When you have finished all the preparations from the previous steps, nothing stands in the way of the actual filming of your first stop motion movie!
Now that you have the script, equipment and set, you can finally start shooting! This is the most exciting, but also the most tedious part of stop motion production
The Principle
If you are satisfied with the picture, the set and the exposure, you can finally take the first picture. After you have pressed the shutter, you have to prepare the set for the next picture. With the stop motion technique you divide a movement, such as lifting a hand, into many individual pictures. Move the figure carefully after each picture a little bit and make a picture again. You repeat that until the figure finishes the movement.
How big exactly the movements between the pictures have to be depends on how fast you want to play back the pictures later. In a normal movie you see 24 different pictures every second on the screen. Your brain perceives these images as a fluid movement.
For your stop motion movie that would mean that you have to make 24 photos for a second of film, at one minute that would be 1,440 images. That’s why stop motion movies usually use lower frame rates of 10-15 frames per second. In this sample video, you can see how the different frame rates affect the eye.
Tips
It is very important that you are gentle in animating the characters. Perhaps use tweezers for small movements. Make sure you do not touch the camera, lights, or other items on the set.
Take your time and check every so that you don’t forget anything. This can easily happen if several figures move at the same time. If you have a script or storyboard, you can always control that.
