, with the camera sticking out over the paper.

   6. 0:32

      Put a book on the phone, so it can't slip. Then check. Does your whole stage fit in the picture?

   7. 0:39

      Your turn. Draw a stage and tape it down. Ask a grown-up for a phone with a stop-motion app, and build your book stand. Then press Next.

3. 

   Lesson 3 · 0:52

   The tiny-move rule

   Your turn: Make your star walk across the stage: tiny moves, hands out, snap. Take 20 photos.

   Watch lesson 3 ▶

   What the film says

   1. 0:00

      Time to make Fig walk! Here's the rule. Tiny moves.

   2. 0:05

      Move one part a tiny bit. About as wide as your fingernail. Leave everything else where it is.

   3. 0:13

      Pull your hands out of the picture. Then snap!

   4. 0:17

      Move, hands out, snap. Move, hands out, snap! That's the whole secret.

   5. 0:24

      Watch what happens with big moves. Fig jumps all over the place!

   6. 0:30

      Now tiny moves. Swing a leg. Slide the body. Swing the other leg. Look, Fig walks!

   7. 0:38

      Your turn. Make your star walk across the stage. Tiny moves, hands out, snap. Take twenty photos. Then press Next.

4. 

   Lesson 4 · 0:49

   Play it back

   Your turn: Plan three steps, shoot 60 photos, and play your movie back for your family.

   Watch lesson 4 ▶

   What the film says

   1. 0:00

      Now let's make a whole little movie. Five seconds long, with a beginning, a middle, and an end!

   2. 0:07

      Plan three steps. Fig walks in. Fig sees a butterfly. Fig waves hello!

   3. 0:14

      Twelve photos make about one second. So five seconds is sixty photos.

   4. 0:20

      Want Fig to stop and look? Snap a few photos without moving anything.

   5. 0:26

      Keep the light the same the whole time. A lamp works better than a sunny window.

   6. 0:32

      Now press play. Your paper moves on its own! Show it to your family.

   7. 0:38

      Your turn. Plan three steps, shoot sixty photos, and play it back. You made a cut-out stop-motion movie!