TOS Review~ Stopmotion Explosion: Animate ANYTHING and make MOVIES Book

Last summer, Michael began to talk about Lego animation. Actually, I think it came of interest after he watched the Lego movie. I knew nothing about it. Michael was thrilled when the opportunity to review a film animation book called Stopmotion Explosion: Animate ANYTHING and make MOVIES. He really wanted to review the Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit but was happy be chosen to review the book.

Stopmotion Explosion is a company that provides kids (and adults) with the knowledge to create fun animated movies. They offer a few products to help make this possible.

MidiBot Mo Stopmotion Cameras Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit Stopmotion Explosion Book They offer everything you would need to get started.  For this review, we received the Stopmotion Explosion: Animate ANYTHING and make MOVIES physical book. The book costs $24.00, but of course the price is subject to change. Michael was excited to see it in the mailbox, even Therese was a little excited. She didn't want to read the book, but she wanted to help with the movie making. They came up with all types of animation movie ideas to create on their own and with their friends. I see an educational summer project in our future.

Michael immediately wanted to give it a try with his mini Lego figures.

The kids talked for hours about all the things they could create using toys and everyday things. Legos, army men, doll house figures, American Girl dolls, safari animals.... the list seemed endless in their minds. Once the weather gets warmer, they want to head outdoors and create a movie using garden fairies. A stopmotion film about nature was even talked about. I loved seeing their creative juices flowing!

So What is the Stopmotion Explosion: Animate ANYTHING and make MOVIES book?

Just like the title states it teaches you how to animate anything and make fun, creative movies.
The books sounds great just by reading the title!

The book itself is broken up into seventeen chapters. The book is well organized and provides so much information. I know when I looked at it at first, I was overwhelmed. Michael wasn't concerned at all. He thought the book looked cool and was very eager to get started on reading it.

Chapter 1: How Movies Work

Chapter 2: Animation Actors

Chapter 3: Creating Stories

Chapter 4: Building Sets

Chapter 5: Cameras

Chapter 6: Lighting

Chapter 7: Composition

Chapter 8: Animating

Chapter 9: Flight

Chapter 10: The Art of War

Chapter 11: Sound

Chapter 12: Video Editing

Chapter 13: Files and Formats

Chapter 14: Frame Conversion

Chapter 15: Sharing Your Animations

Chapter 16: Animating with DSLRs

Chapter 17: What's Next?

Thankfully an index is included that way after you finishing reading the book you can easily find the topics you may need once you start on the actual film animation!

The first chapter about how movies work is awesome. It explains about the history of films, how they came about, and how they actually worked and where made. A lot has changed since the first film was made. Years ago making a film was a huge deal. Now a days everyone can record a video on their cameras or phones. The technology we have now is amazing! It puts film making into all of our hands! The rest of the chapters deal with the actual process. Michael was able to learn about set building, lighting, camera setting, and how to get started using various items to create animation films. Detailed pictures are included in the chapters making it easy to understand the topic being discussed.  The chapters on files, formats, and frame conversion looked like a foreign language to me. After reading through the chapters though, the information became clearer.

How Did We Used the Book? Well, Michael read the book first. While reading it, he would share what he had learned with Therese and myself. After he finished reading the book, I read the first few chapters and glanced at the remaining chapters in the book. Once Michael was done reading he set to create some animation. He started with something simple, mini Lego figures. 

He started off first with just making a Lego guy walk across the floor.

Next up, he created an action seen.

A confrontation between two Lego guys.

He was thrilled to see how it looked. 

So What Did We think of the Book?

I loved how the book was able to teach Michael all the stuff he needed to know. It definitely provides a solid base for learning more about animation film making. Will he become a film maker, probably not but this book was a wonderful way to expose him to something he's never done before and something I knew nothing about. He could read the book and create things with little help or knowledge from me. He's learning but having fun which for us in essential. 

What Michael had to say......

I liked the book. It provided a lot of information and taught me how to create the movies. I liked how the book offered different suggestions for props. I liked how it instructed how how to create the movies using different cameras. The book was easy to read and the pictures were a great help in understanding how to do it all.

Find out more about Stopmotion Explosion........

Stopmotion Explosion Website

Stopmotion Facebook Page

Stopmotion Explosion Twitter

Be sure to stop by and read the other crew members reviews. Most of them were lucky enough to receive the Stopmotion Explosion Kit. 

Just click on the link below and see what they thought of it. I know Michael is asking for it!

 Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

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