Other Animation Projects

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 This is a reprise of a St. Patrick's Day animation two years ago! We are prepping for SXSWedu in Austin and are a bit overwhelmed to do a fresh animation this year.

But!

We used iStopMotion and we have done a huge tutorial on how to navigate your way around iStopMotion's interface in case you are going to try your own St. Patrick's Day animation this year.

Give it a shot! The whole family worked on the animation above. From beginning to end, it took us four hours. Including our video intro. Nice way to spend some family time with a mobile device! Actually producing something, instead of gaming! Mix it up people!

This is what excites us about teaching you animation. You can think up an idea in your cranium. And the next thing you know, it is alive and moving on a screen! We live in the most amazing times. With apps like iStopMotion and iMovie - anything is possible. But like us, you sometimes might have to skip dinner to make it happen.

Make your friends and family "green" with envy, and make an animated St. Patrick's Day card this year!

Bon Animate!

Animation Chefs

Animation Chefs Halloween Special

 We had this idea. Why not do a short looping animation about one of the most famous Halloween characters in history. Only have some pun with it.

What's that? Yep you heard us right. Pun.

Enjoy the Headless Horseman as you've never seen him. Enjoy, also, the great lengths we go to to bring you the shortest footage imaginable!

Happy Halloween.

Bon Animate!

Animation Chefs

Animation Chefs: Storyboard Secrets!

Why do a storyboard? Because planning saves time in animated storytelling. That plus you have an opportunity to move the camera around for effective emotional impact. This lesson on planning animation shots, focuses on how story-boarding can be used to make your movie better!

Try turning the sound off next time you watch your favorite TV show or Youtube video. Count how many times the camera changes from a close-up, to a medium, to a long shot and visa versa.

Each shot or scene in your movie has a purpose. And each shot is a camera position. Even in table-top animation, we need to think about ways to move the camera around. This is best thought through with storyboards.

Watch this short lesson and find out how the animation Shark vs Rabbit went from being a simple "one camera" position movies to multiple camera angle movie via some good old fashioned storyboarding.

Bon Animate!

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!