Assignment: Susan Holderread developed a claymation video to introduce the topic of Topomaps for the multimedia portion of her ePortfolio. While you are not required to do anywhere near this amount of work, take a look at her video. While Susan definitely succeeded in making an entertaining video, does it suit its intended purpose? What considerations should be taken into account before embarking on such a project?
How adorable!! This was a great way to explain topomaps to kids. I have always enjoyed claymation. "The Adventures of Mark Twain" (made entirely in claymation) was always one of my favorite movies as a child.
Because the purpose is to explain topomaps in an easy-to-understand way, the site accomplishes its goal. The explanation is done is such a way that most students will easily remember the lesson involved.
When planning such an extreme undertaking, you must keep in mind several important factors. Projects such as this will take a lot of time and energy on the part of the author. The characters and settings have to be created, then filmed by constantly moving and readjusting them.
This project would be worth it, if the author, or company, were creating several such movies. Then, they could take shortcuts and re-use materials to save time and expense.
But, for an individual person, making a single project, claymation would not be a logistical choice of media. The learning enrichment results may or may not be worth the time, energy, and expense needed to complete the project.
Couldn't a classroom full of students act out the same scenario? This would greatly cut down on time and expenses as well as allowing the students to be an active part of the project.
References:
Holderread, Susan. "Heimlich & Heidi's Topographic Adventure." UIUC CTER. Accessed: 24 July 2004. http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/holderrd/490i/heim_n_heidi.html.