POPtalk

Attention fledgling writers and movie producers!

As part of our forthcoming Spotlights, Weaving Tales and Making Movies, we have a challenge for you. Weaving Tales is about storytelling, and the skills you need to create a good story and Making Movies is about the art of film making – whether it’s animation or a major Hollywood blockbuster.

The competition challenge: Make a short movie starring Tim & Moby using one of 3 scenarios.

To help you take you from script to screen we’ve written our own 3 step plan to help get you started: Tim & Moby’s guide to making movies .

• The winning entry in the 7-11 category will win a Flip Mino HD 3rd Generation camera and a collection of the Radio Times Top 10 family movies ever on DVD.
• The winning entry in the 12-16 category will win a Flip Mino HD 3rd Generation camera and a collection of the BFI’s Top 10 British films on DVD plus the book, play or screenplay.

Competition submission criteria:

• This competition is for children between 7-11 and 12-16.
• The winner will be chosen by the BrainPOP UK team. Editors’ decision is final.
• You must use one of the scenarios below as the starting point for your movie.
  
• The deadline is midnight 16th December 2010. Entries received after this point will not be considered.
• Finished movies must be under 3 mins and be all your own work.
• They must be in a digital format.
• The winners will be contacted by email in the new year.
• The winning entries will be showcased on this blog and shown at BETT 2011 on our stand.

You can read our full Terms and Conditions on our website.

Please download these three scenarios and pick JUST ONE to form the basis of your Tim & Moby script. Where you take it is up to you!

Script Option 1 – Adventure

“Tim and Moby stand in the Prime Minister’s secret underground office…“

Script Option 2 – Romance

“Tim stands alone in a shop browsing through a rack of t-shirts. Moby comes stomping into the shop accompanied by a stranger…“

Script Option 3 – Horror

“Tim and Moby are walking through a cold, dark forest…“

TOP TIP! Watch The Writing Process , Writing Dialogue & Filmmaking movies on BrainPOP UK to get advice from Tim & Moby.

You are welcome to submit your finished movie in any way you like, as long as it can be accessed online.

1. Live acting: You’re going to need a camcorder or phone with a camera function to record your movie, actors, a studio space and costumes. And find someone to shout “CUT!”
2. Green screen: You might also want to use chroma screen technology (here is a very useful and comprehensive step by step guide to using green screen in the classroom by Sheffield South Learning center).
3. Stop motion animation: You could use claymation like Wallace and Gromit, papercraft like “Star Wars in 2 minutes” or using physical objects like the amazing “Dot. The world’s smallest stop-motion animation“. Have a read of this wonderful guide to stop motion animation for beginners on Photojojo.
4. Audio play: If you don’t have access to a camera, you could just record your script as a podcast play with sound effects – a fun challenge on its own! Try Podium.
5. Digital animation: There are lots of amazing animation tools online. Try Anithings (animations), Zooburst (3D pop up ebooks), Xtranormal (you type and the characters talk) and Comic life (make a comic form your images) and many more. Or you may be a Flash guru.

You can submit your finished movie if it’s under 10MB using the form below. If it’s over 10MB or you host it online get in touch with info@brainpop.co.uk.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with. Good luck everyone.

Aaaand, ACTION!

Related Posts:

• Spotlight on…Making Movies
• Movie Competition Prizes
• Green screen fun and short, short stories
• Spotlight on Creative Writing
• Spotlight on Weaving Tales