Last year, I was made aware of an online competition headed by FOX called "The FOX-Aniboom Holiday Animation Challenge". At the time I thought that as a working animator, I wouldn't be worth my salt if I didn't submit something. Submissions needed to be holiday related and edgy. At that time, I was also asked to do a cartoon for a public speaker friend of mine, who just won the latest National Memory Championship, promoting his memory business. What he wanted was something that capitalized on the media's hyping of President Obama's need to look at teleprompters during speeches. This is what I came up with...
I didn't end up getting paid that much for it and I completed it in lieu of any kind of competition. Up until now, I had thought that this was a long, lost opportunity. Back then, I thought Aniboom was simply FOX's website specifically for this one competition. I was so wrong.
Upon a second look, Aniboom is a website where an animator can create a profile and upload their work and share with other animators or just other online spectators. Even if you weren't an animator, one could spend all day there watching what people came up with.
In the classroom, this is important because not only can I introduce a new venue for students to enter their work, but Aniboom proves to be a real world example of why my class and their work in my class is important. As with blogging, this type of sharing gives the students an alternative audience and therefore goives them more ownership over what they come up with. It also proves to be a free-for-all arena as well for animation. They do not have to stay within the bounds of what I ask of them if they want to be a success.
The front page lists links to create a profile to upload your work. It also has a link for success stories, which are basically testimonials to how and why my class is relevant and transferable to the real world. It has a link on how to discover opportunities to fast track a career, and of course, it has a link to just go and browse through the submissions.
Aniboom is a vast field of opportunities. I don't stress out about missed competitions now, because there are others right around the corner. This is a world wide animation film festival that I plan on letting my serious students know about immediately. In fact, I'm going to upload a holiday e-card of my own...maybe they'll have another competition around the easter season. This kind of thing hopefully will be me leading my students by example.
http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/420259/EasterEmpire/
This is the first I have heard about Aniboom. You are so right about having a "real" audience for student work making a difference. Your are also right about leading by example! The Obama video is so well done. Great post, Brian.
ReplyDeleteHow experienced do you have to be to use Aniboom? i have the ambitious notion of creating music videos with my students, and animation would be the best place to start. Can you upload music into your animation? I assume you can. I guess I'll have to find out for myself.
ReplyDeletehey, jordan...
ReplyDeleteMusic videos are certainly feasible with animation. Importing music into flash is just like importing any kind of sound be it voiceover, effects, or loops. I've thought about several ideas to use as music videos but depending on what you plan on doing, you're looking at alot of work!!...
here's a couple examples of some music videos that one of my favorite animators did. This guy, Dan Meth, is good!!...and funny:
http://danmeth.com/tagged/musicvideos
i know he also did a music video for 'the hives'. but, for some reason you can only find it on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWiU9i2ZE8
the closest thing i have to one is my I.D. sign off on the stuff I put on youtube. You can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIT74Q0SmSw
just navigate to 5:01 if you don't want to sit through the actual video. Since it's frame by frame and at 12 frames per second, it took me an entire summer to complete :26 seconds of animation. I used 'idiot box' from incubus and in turn place a big fat link on my website to their charity. I was thinking that if they had a problem with my under :30 second use of their music, I would just contract myself to make an animated video for them knowing full well, though, how long something like that could possibly take.
anyway, good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.