Harb40 Passion Competition set to return this year!

Good news film competition fans! Moviestorm are pleased to announce the return of the Harb40 Passion Competition, which will take place from August this year.

The competition urges contestants to make a film set to a specific theme of passion. There are usually some restrictions on content, but films could be made using any animation program, video game or live action technique.

This year, the specific theme for the competition will be released on August 2, and the submission period will run from August 23 until October 11. 

All submissions will go through a specific thread on the competition forums which will be opened at theme release.

Competition winners will be announced on November 22/23 during the Machinima Expo (which is run by a group that includes Kate Fosk, aka kkffoo, and an actor named Richard Grove, aka Ricky Grove).

See below for the first promotional video for the 2014 competition, by Moviestorm user Joseph Kwong, aka JosephKW:

The

Competition creator, Craig (Harb40) began experimenting with animation back in 2005 after playing a game called 'The Movies'. After following a website called The Movies Underground, he was introduced to other games animation tools such as Moviestorm. 

Today, Moviestorm is now one of his primary animation programmes.

Competition creator Craig told Moviestorm:

"Animation programmes like Moviestorm, The Sims and iClone are taking over in the competition.
In 2013, BiggsTrek (Pioneer) took top honours with an iClone creation but has used Moviestorm since it's inception.
"Second place went to JosephKw, using Moviestorm, while fourth and fifth places were MysterysGames, aka mystery_egypt, and Nahton, both using Moviestorm.
"Also, in 2012, Animatechnica took first place with an iClone creation and Chatnoir Studios took second with a Moviestorm film.
"One of the nice things about the prizes like Moviestorm is the winner is given a choice of a free user license or to receive credits to purchase more gaming assets and enhance their animation video skills
"Clips from the winning films are shown at the Machinima Expo which in turn puts the name Moviestorm out to wide audience of machinima and animation creators.

Watch below for the film by Moviestorm user JosephKW that scooped second prize in the competition last year:

The winning films receive software prizes and the creators were interviewed on The Movies On Air Radio show.

Moviestorm will once again sponsor the competition this year. In the past, the competition has received other sponsorship from Sony and Reallusion.

Want to know more?

To find out more about the competition, visit http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com/
Visit the competition Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/211515672195252/.
You can also follow the competition on Twitter @Harb40PassComp

2013 Harb40 Passion Competition winners announced

Moviestorm are pleased to announce the winners for the film animation 2013 Harb40 Passion Competition.

The competition urged contestants to make a film set to a specific theme of passion. There were some restrictions on content, but films could be made using any animation program, video game or live action technique.

Two films submitted using Moviestorm made it into the winners list and the top five.

The winning films receive software prizes and the creators were interviewed on The Movies On Air Radio show.

The competition has received other sponsorship from Sony and Reallusion.

Creator of the competition, Craig Harbison said:

"Animation programmes like Moviestorm, The Sims and iClone are taking over in the competition.

"One of the nice things about the prizes like Moviestorm is the winner is given a choice of a free user license or to receive credits to purchase more gaming assets and enhance their animation video skills."

Craig (Harb40) began experimenting with animation back in 2005 after playing a game called 'The Movies'. After following a website called The Movies Underground, he was introduced to other games animation tools such as Moviestorm. Today, Moviestorm is now one of his primary animation programmes. 

Winners List

Here is the official winners list:

1st Place
Biggstrek -- Haunter of the Dark -- made with iClone

2nd Place
Josephkw -- Pickman's Model -- made with MS

3rd Place
D.L. Watson -- Dichotomy -- Live action film

4th Place
Mystery Egypt -- Friends -- made with MS

5th Place
Nahton -- Your Brains -- made with The Movies

The winners were announced during the Machinima Expo on November 17th.

A list of all films submitted can be found here.

Craig Harbison added: "We also added a short story category this year. The top story was submitted by Richard Poshard, aka RPO.

"Along with some professional writing software he will receive a one year subscription to a Moviestorm themed bundle or 5000 Moviestorm points (if he is already subscribed) to either turn his work into a short video or help to illustrate the story or any other work he has done."

Sony Creative Software, HitFilm and Reallusion along with Moviestorm were the sponsors again this year for the video category and Scrivener, Reallusion and Moviestorm sponsored the short story category.

A list of all 4 stories submitted can be found here.

Further links

To find out more about the competition, visit http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com/ 
Visit the competition Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/211515672195252/.
You can also follow the competition on Twitter @Harb40PassComp

Stars and Storm 2013 winners announced

The Movies FR in association with Moviestorm are proud to present the results of the Stars and Storm 2013 competition.

 Alutt, admin of The Movies FR, said: "All in all, every entry was very atmospheric and very interesting to watch. 

