• 80 ideas

Stop Motion Animation Ideas for Clay, Toy Bricks, Paper and Food

Three premises per press, sorted by what is on your table, with the length in seconds and the trick that makes each work.

Stop Motion Animation Ideas for Clay, Toy Bricks, Paper and Food

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  1. Collage bird assembling itself from paper scraps12 s. Trick: scraps slide in from the frame edges over 4 photos each. Overlap their journeys so it never stops.
  2. Brick rocket launch with cotton wool smoke10 s. Trick: lay the scene flat and shoot top-down so the rocket needs no support. Add a tuft of smoke per photo.
  3. Noughts and crosses game playing itself to a draw8 s. Trick: one stroke per photo, 4 photos of thinking between turns. End on a big drawn shrug.

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All 80 ideas

Clay 16

  • Clay ball rolling uphill 5 s. Trick: clay sticks where you press it, so no support is needed. A dot on the ball shows each quarter turn.
  • Clay ball that eats things and grows 15 s. Trick: replacement. Roll five balls in rising sizes and swap the next one in after each bite.
  • Clay beanstalk winding up a real pencil 10 s. Trick: add a pea of green at the tip each photo and wind it round the pencil. Pinch leaves out of the stem.
  • Clay blob splitting into a crowd of tiny blobs 8 s. Trick: pinch the waist a little thinner each photo. After the split, each half splits again.
  • Clay candle burning down with no flame at all 8 s. Trick: re-sculpt, never warm it. Shorten the candle and widen the wax puddle a little between photos.
  • Clay character walking on a wire armature 10 s. Trick: twist a wire skeleton, the armature, inside the legs. Press the standing foot onto sticky tack.
  • Clay face cycling through six expressions 10 s. Trick: leave the head alone and re-sculpt only the brows and mouth. Hold each face for 8 photos.
  • Clay figure sculpting itself out of a lump 15 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Start with the finished figure, squash it a bit per photo, then reverse the order.
  • Clay letters rising out of a flat slab 10 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Press finished letters down into the slab bit by bit, then reverse the photos.
  • Clay loaf sliced away to show a changing pattern 10 s. Trick: strata-cut. Pack a pattern inside a clay loaf, slice a thin sheet off the end, photograph, repeat.
  • Clay monster peeking over the top of a book 6 s. Trick: the book hides the body, so you only sculpt eyes and fingers. Fingers first, then the eyes rise.
  • Clay morph from a pear to a penguin 12 s. Trick: pick two things with one outline. Hold each end for 12 photos and change fastest in the middle.
  • Clay painting of a sunset turning to night 20 s. Trick: clay painting. Smear thin clay on a flat board like wet oil paint and push the colours along.
  • Clay snail crossing a real leaf 12 s. Trick: stretch the front forward, then drag the shell up behind it. Two photos per stretch is plenty.
  • Clay worm tunnelling through the table 8 s. Trick: only ever show two humps. Shrink the back hump as the front one grows. The table hides the rest.
  • Two clay colours meeting and swirling into a third 10 s. Trick: freeform clay animation. Twist a little more between photos. There is no undo, so go slowly.

Toy bricks 13

  • Brick boat crossing a blue blanket sea 10 s. Trick: push a ripple in the blanket ahead of the bow and smooth the one behind. The boat rocks a stud each way.
  • Brick figure building a bridge one plank ahead of its feet 12 s. Trick: place a plank, photograph, step onto it, photograph. Remove the planks behind for extra nerve.
  • Brick figure missing a bus by one second 12 s. Trick: the bus moves two studs per photo and the figure one. Hold the last slump for a full second.
  • Brick figure trying on every hat in the box 6 s. Trick: replacement at its simplest. Swap the hat every 3 photos and turn the head to admire each one.
  • Brick figure walking across a baseplate 6 s. Trick: the studs are your ruler. Move one stud per photo and swap which leg is forward each time.
  • Brick house building itself with no hands 12 s. Trick: add one brick per photo in the order you would really build. End on the door swinging shut.
  • Brick mosaic of a heart appearing row by row 8 s. Trick: build the whole picture first and photograph it as you take it apart. Reverse the order.
  • Brick rocket launch with cotton wool smoke 10 s. Trick: lay the scene flat and shoot top-down so the rocket needs no support. Add a tuft of smoke per photo.
  • Brick snake slithering across the floor 8 s. Trick: take the tail brick off and click it on in front of the head. Repeat. The body never really moves.
  • Brick tower that outgrows the frame 8 s. Trick: when it reaches the top edge, move the camera back one step per photo. The tower keeps winning.
  • Heap of mixed bricks sorting itself by colour 15 s. Trick: shoot from above. Slide three bricks per photo toward their pile so the whole heap seems alive.
  • Row of brick figures doing a stadium wave 5 s. Trick: only arms move. Raise each figure's arms two photos after its neighbour's, then loop the clip.
  • Two brick figures carrying a sofa upstairs 15 s. Trick: tilt the sofa a little more on each step, then let it slide back down two. Comedy is in the reset.

