LaGRANGE — On Tuesday, a group of tweens learned the basics of stop-motion photography at the LaGrange Memorial Library by making short films using toys and cameras.

“Today we are learning about the basics,” said Steven Keel, the library assistant who oversaw the class, part of the Tech Explorers program. “I hope they learn a couple of things and have fun. The most important thing is to have fun … see that this is actually an art form.”

The preteens split into groups and wrote scripts for what would happen in their films, then got to work building sets. Before long they were ready to start taking pictures.

“These are all just still photographs put together to give the illusion of motion,” said Keel. “Just putting all those frames together is when we get our final result.”

The library provided cameras and tripods for the tweens to take the pictures for their films. Stop-motion photography is the style of film where figures are moved by small increments in each still frame to make it appear they are moving. This was used to create movies like the recent “Kubo and the Two Strings” and 1993’s “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.”

The Tech Explorers is a new library program that was created to fill the gap in programs between the children and teens age groups.

“The tweens didn’t have a whole lot going on,” said Darla Rance, theYouth Service Coordinatorat the library. “Tech Explorers is especially for 9 to 12 year olds, and it’s a fun time.”