It's the 30th Anniversary of The Nightmare Before Christmas! So naturally, Halloween Meets Christmas is the theme for STOPMO JAM 5! Elves Trick or Treating. Werewolves baking Christmas Cookies. Vampires pumpkin caroling. But it's not Tim Burton's vision...It's your take on what would happen if Halloween collided with Christmas.
So what is a STOPMO JAM?
It is a series of short animated ideas that all relate to the theme. We've done Spring, Run, Halloween and Sci-Fi thus far.
Puppets can be made of clay, paper, foam, wire, sand, whichever materials you can utilize to create your design but it must be stop motion animated. Sorry no LEGOs, action figures, toys, or store bought items are allowed UNLESS it is modified (painted, covered with paper or clay, etc). The goal is to make a hand-made experimental film. Stop motion puppets, 2d cutouts, sand, painting, all hand-made animation techniques allowed. No transitions this time, I will take care of it.
Once you are completely finished with your Jam, upload it to online storage such as Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer and send the link to my INBOX.
If you have any questions, post them below.
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Important Technical Requirements!
For your Jam to look its best, please adhere to these guidelines.
Shot Length: up to 20 seconds maximum
Frame Rate: 24 fps (not 23.96, 30 or 29.97)
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 @ 1920 x 1080
Finished Animation: export to Quicktime (H264 is good)
Add your own Sound FX and/or music. Make sure you have the rights to it. Better yet, record your own!
DEADLINE is October 15, 2023. This may seem like a long ways away but for stop motion people, it's just around the corner. Remember, you have to build and animate everything yourself. You could easily spend months just building a puppet. Start thinking of your idea first, once you have nailed it down, get to work. Grab a calendar and plan out a schedule. Give yourself several deadlines to stay on track.
If you have any questions, send me a message thru SMA.com or better yet, reply to this thread. Content must be ok for kids to watch. I reserve the right not to include your animation if it doesn't fit into these guidelines. Go animate!
Comments
Should have been at this stage a week ago, but had trouble letting go of another project, with Baba Yaga, had to finish off some making on that before I put it away until after the Jam.
For the Jam entry - Just a couple of small props to finish, and then record some dialogue to see if I can fit into 20 seconds. It's very succinct, no waffling on, but it still looks more like 30 seconds. (It's looking likely that I'll also do a longer stand-alone version, with a couple of shots and a few frames that won't squeeze into the Jam version.) I should get set up and lit and start the first shot this week.
My idea:
Two kids dressed in costume approach Santa's house who has decorated for Halloween. One child says " This house gives the good stuff" They ring the doorbell. Santa dressed as a skeleton answers the door. "Ho Ho Happy Halloweeeen" - Kids reply "Trick or treat" and hand out their bags. Santa then throws bikes and toys onto the kids knocking them over. Three puppets (no lip sync) and a porch set. Ambitious for me but was very excited for it in the beginning but life got in the way (more than usual). Fear not, things are returning to normal and my family is doing fine.
Yes life gets in the way and art is usually my escape. I track every minute I spend creating, for three months I only had 37 hours out of a possible 501 hours. When I did my Pinocchio short I had 61 hours in January. Fall is on the way here in the states so hopefully less yard work and more art work.
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