Pre-teens make spooky stop motion movies at Cutchogue New Suffolk Library

In the basement of Cutchogue New Suffolk Library, two young girls went missing in a cornfield, and three grown men were swallowed whole by a monster. They were never seen or heard from again.

These were the spooky stop-motion tales three Cutchogue East Elementary School students conjured up last Thursday during the library’s “Make a Scary Movie” program. The class, open to preteens and teens, allowed participants to make short animated films using an app downloaded on the library’s tablets along with various toys and art supplies found in the library.

The Halloween-themed movie-making session was the latest in a series of stop-motion classes offered at the library under the guidance of technology librarian Lilly Kiel, who wanted to engage younger library patrons in more STEAM, or science, technology, engineering, art and math, programs.

“I really wanted to try and do something different,” Ms. Kiel said. “That was a big goal for me in this role at the library, introducing things that we haven’t seen here before. It’s so simple and budget-friendly; the [stop-motion movie] app was free and we already have these [toys and art supplies]. We could do something new and cheap.”

Ms. Kiel kicked off the series back in the spring for children in grades two through four. She was then approached by the teen librarian to create a similar program for that age group, saying it had become popular with children in grades five through seven.

Three children attended last Thursday’s workshop: Jackson Cobis, 11, and Abby O’Brien and Samantha Mignone, both 10, who worked together. Jackson created “The Paper Monster,” about a paper ball that fell to Earth and grew limbs and a face as it consumed more vehicles and soldiers sent to stop it.

“It was a big round ball of paper that came from space,” Jackson said, describing his film’s plot. “It almost lands on this guy’s truck, and he’s consumed by it. It’s pretty cool, because it’s Halloween-themed … These futuristic Army soldiers come to try to fight him, to bring it down. They fail and the monster consumes them as well, making it bigger, unstoppable.”

Jackson attended a previous stop-motion class at the library. His group made a film called “The Blob,” which he said made a dinosaur quite ill.

“I think he did a great job and he looks forward to coming here and working on it,” said Jackson’s father, Justin Cobis, a library trustee. “It brings out a new side of him artistically that we haven’t seen that I think he really embraces.”

Abby and Samantha produced “Corn Field,” a harrowing tale that follows two girls who are approached by a spine-chilling figure who dares them to enter a haunted cornfield. Abby and Samantha recently visited a corn maze themselves.

“We really like making up scary stories so we thought it would be fun to make a scary movie,” Abby said. 

“And make it funny, so someone could laugh and also get scared at the same time,” added friend and co-director Samantha.

It is unclear if the stop-motion movie-making series at the library will continue. Last Thursday marked Ms. Kiel’s last day at the Cutchogue library, as she accepted a database librarian position at Chicago-based real estate company JLL. Jul Fedele will fill Ms. Kiel’s role at Cutchogue. While the kids would surely miss the program, they would continue to express themselves in other ways. Jackson said he enjoys filming birds in his backyard, while Abby and Samantha create comics. Their characters, Purple Flamingo and Pink Cat, enjoy the same adventures the girls embark on in real life, from going to a New York Rangers game to visiting Salem, Mass.

“When I make comics I make them funny, but for movies I like scary,” Abby said.

“Me too,” Samantha added.