Paper cut-outs 14

  • Black card cat walking along a bright window 8 s. Trick: tape tracing paper to the glass and tack the cat to it. Lit from behind, only the outline shows.
  • Collage bird assembling itself from paper scraps 12 s. Trick: scraps slide in from the frame edges over 4 photos each. Overlap their journeys so it never stops.
  • Confetti gathering itself into a word 10 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Lay the word out neatly, scatter a few pieces per photo, then reverse.
  • Envelope opening and a letter walking out 10 s. Trick: fold two paper legs onto the letter and crease them the other way on alternate photos.
  • Jointed paper puppet taking a bow 6 s. Trick: join the limbs with pins or paper fasteners and bend only at those joints. Hold the low bow.
  • Paper city building itself 15 s. Trick: cutout animation shot from above. Slide each building up from behind a strip of paper ground.
  • Paper fish swimming through paper weeds 8 s. Trick: pin the tail on so it swings. Two tail swings per fish length, and the weeds lean as it passes.
  • Paper moon crossing a window cut in black card 10 s. Trick: tape the card window down and slide the moon behind it a few millimetres per photo.
  • Paper snowflake unfolding itself 6 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Fold the finished snowflake one crease per photo, then reverse the order.
  • Paper sun rising behind torn paper hills 8 s. Trick: three layers of hills. The sun slides up between the back two, and a lighter sky sheet fades in.
  • Paper vine climbing the edge of the frame 10 s. Trick: cut the whole vine first, cover it with a sheet of background paper and uncover a little per photo.
  • Photo of yourself talking with cut-out mouths 8 s. Trick: replacement. Cut five mouths (shut, small, wide, O, smile) and swap them on a printed photo.
  • Torn paper caterpillar munching a real leaf 10 s. Trick: tear a small bite out of the leaf each photo. Rough torn edges read better on camera than cut ones.
  • Wall of sticky notes changing colour in a wave 8 s. Trick: replace one diagonal line of notes per photo. Pencil a grid on the wall first so the rows stay straight.

Food 12

  • Banana unzipping and its slices marching out 12 s. Trick: slice it inside the skin beforehand. The slices leave in single file, one slice length per photo.
  • Biscuit vanishing in bites with nobody there 5 s. Trick: one bite per 3 photos, crumbs added each time. The last crumb slides away on its own.
  • Breakfast plate arranging itself into a face 8 s. Trick: every item moves a little on every photo, and the toast eyebrows arrive last for the expression.
  • Dry pasta shapes spelling your name 10 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Set out the name first and nudge the pieces apart until they are a heap.
  • Dry spaghetti marching into a pan 10 s. Trick: the strands hop like inchworms. Prop one end on a crumb of bread, then the other end.
  • Eaten pizza returning slice by slice 8 s. Trick: photograph the real meal from above as it disappears, plate in the same spot, then reverse.
  • Fruit bowl where one fruit keeps changing 6 s. Trick: replacement. A coin under the cloth marks the spot so each new fruit lands in the same place.
  • Orange peeling itself in one long spiral 8 s. Trick: peel a thumb's width per photo and take your hands right out of the shot every time.
  • Peas escaping from the plate in single file 10 s. Trick: a dab of butter stops a pea rolling. The leader pauses at the rim to look both ways.
  • Sandwich assembling itself layer by layer 10 s. Trick: slide each layer in from the frame edge over 4 photos, hover it on a fingertip, then drop it.
  • Sugar cubes stacking themselves into a castle 12 s. Trick: one cube per photo, sliding in along the table for 3 photos before it climbs the wall.
  • Sweets sorting themselves into a rainbow 12 s. Trick: shoot top-down on plain paper. Move every sweet a little each photo, never one at a time.

Whiteboard 12

  • Drawn ball leaving the board as a real ball 6 s. Trick: at the board's edge, swap the drawing for a real ball in a single photo. That swap is the old stop trick.
  • Drawn face whose hair gets wilder every photo 8 s. Trick: the face never changes. Add three strands per photo, and blink the eyes once by redrawing the lids.
  • Drawn fish tank filling up with water 10 s. Trick: raise the water line a finger width per photo and redraw the fish higher each time so it floats up.
  • Drawn plant watered from a real cup 10 s. Trick: tilt a real empty cup against the board over 5 photos, then draw the drops and the growth.
  • Drawn stick figure fleeing a real eraser 12 s. Trick: the eraser is a real object in shot. It wipes the trail, so you redraw only the figure each photo.
  • Drawn wave washing the board clean 8 s. Trick: fill the board with doodles first. The wave front is drawn. Behind it you simply wipe.
  • Fridge magnets chasing a drawn mouse 10 s. Trick: magnets slide, the mouse is redrawn. Leave a faint smear trail behind it on purpose for speed.
  • Marker line growing into a tree 10 s. Trick: only ever add. Draw a short stroke, photograph, repeat. Nothing is rubbed out, so nothing smudges.
  • Marker pen that draws a line by itself 8 s. Trick: lay the board flat on a table. Extend the line a little, rest the open pen at its tip, photograph.
  • Noughts and crosses game playing itself to a draw 8 s. Trick: one stroke per photo, 4 photos of thinking between turns. End on a big drawn shrug.
  • Title card that writes and underlines itself 6 s. Trick: pencil-thin guide letters in a pale marker first, then go over a stroke per photo in black.
  • Whiteboard explainer of the way across a made-up treasure island 30 s. Trick: draw the map one landmark at a time, 2 photos per stroke. Record the narration first and draw to it.