"We wish a big congratulations to all the participants and thank them for taking part - we hope they had fun creating the videos and everyone really enjoyed taking part.


"For a better understanding of how we determined the final results and also our podium, we present two charts, one for the technical aspects and one for the script aspects, and also a compilation of the jurors comments for each movie."

Jury for videos: Poulet Noir + Vincent C. + Walvince + Alutt

TECHNICAL MARK (/20)
(=Direction + Editing + Soundtrack + Scenery + Costumes)
1) Contribution n°4: Melopee - The French Kiss >>> 15
2) Contribution n°1: Kibishipaul - Endurance >>> 14,25
3) Contribution n°5: DoublePrimePictures - Yearning >>> 13,25
4) Contribution n°3: Mysterysgames - Rescue from the Past >>> 12,875
5) Contribution n°2: 65radius - Un Amour Difficile >>> 12

STORY MARK (/20)
(=Script + Dialogues + Characters + Originality +Theme)
1) Contribution n°1: Kibishipaul - Endurance >>> 14
2) Contribution n°3: Mysterysgames - Rescue from the Past >>> 13,875
3) Contribution n°2: 65radius - Un Amour Difficile >>> 12,5
4) Contribution n°5: DoublePrimePictures - Yearning >>> 11,875
5) Contribution n°4: Melopee - The French Kiss >>> 10,875


FINAL RESULTS (/20) (=average marks based on the 2 previous ones)

1) Contribution n°1: kibishipaul - Endurance >>> 14,125

FEEDBACK COMMENTS: An interesting and well described "historical event", even if there are a lot of subtitles (partly a little hard to follow/read). Scenery are outstanding (except for unrealistic water) with a real sense of place. A lot of atmosphere but there's a lack of ambient music and sounds; however the ones used are appropriate. Some chosen or created animations are a little clumsy (for instance men dragging the sledge), but on a whole there are really original aspects too (soccer ball game, sledge, etc.). Direction, even if not "perfect" sometimes, is at a very good level. An interesting machinima on several accounts!

2) Contribution n°3: mysterysgames - Rescue from the Past >>> 13,375

FEEDBACK COMMENTS: The story and the message about following your dreams is nice, with a sympathetic character, although the end sounds a bit like a demo. Scenery are various and well done (at the exception of a few textures choices and some sets which looks a bit Spartan). Some costumes are a little bland, although the contrast between the old and young hero was very well done. Nice direction and camerawork, despite maybe a lack of tempo and a few clumsy camera shots. The work on expressiveness (faces, gestures) is vey well done. Very nice music too.

3) Contribution n°4: Melopee - The French Kiss >>> 12,9375

FEEDBACK COMMENTS: Technically, the movie is superb. Lighting, sets, camerawork are all delightful, and the black and white works wonderfully. But the movie lacks tempo a little. There is a lot of atmosphere, the romantic and mysterious music matches well. Characters' gestures are sometimes a bit caricatured and it may be confusing at times as to who was saying what. Nice scenery and costumes. Unfortunately there is very little story, dialogues are minimalists and the end is quite banal.

4) Contribution n°5: DoublePrimePictures- Yearning >>> 12,5625

FEEDBACK COMMENTS: A melancholic and poetic movie, with well written dialogues. The opening sequence is superb and raised expectations for the rest of the movie, which is unfortunately not at the same level. Direction and editing (including special effects) are well done, but lacks of coherence. The music is well chosen and used. Scenery and costumes are quite OK, but sets are sometimes minimalists and lightning is not always effective. Maybe some kind of old movie filter over black and white could have increased the ambiance. The work on expressiveness (especially faces) is handsome. Ambiance and tempo are also quite good. The story is simple but well written, presenting a central character with true inner beauty. Unfortunately the 'Old times' theme of the contest is not obvious.

5) Contribution n°2: 65radius - Un Amour Difficile >>> 12,25

FEEDBACK COMMENTS: A simple and special but cute and offbeat story! Thanks for the French subtitles (but be aware with automatic translators: results are very random!). The (chosen) cheap music is quite funny. There are very good soundtrack ideas, but the sound editing is a little clumsy, although sound match perfectly with action, just like in an old silent movie. Direction is quite OK; tempo+ movie editing are good. Scenery is nicely constructed; sets and costumes give a bizarre and interesting atmosphere.

*1^st prize: kibishipaul
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a £25 gift voucher on Moddingstorm by Chris Ollis: http://www.moddingstorm.co.uk/getmods.shtml

*2^nd prize: Mysterysgames
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $30 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/

*3^rd prize: Melopee
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $15 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/

PLUS *4^th and 5^th prizes: DoublePrimePictures and 65radius
1) 500MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601

The 'Stars and Storm 2013' Movies FR competition now launched

A new machinima competition called 'The Stars and Storm 2013' has now been launched by The Movies FR (the French speaking community for The Movies, Moviestorm and Muvizu).

