After we were initially sent Henrique Barone’s stellar short, This Idea Is Not Working, our jaws hit floor. We immediately wanted to share it with our  Motionographer readers, so got the engine warmed up and put things in motion. Then, something happened: we found out it’s a student piece. Jeepers! We scratched our head and weighed the options. Of course, we do have our Students section and although you can find it there, we were so impressed by Barone’s animation skills that we had no choice but to give it some love in our Main section. One thing we never want Motionographer to become is a place where only big-studios reign supreme and the little guy (you, me, us, etc) has no shot to shine. And not to gush, but it’s rare to find animation so inventive, polished and well-timed—let alone, a student piece. Did we mention that it’s hand-drawn?

After you watch This Idea Is Not Working, be sure to check out a wonderful step-by-step breakdown that the artist put together here.

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Hat tip to Jason Sondhi.

Credits
Creative Team: Kate Broadhurst, Emma-Rose Dade, Helen Dallat, Daisy Gould, Joseph Wallace
Voices: Catherine McKinnon, Adam Peck, Edith Woolley
Music: Jack Vaughan

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Out of Sight on Vimeo.

So this is a year old, but it’s still wonderful, and I can’t believe it’s slipped through my posting schedule. A trio of Taiwanese students made these as part of their graduation project. Their making-of page is worth looking at, even though the text is all in Mandarin and a simple Google translate of the page isn’t doing a decent job at all. It’s one of the most moving piece of animation I have seen lately … if you’re not touched by this, you may be made of wood!

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We’re kicking off our 2011 Ottawa remembrances with the student film selections. In the competition were many student shorts previously featured on Motionographer, including One Minute Puberty by Alexander Gellner and Stay Home by Caleb Wood. Two standouts I hadn’t seen before were OAIF award winners I’m Fine Thanks by Eamonn O’Neill (trailer above) and The Renter by Jason Carpenter.

Read on for a full write-up of the 2011 OAIF Student Films.

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Full of charm and lovingly animated, this treat comes courtesy of London Royal College of Art student Lara Lee.

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This November, Pictoplasma returns to New York City, bringing a colorful parade of speakers, characters, films and art along with it.

Focusing on the art and craft of character design, this year’s lineup of speakers spans the globe, including Geneviève Gauckler (FR), Allyson Mellberg Taylor (USA), BeatBots (JP/USA) and Jon Burgerman (UK). They cover a wide range of media and disciplines, such as illustration, graphic design, game design, fashion, art and robotics. In addition to the conference, there will be four days of events, screenings, installation and other madcap fun across the city.

Get the full details on the Pictoplasma site and register early. Oh, and if you’re reading this, then we want to thank you by giving away one free pass via a random drawing. Leave your name and an e-mail address in the comments below before 12 pm EST Thursday, Oct. 6. One entry per person, please. We’ll announce the winner later this week.

See you there!

UPDATE: Comments are now closed. We’ll announce the winner soon!

UPDATE #2: We have a winner! Congratulations to Waleed Zaiter and thanks to all who participated. Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for more opportunities!

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Keep an eye out for his forthcoming iPad game, Ready Steady Bang.

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