Household objects and people 13

  • Books reshuffling on a shelf by colour 10 s. Trick: a book tips out over 2 photos, travels along the shelf edge and tips back in. Two on the move at once.
  • Coins stacking themselves into towers 8 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Build the towers, take one coin off per photo, slide it away, then reverse.
  • Cutlery marching out of the drawer to lay the table 12 s. Trick: forks walk on their tines and spoons rock. Give each kind its own way of moving.
  • Friend driving an invisible car down the hallway 8 s. Trick: pixilation. Same seated pose on a hidden stool each time. Lean the whole body into the corners.
  • Messy desk tidying itself 12 s. Trick: shoot it backwards. Start tidy, mess up one object per photo, then reverse the order.
  • Pencils leaving their case and lining up by height 10 s. Trick: roll each pencil a quarter turn per photo so the printed side flickers, which reads as rolling.
  • Person hovering a hand's height off the ground 5 s. Trick: pixilation. Jump on every photo and shoot at the top of the jump. Step forward between jumps.
  • Person sinking into the sofa until only a hand waves 10 s. Trick: pixilation. Slide lower each photo and pile a cushion on top as you go. The hand waves last.
  • Person sliding across the floor without walking 8 s. Trick: pixilation. Stand still, photo, shuffle one foot length forward, same pose, photo.
  • Scarf slithering up the stairs like a snake 10 s. Trick: keep three S bends in it at all times and move the bends along the scarf, not the scarf along.
  • Shoes walking to the front door without you 8 s. Trick: move one shoe at a time, and tip its heel up on the photo before it travels.
  • Sock escaping from a drawer 12 s. Trick: open the drawer a finger width per photo first. The sock peeks, flops out, then inches like a caterpillar.
  • Toy car parking itself in a tight space 8 s. Trick: three corrections before it fits. Turn the front wheels a photo before the car changes direction.

How it works

What is on your table decides which stop motion animation ideas you can shoot tonight: clay, toy bricks, paper cut-outs, food, a whiteboard, or household objects and willing people. Choose your material first. Each of the 80 premises gives a running time in seconds and the one trick that makes it work.

Read the full guide

Pick the material before the premise

Each material is good at one thing. Clay changes shape, so the clay animation ideas lean on morphs, faces and things that grow. Toy bricks hold a pose, and the studs measure every step. Paper lies flat under an overhead camera, so nothing has to stand up. Food arrives in ready-made pieces. A whiteboard lets you draw, wipe and redraw.

Four tricks carry most of the list

Replacement swaps an object for a near copy between photos: five clay balls in rising sizes, five paper mouths. Shooting backwards turns a slow mess into a desk that tidies itself or confetti that spells a word. Shooting from above removes gravity, so a brick rocket flies while lying flat. The stop trick swaps a drawn ball for a real one in a single photo.

  • Close the curtains and light the set with one lamp. Daylight shifts between photos, and the finished film flickers.
  • Tape the phone down and mark where the tripod feet stand. Every bump reads as an earthquake on screen.
  • With one material chosen, press three times and shoot the shortest idea first.

Questions and answers

How many photos does a stop motion film need?

Film runs at 24 frames a second, and clay animators usually shoot on twos, which means 12 changes for each second. At that rate a 10 second idea needs about 120 photos. A first film can run slower, but not by much: at ten to twelve pictures a second or fewer, the eye starts to pick out the separate photos.

Can I shoot these stop animation ideas as a time lapse?

No, they are two methods. Stop motion, also called stop frame, stop action or object animation, means move something slightly, photograph it, repeat. In time lapse the camera takes a photo every so often and nobody touches the scene. Here your hands make every change.

Which clay works for clay animation?

Use an oil-based modelling clay. Its oils do not evaporate, so it stays soft for a whole shoot and can be re-used for the next film. Air-drying clay hardens before you finish. A figure that must stand or walk needs a twisted wire skeleton inside, called an armature. Wash your hands between colours, because smudges, hair and dust show on playback.

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