In this third episode of our series “Reaching New Heights in the Schools of Haute-Savoie”, we visited Mont Joly School, Gollet site, just above Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, to see how Delphine Pol’s kindergarten and first-grade students are making their own stop-motion animated film—developing fantastic skills for aspiring filmmakers!
« We are going to tell you the story of a little drop of water traveling around the world. » This is how the story—or Storytelling—created by the students of Mont Joly School, Gollet class, begins.
A Passion for Cinema
Delphine Pol is no newcomer to this! Every year, she works on an animated film project with her students, particularly as part of a cinema initiative led by the town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and its MJC (Youth and Culture Center), which organizes multiple workshops on filmmaking. These workshops allow students to explore various aspects of cinema and reflect on how films are made, what types of animation exist, and how the medium functions—broadening their understanding of both what they watch and what they create.
Today, we have an appointment with the little drop of water. The backgrounds are already crafted, the script is written, and now, the students are working in small groups, bringing out their inner directors…
« This project engages a lot of different skills for the children, » explains Delphine Pol. « First, they must fully understand the story. Then, they create the backgrounds… Each student has a specific task, and since they work with a lot of autonomy, they need to grasp their role well. »
There are several steps for the children to follow, requiring careful attention to detail, patience, and sometimes even redoing everything from scratch when something goes wrong!
« I give them a lot of independence; it’s good for them, it makes them more responsible, and they feel like they’ve made the entire film on their own. »
Writing, Directing, and Filming
Writing the script is a major task, just like designing the sets. However, it is also possible to use an existing story if they want to skip this step. « But writing their own story forces them to imagine and fully understand it, » says Delphine Pol. « Once the story is created, they must figure out how to visually represent it—how the characters will move and which elements need to be included in the background for the audience to understand the story. »
To get a sense of how much time this project takes, Delphine Pol explains that completing an animated film typically takes about one school term—assuming the story is written in advance, perhaps during the previous term.
On the day of our visit, the students were in full production mode—taking photos, recording different parts of the story, and creating the opening credits.
« The longest part is definitely the photography, » Delphine Pol emphasizes. As you can see in the accompanying video, shooting can be frustrating—when a background element or character moves out of place, it can ruin the whole scene, forcing them to redo everything!
The Final Touch: Editing
When it comes to editing, the teacher takes charge! She introduces her kindergarten and first-grade students to the process in a single session to give them an idea of how it works. With older students (fourth and fifth graders), she explains how to cut audio tracks and sync images—« and they actually manage quite well, » she adds.
The Final Result
The outcome? It’s impressive! We loved it—what about you?
You can watch the final film here: https://tube-cycle-2.apps.education.fr/w/nkQhe6vEjkTP1YL8xsvZar
