Homeschool student Rachel Wayne took photo after photo until the images blended seamlessly into a movie.

“I liked creating things with my friends,” said Rachel, 13. “That was one of my favorite things being able to make a whole project and finish it with my friends and people that I know.”

Rachel was one of the seven fourth- through sixth-grade students who participated in the Butler Public Library's program “Directress: Stop Motion Animation for Girls.” Her film is one of four that will be screened Tuesday at the library.

Stop motion animation is animation captured one frame at time with physical objects moved between frames. When played back rapidly, the sequence of images creates the illusion of movement.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “James and the Giant Peach” and “The LEGO Movie” are all examples of stop motion animation.

The name of film Rachel and her group made is “Spider in the Basement,” which is about a man named Bob who lives in his parent's basement and watches television. Bob's mother asks him to get ice cream and when he returns, he finds a spider named Billy on his couch, which he begins to attack with a broom.

In the end, the two decide to watch television together.

“We just thought what would be funny to put together,” Rachel said about their idea.

The process was slow because after each photo, the character had to be moved slightly, she said. However, hanging out with friends was part of the fun.

“One thing I learned is things can take longer than I intended it too,” she said. “Things are harder than they seem, but some of them are more fun when you're doing them with friends.”

Pittsburgh has become a popular setting for movies in the last 17 years, said Tiffany Harkleroad, Butler Public Library youth services librarian.

“I was shocked at how few women are able to make it into roles as directors and producers,” Harkleroad said. “They are definitely underrepresented in the film field.”

That thought led Harkleroad to create a new opportunity for Butler County girls, she said.

Last fall, Harkleroad applied for a $5,001 grant from the American Association of University Women to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, activities for girls.

Through the grant, Harkleroad was able to purchase iPads, green screen, cameras, software, an application for the iPads, and materials for the project.

For two months, the girls learned the theory behind filmmaking and what it takes to create a story, how a story moves to a script, and how a script moves to a storyboard.

Over the course of five months, they began to create their visions, Harkleroad said.

The girls made and used clay figures, toys and paper as they shot and edited their own footage and sound tracks.

“You can really use anything,” Harkleroad said about the variety of materials.

The films will each be a few minutes, Harkleroad said. A part of the learning process was learning that hundreds of images convert to mere minutes of film.

The girls had the opportunity to have technological experience, including, using a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera and lighting.

“These are things not everybody has access to,” she said.

Another portion of the grant was socialization in a positive and healthy way, she said.

This was the first time the library has hosted a long-term project, she said.

The library now has the technology to duplicate the activity in the future and could expand the opportunity to adults and children, Harkleroad said.

“Libraries are so much more than a room full of books, and they might not have realized those types of programs are available, not just at this library, but libraries everywhere,” she said.

Harkleroad hopes the project boosted the girls' self-esteem and sense of accomplishment.

“They are raised in a technology era where it comes so easy to them because it's all they've ever known,” she said. “The more we can expose them to up and coming forms of technology, the better we are going to prepare them for future jobs.”