Great turn-out at SOL's Stop-motion Animation Workshop

The SPNN Youth Open Lab held its fifth workshop this year on stop-motion animation at the Arlington Hills Library on Tuesday, June 19th. Twelve participants attended the workshop and produced several short videos as well as room full of laughter.

SPNN's CTEP Americorps member, Joua Lee, along with youth media leader, Andrew Lonnes, set up laptops and cameras in the computer lab as several excited boys and girls rushed to the table.

"Are you going to teach us how to use this?" was one of several questions that filled the large basement room. Then they rushed out of the room, only to return with their siblings and friends.

Andrew led an icebreaker activity to help everyone get better acquainted. Then, the group viewed three stop-motion animation videos.

"That's so cool," one boy said.  When Joua told the youth that they would be making their very own animation videos, their eyes lit up. A few youth jumped out of their chairs and were ready to go.

For the next hour and a half, the youth built their own sets and characters out of clay and construction paper. One group of boys created a scene of an encounter between three characters in a swimming pool. A duo of girls made a video about an octopus surfing on a wave. Another group created a fish exploring the star-lit space. A fourth group made a video about a couple in love.

As the workshop came to an end, the youth gave a big thank you and slowly left the room. As Andrew and Joua carted the equipment toward the door, the two youth remaining asked if they would be back the next day. "It was a lot of fun," they said.

The SPNN Youth Open Lab (SOL) is an open space for young media makers to work on independent media projects. SOL Workshops focus on several topics and take place at different St. Paul Public Libraries throughout the year. To get more information about the open lab or workshops, please contact Joua at lee@spnn.org.