With the start of a new week that meant a new session of Teen Art Lab. This week was focused on stop motion animation taught by Addie. I've always been into animation so getting to sit in on the first class was exciting. Addie was very enthusiastic about teaching the kids and it made me feel hype about the class too.

At 10am the class started as all the kids filled the room. I was amazed when majority of the kids had admitted to already having experience with animation. Addie showed a power-point presentation in order to inform the students on a few of the pioneers in the stop motion industry and some terms they should know. She also had a couple of videos prepared to show them. I especially enjoyed seeing the video of the very first stop motion animation films. It was also really amusing to learn that at the time of their creations people considered the films to be witchcraft.

After Addie's informative presentation, she actually made a quick puppet and created her own animation to show the teens what the process is like with the software she has. The class also got to work together, using the same puppet, to create their own animation of a very angry monster.

The whole class was exciting to just observe. I got to see the very end of the second day and see the progress the students have made. All of them have started working on their puppets and getting close to making an animation. One of the students had his puppet and animation complete by the time class ended. The entire process was truly fascinating. I can't wait to see what the others create.

Allysia Stephenson

D.R.A.W member