Battle of the Jedi - A Stop Motion Movie

Gator isn't interested in sports, which, he laments, makes him different from other kids. Most of his time is spent reading, playing with his Legos, or begging for screen time, which features Star Wars a disproportionate amount of time. But every few months, he also decides to make a movie.

His interest in movie making dates back about seven years, when one day a question that had just occurred to him popped out of his mouth, "do people who make movies get paid for them?" The concept seemed to blow his four year old mind.

Not that he has specific film industry ambitions. It's just a fun hobby and we've enjoyed a number of his short productions in the past two years. It's quirky, but I've assured him that before he knows it, he'll find "his people" who have similar interests. Meanwhile, my favorite movie creations star his massive paper airplane collection, and his snakes and plastic animals. So far they have all just been on the camera, without audio tracks.

This year he decided to make a movie to enter into the Reflections contest held by the PTA. I'd like to say I was a supportive, involved parent, but the truth is it was all his initiative. Suddenly, he informed me that he had hundreds of photos that he needed to edit.

So I did the honorable thing of A) giving up the computer so he could work on it, and B) walked him through a crash course in Windows Movie Maker software so he could put the thing together. Oh, I also bought him the music and installed a new font for him. But this is his baby, including adding all the "blood" and special effects (just in case you were wondering if that was my handiwork).

As far as I'm concerned, different IS good!

Grateful for:

1) Gator. And yes, I realize that the movie calls him something else, but as far as we're concerned, he will always be our dear Gator. Just like I will always be Blue to my online besties!
2) That sunset tonight was a gift straight from the good Lord above!
3) Working out to "24". I'm doing stepper while I watch it. Hope it gets me into exercising again!