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Lesson 4 of 6
  • Year 3

Consistency in frames

I can identify the need to work consistently and carefully.

Lesson 4 of 6
New
New
  • Year 3

Consistency in frames

I can identify the need to work consistently and carefully.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Animations should be consistent.
  2. Stop-frame animations that are not consistent can have mistakes in frames.
  3. A consistency checklist can be used to help create a smooth stop-frame animation.

Keywords

  • Frame - a single picture that is used to make an animation

  • Consistency - when details in an animation look the same every time

Common misconception

It’s OK if your background or characters move quite a bit between frames.

Even small changes can make the animation look jumpy. Keeping things still is key to making it look real.


To help you plan your year 3 computing lesson on: Consistency in frames, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils should keep their concepts simple and expect the stop-frame animation to take a long time to create. Demonstrate to pupils that it can take a lot of frames to produce a short, good-quality animation.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils will need access to a photo-capable device with stop-motion software, a mini whiteboard and pens. Examples in this lesson use iMotion https://oak.link/iMotion

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What are the main parts of a story?

pictures, colours, and music
tools, materials, and time
Correct answer: settings, characters, and events
frames, backgrounds, and sounds

Q2.
What does a storyboard help you do?

write a poem
choose music for a film
draw a single picture
Correct answer: plan the sequence of a story

Q3.
What do we call things that happen in the beginning, middle, and end of a story?

Correct Answer: Events, Event

Q4.
Which of these is NOT a part of a storyboard?

Correct answer: the final animation
drawings of each scene
notes about actions
arrows showing movement

Q5.
Put these steps in order for planning an animation:

1 - decide on the characters
2 - think about the setting
3 - draw the storyboard
4 - plan the events

Q6.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:storyboard,set of drawings to plan a story

set of drawings to plan a story

Correct Answer:events,things that happen in a story

things that happen in a story

Correct Answer:achievable,something you can really do

something you can really do

Correct Answer:characters,people or animals in a story

people or animals in a story

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What does it mean for an animation to be consistent?

the background changes every time
the characters are always new
the story is always different
Correct answer: the details look the same in every frame

Q2.
What is a frame in animation?

a finished film
Correct answer: a single picture used to make an animation
a checklist
a character’s name

Q3.
Why should you use a consistency checklist?

to count the number of frames
to choose colours
Correct answer: to help make sure each frame matches the others
to draw new characters

Q4.
Put these steps in order for creating a consistent stop-frame animation:

1 - plan your animation
2 - keep backgrounds and characters in the same place
3 - use a checklist to check each frame
4 - take a picture of each frame

Q5.
Match each keyword to its meaning:

Correct Answer:frame,a single picture used in animation

a single picture used in animation

Correct Answer:consistency,when details look the same every time

when details look the same every time

Correct Answer:checklist,a list to help you remember steps

a list to help you remember steps

Correct Answer:animation,a sequence of pictures creating movement

a sequence of pictures creating movement

Q6.
Which of the following will make your stop-frame animation look the most realistic?

changing the background and character positions in every frame
Correct answer: keeping backgrounds and characters in the same place for each frame
using as many colours as possible in every frame
adding new objects in random frames