Paper can be animated in a variety of ways. You do not have to animate paper by simply drawing on it like traditional animation. The paper itself can become the subject of your animation, allowing you as an animator to express yourself in creative and experimental ways. Animating paper also is an excellent way for new animators to practice and hone their technique.
Animating Basic Shapes
One of the easiest things you can do when animating paper is to animate moving shapes. Do this by cutting the paper into geometric shapes like triangles, squares, circles and even stars. To create the effect of animation simply move the shapes a small amount, take a picture and repeat.
Animate a ball bounding up down by moving a paper cut out of a circle up and down and snapping a picture for each frame. Animate spinning shapes by turning the shape, snapping a picture and repeating the process. This will create the illusion of a twirling shape.
Folding Paper
Another technique used to create animation with paper is to fold the paper on camera. This will create the illusion that the paper is moving and folding on its own. Do this by folding one section of the paper, snapping a picture and folding another. Reveal a hidden message inside a folded piece of paper by unfolding the paper and taking a picture at each stage.
Paper Cut Outs
A more advanced way to use paper in animation is to create paper cut outs of characters. Each piece of the character must be designed and cut out from paper. This will allow you to create characters that can be animated simply by moving each piece frame by frame. This type of animation is how cartoons like "South Park" got their start. This animation is easier to manipulate than having to redraw each frame; however, there is less detail.
