Learn how to construct an Adobe Premiere Rush stop motion film using two-dimensional materials to present your thinking on a compelling topic. Through readings and discussions, you will develop the film's theme about our increasingly complex relationship with technology.

Adobe Rush empowers you to create professional-quality video, edit with simple tools for audio, motion graphics, and share your work.

Steps:

1. Review these resources, or others provided by your professor, to help spur your class discussion about the increasingly intertwined relationship between humans and technology. Underline and make notes about particular passages in the text you find to be strong arguments. (45 minutes)

Carr, Nicolas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, July/August. 2008. Accessed 22 August 2020.
Turkle, Sherry. “Connected But Alone” TED, February 2012. Keynote Address.
Harris, Tristian. “How a Handful of Tech Companies Control Billions of Minds Every Day” TED, April 2017. Keynote Address.

You can view a compelling professional example of a stop motion film, Unstruck, by the artist Swoon.

2. Based on the readings, class discussion and the prompt from your professor, begin by ideating. These steps will help you generate ideas for the theme of your stop motion film: (15 minutes)

Grab a pencil and paper and start by doing a 5-minute free write. Write down all possible issues related to your prompt. For example, if the prompt directs you to explore the relationship between humans and technology, one could start with a cluster of words such as tethered, algorithms to keep watching, adaptation, etc. Write continuously for five minutes.
Next, do another 5-minute writing session. Select the issue that interests you most and drill down to generate more specific words, phrases and even quotes regarding that issue.
Read over the words, phrases and quotes you generated in step 2 with an aim of synthesizing the sentiment into a short phrase. Use the remaining time to sketch ideas for visuals that will extend your message.

3. Use your notes to create a framing statement which will anchor the theme of the stop-motion film. This could be something like “one’s use of technology, where and what one consumes, can impact thoughts and beliefs.” (30 minutes)

4. Review the project rubric to familiarize yourself with the work product expectations, and follow the following expectations:

Create a 1-2-minute stop motion film.
Develop a title for the film.
The film should be organized around a clear framing statement.
Organize the clips and transitions to clearly articulate your statement much like you would do when developing a paper.
Optional: Include audio.

5. Create a storyboard to unpack visual representations of your theme and to organize the flow of the film. Here are resources for creating a storyboard and storyboard templates. (60 minutes)

6. Create and assemble visual content for your film. You may want to source materials from old magazines, cut out text from advertisements, or utilize handmade paper as a kind of background. (60 minutes)

7. Create your stop motion. Layout your materials on a large surface in an evenly lit environment. Place your camera phone on a cardboard box so that the camera is covering the work area that you want to capture or order a dual Selfie Ring light and phone holder. Use tape to mark off the work area that the camera is capturing. If you’re using a background texture, place it in the frame then add the visual elements that will be animated, slowly moving each component a little at a time. Take a photo each time an element is moved. Typically 15-24 frames per second are used for stop motion films. Stop Motion Pro is a handy app that will help assemble your images and set a frame rate. If you have headphones plugged into your camera phone you can take the image by clicking on the volume up or down button on the headphones. This hack can prevent camera shake. (90 minutes)

8. Open Adobe Premiere Rush and finalize your video. If you need a quick tutorial on how to use Adobe Premiere Rush, go here. Import your clips from Stop Motion Pro, add a title page, transitions and audio (optional). Check out this student sample here. (60 minutes)