A Stop-Motion Saga

Two Makers work on their stop-motion project.

It’s a rare thing to find a passion so early in life, but Makers do it all the time at MetaMedia.

For example, one enthusiastic and creative Maker comes in most days and works around the clock on his stop-motion videos, titled the Nile Series. Featuring a variety of action figures as the main characters, the Nile Series focuses on vampire hunters and all of their exciting adventures.

Several of the action figures featured in the Nile Series.

You may think, “Oh, stop motion, that’s cute,” but don’t be fooled — there’s a lot more to this kind of animation than meets the eye.

A portion of the set for the Nile Series.

First of all, the Maker and his partner in crime need to create the set, which is comprised of materials such as cardboard boxes, cork board, Legos, toothpicks, hot glue, and more.

Once he has built the setting for the video, he needs to write the script for the narration that he will then record over the film.

And he won’t settle for anything less than the best. The Maker and his buddy spend lots of time trying to come up with the perfect words to tell their story, as well as the perfect names for their characters, settings and props.

The two often bounce ideas off of each other. For example, when trying to pick a name for a deadly weapon that holds the power to kill “goblins, witches, wizards, werewolves, lycans and hybrids” (according to the Maker), they suggested the Crystal Sword, the Supernatural Crystal, the Supernatural Destroyer, and more. They even enlisted the help of a staff member to help find them synonyms for the word “destroy.”

If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

The Maker searches for good background music for his video.

Once the Maker has a flawless script, he has to film the video using an iPad (and stop motion isn’t very easy to execute!). Then, he edits the video and puts in music and other sound effects. Finally, he uploads it to YouTube.

And the two Makers do this all by themselves.

It’s inspiring that these middle schoolers are able to learn and practice such a variety of different technological skills while also having fun, working together, and doing something they love. If only everyone had such a clear vision of what they wanted to do with their lives!

A still from a Nile Series video.

~Aine