Alutt, admin of The Movies FR, said:

"After the first edition of Stars and Storm in 2010 which had great success, the French-speaking Moviestorm community felt it was about time to launch a new edition of this international contest.

"The Old Times theme condition came to us as we were looking for a concept that could gather various genre or subject of movies.

"In addition, we wanted to erase the language barrier, so the no dialogues idea emerged as a second condition."

The registration period for the competition runs from July 21st to September 30th, and the winners will be published in the results on October 15th.

Alutt added:

"The Movies FR has been a strong supporter of Moviestorm since 2008 and this contest is an occasion to encourage all users, including new ones, to create movies.

"It's also the occasion to acknowledge and encourage the great contribution of some very talented modders such as our partners Shirley Martin (Squirrelygirl) and Chris Ollis. It will also be a good occasion to enjoy new movies from all over the world and spend some good time creating or watching them."

More details about the competition can be found on the following forum here

Competition conditions:

The general conditions to enter the competition will be:
- free subject or genre but in adequation with a general theme : "Old Times"
- maximum one movie per director
- the movie must not have been published on the internet before 2013 - to enter the competition, directors must post a presentation of the film and a link towards the film on the special Stars and Storm topic on TMFR (so they will have to create a free account if they don't have one yet)

Prizes:
1^st prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a £25 gift voucher on Moddingstorm by Chris Ollis: http://www.moddingstorm.co.uk/getmods.shtml

2^nd prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusive French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $30 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/

3^rd prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusive French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $15 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/


Further links

The Movies FR website: http://www.themovies.fr
Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/themoviesfr
More competition information: http://bit.ly/1b40OvE

2013 Harb40 Film Passion Competition

Moviestorm are pleased to promote and sponsor the film animation 2013 Harb40 Passion Competition.

The competition urges contestants to make a film set to a specific theme of passion. There are some restrictions on content, but films can be made using any animation program, video game or live action technique. The winning films receive software prizes and the creators will be interviewed on The Movies On Air Radio show.

This year's theme for both the film and story categories will be announced on the 4th of August with the submission period to be the 24th of August to the 19th of October. The winning films and stories should be announced on the 17th of November during the Machinima Expo.

The competition has received other sponsorship from Sony and Reallusion. Creator of the competition, Craig Harbison said:

"Animation programmes like Moviestorm, The Sims and iClone are taking over in the competition. One of the nice things about the prizes like Moviestorm is the winner is given a choice of a free user license or to receive credits to purchase more gaming assets and enhance their animation video skills."

Craig (Harb40) began experimenting with animation back in 2005 after playing a game called 'The Movies'. After following a website called The Movies Underground, he was introduced to other games animation tools such as Moviestorm. Today, Moviestorm is now one of his primary animation programmes. 

"Many contestants are career oriented, looking to get into either film production or animation at the professional level. The prizes of Moviestorm allow them to enhance their skills along with learning different aspects of film making including camera placement and movement, set design, storyboarding and more. They are able to move forward and be more hands on in their future endeavours."

This year, a short story writing category has been added to the competition which hopes to bring writers and screenwriters into the fold and introduce them to the world of animation. Some of them may join into the community and use Moviestorm to either make short videos to help sell their stories, lay out storyboards or even use some scenes for artists to illustrate their stories.

Further links

To find out more about the competition, visit http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com/ 
Visit the competition Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/211515672195252/.
You can also follow the competition on Twitter @Harb40PassComp

Short and very, very sweet

The Keep It Snappy competition produced some of the best Moviestorm videos we've seen yet. We didn't pick one winner. We picked ten. Here they are. Five minutes, ten very different movies. Fantastic.

Congratulations to all nine winners. (Yes, Overman got two!)

iStorm

Ain't technology wonderful? Following our posts showing Moviestorm movies running on the PSP, and then under the defiantly mediocre YouTube client on the G1, long-time Moviestorm ForgeUK has sent us a photo of his iPod. Can you guess what's on the screen?


There are lots of ways to show off your Moviestorm movies, from the tiny to the tremendous. So come on - who can out-geek ForgeUK? Tell you what: I'll offer a prize right here and now of a few hundred Moviestorm Points to the person who sends me a photo of Moviestorm (or a Moviestorm movie) running on the most bizarre device. Send your photos to johnnie D-O-T ingram .at. moviestorm D-O-T co D-O-T uk, or just post a comment with a link to the image.

Want to see some of the movies that ForgeUK has on his iPod? Take a look at his Moviestormer page.