We love finding awesome examples of students who are using iStopMotion as part of a class assignment, and Jess Wiltey’s video “The Girl and the Crow” is one of a kind! She’s a third-year student at Rochester Institute of Technology double-majoring in New Media Design and Visual Media, and the project was completed during her first year for her 4D (time-based) design class.

“I cut out all of the pieces from black cardstock and then set them up underneath a downward facing camera hooked up to iStopMotion,” Jess says. “Our professor provided us with step-by-step instructions on how to use the program, but I had no trouble navigating it. Overall, I had a good experience during the 3 hours it took me to complete the video!”

“The Girl and the Crow” is a beautiful example of what you can do with paper and a free afternoon! We know we would have given Jess an A+ on her work. Let us know how it inspired you!

Great job, Jess!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but what happens if you can’t seem to find a Christmas tree in time? TFOL Animation’s Christmas LEGO special this year is quite heartwarming and a perfect reminder of the meaning of the holidays! The animation was shot with a Nikon D5100. We’re loving the falling snow!

Happy holidays, everyone! Happy animating!

Our friends Colin and Li Yi Foo are big fans of iStopMotion, and for 2015, their annual Christmas animation was made entirely using the program! “A Hopeful Christmas” has a very special message this year, so make sure you have a box of tissues ready before you hit play!

We don’t want to spoil anything for you, but make sure you check out the story behind the scenes to see how Colin and Li Yi pulled it all off.

Have a happy holiday, and happy animating!

Although iStopMotion can be used for many different formal learning purposes in the classroom, sometimes the best things come from little to no guidelines at all. Nicky Bourgeois, a homeroom teacher at NIST International School in Thailand, allows students some “personalized learning time” during the day, or as she calls it, the “Wonder Workshop.” During this free time, students are able to explore classroom tools and activities that might go unused during the day.

Nicky shared with us the work of three of her students, all of whom have been using iStopMotion regularly to develop their stories and animations 100% independently.

Oscar has been using iStopMotion to retell a story from The Global Oneness project about Edison Dardo, which includes his own ending. When asked what he likes most about iStopMotion, Oscar said, “I like that it is really easy to take the photo. I like the design of the app, as it is pretty easy to work out – it took me a short amount of time to play around with it and figure out how to use it.”

Because iStopMotion is so easy to navigate, Oscar has been able to clearly convey his creative storytelling skills and even has plans for making his movies even better in the future. Check out his finished project above.

Chanwoo loves the idea of special effects making the improbable probable! “I’m interested in how it looks like something is happening on the screen, but that isn’t exactly what is happening when it was filmed,” he says. The theoretical capabilities of iStopMotion make Chanwoo’s stunt ideas possible but the technical components of ISM make it streamlined.

“I liked the way you can use the slider to quickly get to different parts of your stop motion because I have 393 photos in mine,” he says. Watch his special effects skills in action here.

Keita has dreams of travel when he gets older, so naturally he used iStopMotion to help visualize what some of his future adventures could look like! Keita explains, “I was finding out about New York City because when I grow up I want to go to other places, so first I will go to New York. If I know about the Empire State Building, then I can go there first!”

When asked if there was anything that he would change, Keita simply stated that he wants to put more characters into his story! Check out his envisioned adventures here.

“Wonder Workshop” has clearly inspired these students, not only by encouraging creative expression but also by fostering creative story telling skills. We hope that Nicky’s students continue to express themselves with iStopMotion, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!