Enter our new Animation Challenge competition

07 Feb 2017

4 mins
Image for the Animation Challenge Competition
Image for the Animation Challenge Competition

We are pleased to announce the launch of The Animation Challenge, a new filmmaking competition to encourage educators and young people aged 5-19 alike to try animation for the first time, or for those that have some experience, to develop their skills further.

To help new animators get started, we have created a new How To Animate guide, which breaks down the animation process into five simple steps. This includes selecting appropriate equipment and software, making something move, and playing your animation back. Once you have mastered these basic techniques, you are ready to take on the Animation Challenge!

To take part in the Animation Challenge, you need to create a simple stop motion animation entitled 'A Day in the Life of…'. The focus of your animation will depend on what it is you want to animate. For example, if you wanted to animate a stapler, your film could be called A Day in the Life of a Stapler, featuring a mischievous stapler causing havoc on a teacher's desk! To make things as simple as possible, we are encouraging entrants to use household objects or food items such as stationery, toys, sweets or dried pasta shapes to animate with.

Using the object(s) as inspiration, you are encouraged to develop a simple story using a three act structure and storyboard it before using the skills already developed to make your animation. For new animators, we have created a series of information guides and worksheets to help enable those with no or limited experience in animation to engage with the challenge. These include: characters, materials and sets; software and editing; and, voiceovers, sound effects and music. There is also a worksheet on early animation that sets out how it was developed; you can access this and other guides to help you get started below.

If you complete the five steps animation but do not take part in the Animation Challenge, you can still enter your short animation and we will showcase a selection of these online during the challenge.

The competition deadline is 5pm on Friday 28 April 2017, and we will announce winners on Friday 12 May 2017. For more information on the competition and how to take part in the challenge, just follow the steps here and be sure to enter your film for the chance to win some very special prizes.

You may also be interested in...

Viewing 4 of 4 related items.

Into Film Clubs

Into Film Clubs

Find out everything you need to know about starting an Into Film Club.

News details

Want to write for us?

Get in touch with your article ideas for the News and Views section.