Stop Motion Animation of Falling

Since I've never attempted stop motion or any kind of animation, I decided to stick to a simple simulation: an object rolling off an edge. In order to plan the animation, I first took a video of me actually performing the act several times as reference. After capturing the right video of myself rolling the object (in this case, a Hello Kitty mushroom eraser) off an edge (of a shoebox), I uploaded it to Tracker and analyzed the object's path of falling:

I then used the data as reference and drew out a similar path of action on my background. I tried to follow the spacing rules as closely as I could. Then, I created the set and a makeshift "studio" to shoot the stop motion animation:

 

I made use of all the shoeboxes lying around my house and taped everything down in place. I also placed marks on important areas (such as the camera's position) in case I accidentally moved something and lost my place. I utilized the "Stop-motion" application on my iPhone to shoot the animation. Basically, it allowed me to take several photos, which it then automatically strung together as one video.

Although my animation is very simple, it took me several attempts, edits and recalculations to reach the final result, which still is not very convincing. However, I had fun with it and am proud of what I was able to achieve. I have gained an even greater appreciation for all animators and physicists. 

Below are two of the better videos I shot. Each features aspects I liked that the other lacked. If I knew how to, I would have cut parts from each and put them together, which would probably yield a smoother action.