Worked example · PE · Year 8

Stop-motion animation planning: teaching a skill

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content

What this is

A secure Year 8 plan for the netball shoulder pass, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. The practice sums in the grey box are (i) 4 × 12 = 48 frames and (ii) 48 ÷ 2 = 24 photographs. Show this after pupils have committed to their own shot timings.

Step 1 — the brief

SkillThe netball shoulder pass
Who it is forA Year 7 pupil who has never done it
Frame rate12 fps
Total running time18 seconds
Total frames18 × 12 = 216 frames
What the viewer must be able to do at the endStand side-on, step onto the opposite foot to their throwing arm, and release the ball from above shoulder height with a straight follow-through — and know that stepping onto the same foot is the usual mistake.

The outcome is written as something the viewer can do, which is what makes the six shots choose themselves. Evidences criterion 3.

Step 2 — the storyboard

Shot What is on screen What moves, and how far per photograph Seconds Frames Words on screen
1 Title card: cut-paper letters on the green PE mat, ball in the corner. Nothing moves except the title: one word is laid down every 4 photographs, so all three words are up by photograph 12, then it holds. 2 24 "The shoulder pass"
2 Close-up from above: the plasticine figure's hand and the ball. Fingers spread behind the ball, moving about 2 mm per photograph until the hand is behind and under it. 3 36 "1. Hand behind the ball"
3 Side view, whole figure, ball raised beside the ear. Elbow rises about 5 mm per photograph; feet stay still. Ends with the ball above shoulder height. 3 36 "2. Ball above your shoulder"
4 Side view, wider, showing both feet and the target hoop. The opposite foot steps forward 8 mm per photograph for 18 photographs, then the arm extends and the ball travels 20 mm per photograph to the hoop. 4 48 "3. Step with the opposite foot"
5 Same angle, a red cross drawn on card slides in. The figure steps onto the same foot, wobbles 3 mm back and forth, and the pass drops short of the hoop. 3 36 "Not this: same foot, no power"
6 Recap card: three numbered lines, plus a freeze of the finished pass. Nothing moves but the card: one numbered line appears every 6 photographs, so all three are up by photograph 18, which is the whole shot on twos. 3 36 "Hand behind · Ball high · Opposite foot"
Total 18216 2+3+3+4+3+3 = 18 s, and 24+36+36+48+36+36 = 216 frames

The seconds add to exactly 18, every frame count is its seconds × 12, and both totals are checked on the sheet. The movement column gives a distance per photograph, which is what an animator actually needs. Evidences criteria 1 and 2.

Step 3 — the three key frames

1. Hand behind the ball Shot 2, frame 1 Close-up from above · 36 frames 3. Step with the opposite foot Shot 4, frame 1 Side view, feet in shot · 48 frames Remember 1. Hand behind 2. Ball high 3. Opposite foot freeze of the finished pass behind Shot 6, frame 1 Recap card · 36 frames Camera stays on the same tripod mark for shots 3, 4 and 5 so the side view matches.

Each panel names the shot, the angle and its frame count, and the note underneath is a real production decision. Evidences criteria 2 and 3.

Step 4 — the shoot plan

Total frames216
Photographs needed shooting on twos216 ÷ 2 = 108 photographs
At 20 seconds per photograph, how long is the shoot?108 × 20 = 2160 seconds = 2160 ÷ 60 = 36 minutes of shooting, before any setting up. That is a whole lesson, so shots 1 and 6 get made first in case we run out of time.
Props, kit and peopleOne plasticine figure, a table-tennis ball painted as a netball, the green PE mat as a background, cut-paper letters for the two text cards, one hoop, a phone on a tripod or propped on books, one person to move the figure and one to press the shutter.
One thing that will ruin the shoot if it movesThe camera. If the tripod is nudged between photographs the whole background jumps, and you cannot fix it afterwards — every photograph from the bump onwards has to be re-shot. The second risk is the lighting: if someone opens the blind halfway through shot 4, the 48 frames will flicker between bright and dim.

Converts frames into photographs, into minutes, and into a decision about shooting order. Names the two things that genuinely wreck stop-motion. Evidences criteria 4 and 5.

Why this response is secure