Learn to Make Stop Motion Videos Like a Pro
In this stop motion 101, you’ll learn how to create professional-looking stop motion videos using your phone! No fancy equipment needed - just your phone, our free stop motion app Life Lapse, and some patience, and we’ll have you creating eye-catching videos in no time.
Take the free crash course in the video below.
What is stop motion?
Now let’s begin with the basic of understanding what stop motion is. Stop motion videos are actually made up of a bunch of pictures that are pieced together at a high speed resulting in a video. It is a filmmaking technique to create an animation or movement, and you might know the famous stop motion animation films, Wallace and Gromit. In the stop motion example below, both videos consist of the same photos with the same amount of photos but pieced together at different speeds. The one on the left played at a slower speed than the example on the right. The higher the speed and with more clips, the smoother the video.
Now, stop motion can be used in many ways because of its highly visual and eye-catching nature to make objects move on their own, like magic ✨! Our favorite way to use stop motion? Social media marketing. It’s the perfect form of content for social media such as Instagram or Pinterest because it is scroll-stoppin’ and loopable. We see brands like Starbucks, Target and Sephora who regularly integrate stop motion videos into their marketing for product videos and storytelling. While brands like that have access to videographers and editing equipment, we’ll show you how you can get started on making your own stop motion videos just by using your phone.
What You’ll Need:
Your phone
A tripod (optional) or find our hacks to creating a DIY tripod using household items here
An object to animate
Steps to Making a Stop Motion on Your Phone
Step 1: First go into your phone settings > Display and brightness > and change auto-lock to never. This will make sure your phone doesn’t lock while shooting.
Step 2: Click on the “+” button on the bottom center to start creating your first stop motion. This opens up your camera to start capturing pictures or video. Our app is defaulted for you to capture photos within the app but you can choose mini video clips at the top center.
Step 3: The camera will open right away. Don’t worry about any settings in-camera just yet, we are going to learn the basics of movement first.
Step 4: Grab an object that you want to animate. In this example, we are using a hat and have it move across the screen on its own. First start with the frame completely empty so the hat isn't in it. Take your first picture. Then, move the hat in slightly to the left and take your next picture. The ghosted image over from the previous image is our Ghost feature that provides a guideline for you to see how far you’ve moved the object. Move the object again to the left again and take another photo. Rinse and repeat until the object is completely out of frame.
Step 5: Push the “Play” button on the top right corner to play your video in the Timeline Editor. Adjust the speed in the Speed setting. Moving the speed towards the turtle will slow down the video or move the speed to the rabbit to speed it up.
This is the basics of stop motion: clips or images stitched together to create an animation. Did you notice that your video is shaky or it looks like there’s a flickering light? Now let’s see how you can get your video to go from this…
…to this!
Let’s move on to the steps on how to stabilize and light your stop motion video so you can create like a pro.
Step 1: Click on the “+” button on the bottom center to create a new project.
Step 2: If you have a tripod, use it! If you don’t, you can place your phone against an object or inside the mug to stabilize it. See how it’s done here with our guide to creating DIY tripods with household items. It’s important that your phone is still while you are filming so the background is the same between shots. The only thing moving in your frame should be the object you are animating.
Step 3: Now that your phone is stable, tap the “EXP” to lock the exposure and the “AWB” to lock the white balance. You will know you have locked the settings when they look like a closed lock . This will prevent the camera from auto-exposing each image so you don’t get the flicker when you play it back quickly.
Step 4: Use controlled lighting like a household lamp or a photography light for stop motion. Natural light typically does not work well with stop motion because you cannot control it which can cause a flicker when you play your video if the light changes while you are filming.
Step 5: Repeat the same steps from the basics of stop motion above.
Step 6: Once complete, increase the speed to see your animation! Can you see the difference that made? Now add any enhancements. Our app allows you to add filters, music, change the brightness, saturation, contrast and warmth, and more! Upload to Life Lapse Pro for even more editing features.
You’re now on your way to creating compelling stop motions just with your phone. You can visit our Academy in the app or on desktop for more in-depth tutorials on creating stop motion videos with your phone. Or if you need more help, check out our FAQ page or join our Life Lapse Insiders Facebook group.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram to see what our community of over 1 million creators are making with Life Lapse. Tag us @lifelapse_app or use hashtag #LifeLapse so we can see what you’re making too!