The Lego movie was an inspiration to all of us Lego Animators. Check out this cool movie made by Lucas, Ricky, and Sam. Some of our favorite animation fans.
Animation Chefs: Ep. 7
Our seventh episode, and the last of this season! 14 minutes of epic fast-food brawling, Lego robberies, Qatar spacemen, Little Chef teaching, and info on our upcoming INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN. Stay tuned for more cooked-up content in the meantime, subscribers. And sign up to our email list for updates and giveaway opportunities!! Bon Animate!
Helping Kids Animate Gorillas at the Bronx Zoo
http://youtu.be/NsyHDj2FNHI&rel=0 We helped promote the book "Looking for Miza" for Scholastic, Inc. and Turtle Pond Publishing at the Bronx Zoo. They set up an animation station for random passerbys to make some stop-motion animation. Impromptu and fun.
We used the old set-up with a laptop, a tripod and a miniDv camera. If we were to do this today, we'd have 3-4 iPads instead. It is so much easier to do animation today than it was even a year and a half ago.
Bon Animate!
Animation Chefs
Slap Me With An App: iStopMotion for the iPad
We've been working in istopmotion for years. This quick review gives you the overview of the basic interface. You'll get some sense of the power of the app. We don't cover everything, but the basics are what we use 90 percent of the time in our stop motion animated movies.
A Serving Of Zombie Fruits and Veggies - Preview of Episode 6
A lot has happened since our last episode. We've had a fire set us back for a few months. We've done Holiday Shows. We've finished our finals in school. It's about time to launch a new episode.
As we put the finishing touches on Episode 6, we thought you might like to see a trailer of sorts.
Here is a montage on what to look for in Animation Chefs' next episode. Plus, some bonus behind the scenes footage from the Pot-O-Problems challenge - "Call of Fruity".
Make sure you stay tuned for the launch of Episode 6 probably next week. Make sure you sign-up for the email if you already haven't.
Bon Animate!
Animation Chefs
Mother's Day Animation: Animation Chefs Blossom!
We love doing animations for people we care about. We love sharing them. Sharing animation via social media, custom animation, is like handwriting a letter. Sure you can go buy a card, or send an email, or a text, or a tweet. But when you receive a handwritten letter, it get's attention. It stands out. It says you care enough to take the time to sit down and write the old fashioned way.
Even though it isn't old fashioned, doing an animation for a special occasion has the same effect. It stands out. It says, "we took the time to really think this through. We worked at 15 frames per second to make your day.
Because that's how much we think of Mom.
You should try it. All it takes is a little imagination. A mobile device with an animation app, and a bit of an edit on a laptop.
We hope you enjoy it.
Happy Mother's Day
P.S. Sorry for butchering Beethoven's Fifth.
Animation Chefs Take Manhattan: Tribeca Film Fest!
We were invited to participate in the Tribeca Film Festival's Family Day street event on the final day in New York City. The Tribeca people wanted us to help hundreds of young animators learn stop-motion animation recipes, techniques, and tips. We only had time for each new animator to make a few seconds of footage, but each young media producer brought a special flair to their creations by making their own clay and paper figures.
For most this was the very first time they animated anything. And many were very pleased this was all done on iPads. As usual, we used iStopMotion's app to bring good things to life!
If you'd like to see their creations in action, join our member's area to the right. We've posted well over 100 animation experiments by kids mostly between the ages of 5 and 10. We'll also be posting a "behind-the-scenes look at what it took us to set up such a wonderful tent and get ready for the day. This will be in the members area shortly.
Join and we'll give you a head's up when it is ready.
Until then,
Bon Animate!
Animation Chefs
Godzilla Green Screen Tests - A Fan-imation in progress...
Our fan-imations are some of the most popular posts on our website. We've helped two young men do their own stop motion Godzilla animation. Their fan-imation will be part of our upcoming Episode 6.
As a teaser, we have assembled a few of our screen tests here to show a work in progress. We animate in iStopMotion and composite and edit in iMovie 11 with the green screen function enabled in the project window.
Just a little something to tease for Episode 6 of the Animation Chefs - coming soon.
Bon Animate!
Animation Chefs
Animation Chefs: Season 1 - Episode 5
Episode 5 is our most ambitious to date. It's all here! Godzilla meets Justin Bieber, dragons are slayed, secret recipes are revealed, visitors honored, app reviews, and the dreaded Pot-O-Problems. Media making fun has never been...well...funner. In fact, we have had the mostest funnerest blast putting this all together for our animation fans. We have heard from animators from all over the world. We are joined by the multitude who wants to make their own movies. Welcome to our journey. You just might learn something that will inspire you to do what we do....think up stuff and bring it to life. Bon Animate! Animation Chefs
In Rwanda - Looking for Miza
We have had some amazing experiences as Animation Chefs over the years, but none as amazing as this. We were invited to go to Rwanda to help kids there create animations. The Rwanda Cinema Center was opening soon, and we went there with author Craig Hatkoff who had written a book about Mountain Gorillas called "Looking for Miza". Enjoy!
Bon Animate!