2020 BFD Animation Contest Announcement
The Brickfilm Day Animation Contest is back for a 3rd edition, taking place between Friday 17th July and Sunday 2nd August.
As always, this contest will be judged only on stop motion animation. No story elements, set design, cinematography, voice acting, digital effects etc. will count towards judging. Think of it as a series of animation challenges and tests.
Judging
Judging will be broken down into 3 categories. Technique, Character Animation and Creativity.
1. Technique
Technique is where you'll be judged upon your use of core animation principles, including easing in and easing out, anticipation and rebound, arcs, timings and secondary action. That being said, don't be afraid to ignore these techniques for effect at certain points, for example, sudden spontaneous action without the use of easing in can convey comedy or aggression.
If you're not sure what we mean by any of these terms, this playlist by Alan Becker covering the 12 Principles of Animation is a good introduction to core animation techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-bOh8btec4CXd2ya1NmSKpi92U_l6ZJd
2. Character Animation
We'll also be judging how you convey character and emotion through your animation. Think about how you can use the movement of characters to express their feelings and personality. If they're in a joyful mood, they might bound across the frame in energetic leaps. If they're angry, they're more likely to aggressively stomp whilst looking at the ground. With something as limited in movement as a minifigure, don't be afraid to exaggerate motion to emphasise emotion.
3. Creativity
On top of the previous two categories, we’ll also be judging each entry on the creativity of the animation on show. We encourage participants to try out inventive animation methods, and think of how they can transform a simple animation test into an entertaining video.
The judging panel will compose of Lewis of Bricks and Pieces Animation, Sean from sillypenta and John of Future Past Productions, as well as a fourth guest judge for each round.
How to enter
Anyone and everyone can take part, whether you've been animating for years or only just started. The contest is all about experimenting with your animation style whilst having fun.
The contest will follow the same knockout tournament format as last year. The creators of the top 50% entries from round one will progress into the next round, and the same will happen from round two into the third and final round.
The winner will receive a 25 US Dollar Amazon online voucher, with two runners up each receiving $10 vouchers.
The first round will begin at:
4pm Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday 16th July (California, Oregon, Washington)
7pm Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday 16th July (New York, Florida, Washington DC)
12am British Summer Time on Friday 17th July
(UK, Ireland, Portugal)
1am Central European Summer Time on Friday 17th July
(France, Germany, Italy)
If your local timezone is not listed, you can compare your local time here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
The theme will be announced on our YouTube channel, Discord server, Instagram and Twitter account. From the moment the theme goes live, participants will have exactly 72 hours to animate stop motion animated clips anywhere between 5 and 20 seconds in length, primarily using LEGO bricks or figures.
Therefore Round 1 will end at:
4pm Pacific Daylight Time on Sunday 19th July
7pm Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday 19th July
12am British Summer Time on Monday 20th July
1am Central European Summer Time on Monday 20th July
The results of the first round will be posted on Tuesday 21st, with the next round beginning and again lasting 72 hours from 12am British Summer Time on Friday 24th July. The results of this second round will be announced on Tuesday 28th July, and the final will take place from 12am BST Friday 31st August to 12am on Monday 3th August.
Whilst you can include multiple clips within your entry, your video must be under 20 seconds and only one entry per participant will be accepted. If you submit multiple entries, we will only count the one we first receive.
To submit your animation, send an email to [email protected] before the round deadline, with your entry linked as an unlisted YouTube video, with the subject listed as “BFD Contest Entry, [YOUR NAME]”.
Your video may be made public once the round has ended.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to ask any questions or queries regarding the event either below in the comments, or by messaging us on Instagram or Twitter @brickfilmday.