Animated Chess Movie

Creating a Stop Motion Chess Movie

In my senior year of high school, I took a new film class put together by an English teacher and the AV coordinator of the school. For one project, I decided to create a stop motion chess game and set it to the "Blue Danube Waltz."

To film it, I set up a chess board in the family living room with some lights. Then I filmed it frame by frame to create a chess game, moving each piece a fraction of an inch at a time.

Each piece had a distinctive way of moving. Bishops twirled, Knights popped from square to square, and so on. The animated pieces had a balletic feel and amazingly matched the music very well.

The film won First Place in an International Film Festival in Wilson, NY. Granted, only the US and Canada were represented. It did convince me that perhaps I should pursue film in college.