Stop Motion Animation

We are going to make a stop motion short.

The current plan is 30 seconds short with a steampunk theme. We have a lot to learn (armatures, cameras, programs, oh my) but before we get to carried away- we need our story.

I have animation pre-production experience, so I'm planning on teaching a class/overview/lecture on pre-production. I'd like to cover the basics of the pitch, design, storyboard, to animatic process (I'll bring examples). Is there anything anyone would like especially like to see covered in the pre-production process? Keep in mind, we're not talking about construction or filming yet.

At the end of class, we'll talk about the next step and what people should bring to the next meeting to pitch our animation short!

I'd like to set up this project so that people can jump in at the parts that interest them, and no one has to sign on for the whole project. We'll be doing a lot of trial and error as we learn different techniques/technology. So if you're only interested in one aspect- lighting, sound, whatever or just want to see the process in action, the goal is to come together and learn.