Page |1
Zoetrope Instructions Zoetrope strips are similar to a film strip. Each image is slightly different than the one before it. • The best animations for a zoetrope are cyclical, like someone walking, or an umbrella opening and closing. • Solid areas of black work better than lots of outlines. • Create 12 drawings of an action cycle or a morph. • The last drawing must smoothly evolve into the first frame.
Examples Cycle
Morph
Page |2
Items you will need to make your Zoetrope:
White paper lid, white paper strip with 12 sections, black foam strip, straw, cookie stick.
Draw Animation 1. Decide what your cycle or morph will be. 2. Some • • • •
suggestions: Playing leapfrog Cartwheel Animal walking or running Umbrella morphing into a mushroom
3. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!! (You only have 12 frames to make your animation happen.)
Page |3
4. Start with a pre-cut strip. There are short vertical dashed lines on the top and the bottom of your strip that define the divisions of each frame.
5. Use the blue col-erase pencil to lightly sketch out your animation beginning with frame 1.
6. Keep the baseline for each animation at approximately the same level. If you need to, LIGHTLY draw a horizontal line across the entire strip with the blue col-erase to act as a guide.
baseline
baseline
Page |4
7. Once you have the animation roughed in, fill in your images with a black marker. Solids usually work better than outlines.
8. Work smarter not harder, use the light box to copy shapes or rotate your strip to draw shape at a different angle instead of redrawing your image.
Construction 1. Place wall template on top of piece of black foam. Foam
Wall Template
Page |5
(Wall Template on top of foam.) 2. Trace around the slits with a pencil.
Page |6
3. Use one of the x-acto knives, a cutting board and a ruler to cut out the slit area. You do NOT have to press very hard. 4. DO NOT FREEHAND IT!
5. Use circle template #1 with a small circle in the middle and place it in the center of the paper lid. Use a regular pencil to trace the small circle in the center on the template. This is the center of the lid and where you will insert the cookie stick. 6. Use the ribbon to take the circle template #1 out of the paper lid. (It’s a tight fit.)
Page |7
7. Place your paper lid on top of the circle template #2 and make a crosshair slit ONLY within the circle you drew in Step 5. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE.
Page |8
8. Use the hot glue gun to run a bead of glue around the inside of the white lid. 9. Quickly before the glue cools, place your black strip all the way around. The ends will overlap. 10. You can hot glue the ends together or use double-sided tape.
Hot glue or double-sided tape at seam
Hot glue around base
11. Use the CD case spindle contraption with the cute pink base to insert a cookie stick. (Believe it or not, this will help your stick to be perpendicular to the upper part of your Zoetrope, which you need to make your Zoetrope spin without wobbling. You just thought you wouldn’t have to do math in Animation!)
Page |9
12. Take the upper part of your Zoetrope and GENTLY push the cookie stick through the paper lid where you made a small slit in Step 7. If you did it correctly, the Zoetrope should sit on top of the CD spindle contraption (with the cute pink base) like so:
13. Use the hot glue gun to put a ring of glue around the tip of the cookie stick so it won’t slip through. LET THE GLUE COOL BEFORE TAKING IT OFF!!!
P a g e | 10
14. On the underside of the CD spindle contraption, use another cookie stick to give your cookie stick a LITTLE push to loosen it from the suction created by the contraption.
15. Turn your Zoetrope upside down. 16. Slide the straw over the cookie stick.
P a g e | 11
17. Use the hot glue to add a ring of glue on the cookie stick just past the straw. You don’t need much and make sure there is a little distance after the straw before you add glue to the stick. This gives the straw room to be loose to spin and not tight.
18. Turn your Zoetrope over and insert your 12 frame strip you drew in the beginning and spin! Tape it in place with double-sided tape if you need to.
Turn In Instructions
1. Ask someone to help you. This part takes two people. 2. You will ask the person helping you to spin your Zoetrope while you take a video of it. 3. Use one of the point and shoot cameras and set it to video. 4. Record for 8-10 seconds. (File should end up at approximately 12MB) 5. MAKE SURE YOU ARE LOOKING THROUGH THE SLITS AND POINTED DOWN AT YOUR GRAPHIC!!! 6. Once you are done, name your file: periodnumberlastname_zoetrope 7. Upload your movie to CANVAS.