Here are some simple rules to follow, and the things every animator must always think about:
Narrative
Be aware of your audience and the kinds of stories that will interest them. Create a clear, engaging narrative that lets the audience identify with your story and, hopefully, be taken on a rewarding journey.
Characters
My students love creating characters and worlds for them to inhabit – character and environment creation tends to be a very symbiotic process. The best way to develop those skills is by creating your own short animation projects ... exactly the sort of projects we’re hoping you’ll share with us via GuardianWitness here.
Click here to watch this on mobile
Design
Design is so important – it's instrumental in the process of scripting, storyboarding, staging, shot layout, character and environment development, motion choreography, lighting, tool development, software development and pipeline engineering. Some of the best animations look to historical and contemporary media to help inform their narrative and aesthetic choices, so that's a great place to start.
Inspiration
Think about the things you have watched at the cinema or on TV, or the computer games you have played, lately. Would you like your project to look more like Gravity, Lord of the Rings, Avatar or Harry Potter? These are the kinds of projects our graduates work on.
Finding the right inspiration is key to your project’s success. Good luck with your submission. We are all very excited and looking forward to seeing your work.
How to submit your film
Once you have made your animation – it can be as short as you like, but no longer than three minutes – click the blue button on this page to upload it to GuardianWitness. Don't worry if you don't see your film straight away; it may take us a few hours to get them all up on the site. Sofronis will be watching your films and picking his favourites.
Closes 11pm on 28 February 2014
GuardianWitness Original Short Film award
Update: We've extended the deadline for entries to the GuardianWitness Original Short Film award – so if you upload your animation before 10am GMT on Thursday 30 January, it will also be considered for the award.
