The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival

We’re all really excited about our panel of judges for the Festival. Please keep watching this blog for a little info on each, starting with Andreas Deja, the famous Disney lead animator. If you’re a Los Angeleno you’ve probably had a chance to hear Andreas speak about the art of animation. During a special tribute to Ward Kimball presented by Disney several years ago, Andreas pulled a lot of Ward’s work from the Disney archives and explained why, in terms of composition, staging and movement, Ward’s work is so inspirational. It was amazing to see Andreas, who is such a refined and accomplished artist, actually “flip” scenes of Ward’s animation. With his keen eye, Andreas was able to point out the smallest of line shapes that gave character to Ward’s animation. Andreas himself is known for just this subtle touch. You can really tell his genius in such films as [Read more…]

An A-list panel of judges are joining us this year, as usual.

–Fred

Would a cool movie by any other name still be just as cool? Would “Army of Darkness” still kick ass if the title was “The Man Who Went Back in Time”? I’m sure most of you are finished with your films and are all ready to send them into the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival but are reluctant because you can’t figure out what to name your piece. After all, naming your film is almost as important as the film itself. To help you out in the naming process here is a list of a bunch of different words and phrases that can help give the title of your film some pizzazz, make it stand out, and maybe even give it some cult status.

Crusher
Naked
Spine Rage
Monkey
Intergalactic
Tingling
Ferociously
Part 3
Beer
Bikini
“This time it’s personal”
Star Wars
Bloody
Explosion
Factor
Cat People
Samurai
Ninja
Pickles
Zombies
Death [Read more…]

There are just twelve days left for all you animation filmmakers out there to submit your shorts to the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival for a slot in August’s event. Well, twelve days if you’re reading this on Friday, May 19. If you’re reading this after that day, then you’ve got even less time. In any case, the deadline is Wednesday, May 31.

Here are links to sites that have been doing coverage on the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival. Since they were kind enough to mention us, we thought it would be nice to mention some of them. So, please check out these amazing sites and blogs!

Websites:
3D buzz
3D Ark
Highend 3D
The Scratchpost
Cartoon Brew

Blogs:
Rob Lilly
Kungfukoi
The 123d.com
Phil Dale

-Hadley

Congratulations to filmmaker Rie Ito, one of the nominees for the 33rd Annual Student Academy Awards, just announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rie’s nominated for the short “Betty”, a film which earned a spot in the 2005 season of The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival’s top ten films. Rie completed “Betty” as a student at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. The winners are announced June 10th. Best of luck, Rie.

We’re looking forward to bringing you more future award-winning and nominated films this August. So watch.

– Eric

Tip #10 Dedicate your film to a fake person who died of something. People will clap and applaud when they think you did that crappy animation of a cow ninja who fights a diary farmer for someone who passed away.

Tip #9 Make references to pop culture. No matter how awful your film is, people will be forced to like your film when you relate it to something they obsess over.

Tip #7 Include more dialogue than action. Why draw a complicated action scene when you can just talk about it?

Tip #8 Avoid lip sync by covering the mouth. Why draw out and time tedious dialogue when you can simply cover the mouth?
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Hey, cartoon filmmakers*, you have four weeks from today, May 3, to get your shorts to us for the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival.

– Eric

* That’s “cartoon filmmakers” as in filmmakers who create cartoons, not filmmakers who are cartoons.