THAC 8 has officially started! This is Bricks in Motion's second official THAC, but the eighth one held inside the brickfilming community. You have exactly twenty-four hours to complete your entries, so good luck to all. 

Theme

The theme for this year's THAC is "Ambition". This can be interpreted a number of ways -- it can be integrated into the story of your film, or in your approach to creating the film. We encourage taking creative license in your interpretation of the theme.  Please don't give us a plot and ask if it's ambitious.  It's all up to you, so surprise us!

The Mod Elements

LETTER MOD

This year's letter mod will be the letter "M."  The regulations are as follows:

    1.    The M does not necessarily have to take the form of an upright M, so it can be flipped, or rotated any number of degrees.
    2.    The allowed variant is the letter "W".
    3.    For clarification, these are the only allowed letter mods, and no other letters or numbers will be accepted.
    4.    The mod must be visible in each frame of each shot, if the color mod is not used.

COLOR MOD

This year's color mod will be a red LEGO piece connected to a green LEGO piece. The regulations are as follows:

    1.    The red and green pieces must be LEGO or a similar make and must be touching, if not connected.
    2.    Any pieces may be used (including minifigures), so long as they are the correct colors [lime is acceptable as a variant for green].
    3.    The mod must be visible in each frame of each shot, if the letter mod is not used.

MOD APPLICATION

•  As you can see, there are two mod elements, so you can use them interchangeably in your frames, but one or the other must be present.

•  Thus, you must utilize one of the following three combinations of mod elements in each frame of your entry:
    A.    Only the color mod.
    B.    Only the letter mod.
    C.    Both the color and letter mod.

•  Remember that in your credits, the mod elements do not have to be present, unless pictures or videos are included.

Note: It is not original to make a film about how the element changes from scene to scene and appears in every shot. The element is not intended to be the focus for the film, just a way to ensure entries are made within the 24-hour time period.

Submission

Please send all entries to [email protected] by tomorrow, December 19, 2010 at 12:40 PM (40 min after noon) GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) (fixed clock here.  Please remember to INCLUDE YOUR USERNAME IN YOUR E-MAIL. Any entries sent after this time will be, unfortunately, disqualified.  In your e-mail, include the names (username or otherwise) of everybody who helped you out with your film and a download link for the film.  To ensure that all entries are viewable by everyone, a version of the video with a maximum file size of 10 megabytes per minute must be submitted within the 24 hour time period. For compatibilty and consistency, entries must be encoded using one of the following codecs:

Realvideo (Realmedia), DivX (in a .avi file), .wmv (Windows Media) or .mov (Quicktime).

You may also upload your video to YouTube, but you MUST set is as unlisted/private so that it is not public.  You are welcome to make your films public as soon the clock strikes 12:40 (GMT) tomorrow, but not a second before.  You may upload a high quality version if you want but your film thread must contain the one you submit in the e-mail.  Acceptable sites for hosting are ones like MediaFire. 

Rules

•  Entries must be animated and must be primarily composed of stop motion animation.  3D, Flash, or other animation techniques may be used to supplement the stop-motion but may not be the main focus.

•  The film should contain LEGO or similar 'brick' construction toys, such as MEGA Bloks.

•  There must be at least 30 seconds of animation in the entry.  There is no maximum length.

•  Joint entries are allowed, as are multiple entries.

•  Entries may not contain adult language, graphic violence (blood and/or gore) or sexual themes.

•  While copyrighted/trademarked properties are allowed, you are discouraged from basing your movie off of preexisting films or franchises (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.). It's not original, and will hurt your chances in the judging process. Copyrighted music may be used, but if you so choose, you are permitted to have created original music beforehand.  Music does not have to be created within the 24 hour time limit.

•  If you want a refresher on prizes, visit the THAC 8 thread.

Sponsor Logo

If you want to be eligible for the 10$ additional prize, you must include this logo in your film for at least 2 seconds. If you upload to YouTube, you will also need a store link available in the description: http://brickathon.com
You can read more about the prizes here.

Entries
This is a list of all entries that have been submitted. (will be updated at end of contest)
Blue=]Submitted (waiting to be color/letter mod checked)
Green=]Submitted and verified
Red=]Submitted and disqualified (no color/letter mods)
Orange=]Problem occurred during verification (mod not found, director being contacted)

Krikeen- The Ambition of One]
SunnySnowStudios- Drawings]
GGSStudios- Bruno's Ambition]
ofsifilms- Bionics]
Luigi123X- The Key]
JacksonSullivan- The Hobo in a Suit]
Legostothemax- Billy and the Search for the Treasure Chest]
Mason- The Sleigh]
Brickyman- Ambitious Little Robot]
LegoStudiosPlus- The Superhero]
BindingBricks- Jimmy the Hacky Sacky Guy]
Icebergstudios- The Knight and the Ninja]
thefourmonkeys- Hey Dude, Let's Take Over the World]
bionicle28- If at First You Don't Succeed]
goldencamerastudios- Over-Ambitious]
Roblego2- Reaching for the Stars]
MadLibs- The Science Fair]
UniLego- David and the Spartan]
Mustache Maniacs- When Barrels Fly]
WiiViewrFan- Bad Day]
duffcow56- WallClimb]
Stopped Motion- The Waiting]
ahnt- Ambiguous Ambitions]
Daragh- All Work and No Play]
CrazyMolerat- Simple Minded]
Legoped- Ambition]
Darthrugg- There Once Was a Man]
nickymcvay- Failed Ambition]
TheLegoCammster7- Armed Desires]
Shovel Pounder- The Marathon]
Max Butcher- How Mr. Socially Impaired Failed to Steal Christmas]
TheBrickFlicks- An Untitled Film]
Nick Durron- Elmore]
Just Kidden- Pig in a Shower]
arminfilms- The Ambitious Fighter]
BrainWave- Office Block Hero]
NewRight- Noir]
filmyguy- The Propelled Man]
jogopoco- Jumping the Gun]
gunsnlegos025- Boot Camp]
Bodville- Venusians]
MindGame- Treasure Hunter]
SpudNicStudios- Ambitious Soccer Ball Kick]
nichtgedreht and prisac- Der Cyber-Fuhrer]
StudioL30- A Fruitless Attempt]
Legoander- Love's Labour]
Legomoviemaker1- Ambitions]
PdoubleyouC- The Stoplight]
namchild- LEGO VS.]
Duke Boy- The Escape]
Lucas- Get a Pet]
Living LEGO- Climbing the Ladder]
Tryxx- Ruthless Ambition]
Turtle393- Determined]
AniMax- Bruce's Ambition]
Lgmaster- The Box Man]
Darth Bocaj- Reach for the Sky]
Rsteenoven- Unfulfilled]
Gaston- Keep on Keepin' On]
Hazzat- iPhone Line]
Iver and Jakob- Ambitious Wrestler]
Matthew- Ambition of a Brickfilmer]
Aiwha- The Ambition to Prepare a Great Christmas Fest]
JTProductions- Ambitions]
coolasice11- iAmbition]
sammyboi2010- My Ambition]
funmiproductions- Ambition]
Knowlesproductions- The Hobo's Ambition]
Sean- The Beast (late submission)]

If your film is not on this list, please let me know.