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Animator vs. Animation 4 - Kickstarter is a 2014 funding video created by Alan Becker.
Plot[]
The video stars Alan Becker, along with a computer-generated black stick figure created in the program Adobe Flash. For the first 16 seconds, Alan explains he is an animator, of course, and showcases his traditional stick figure, which resembles "victim" and "The Chosen One". He explains that he "puts them on some kind of desktop interface and then I animate them, I try and make them come alive, and..." The stick figure he created in Flash grabs hold of his computer cursor and throws it to the side of the screen, then starts throwing pieces of the program at the cursor, burying it. The stick figure then begins to spin around, sucking in everything into a vortex. A great big explosion follows, with cracks appearing on each side of the screen, causing Alan to cry out in despair. Immediately after, the computer then shows the Blue Screen of Death.
After Alan gets a blue screen of death, he mumbles in annoyance, saying he'll have to show his face. He explains who he is, and said "chances are, you've probably seen Animator vs. Animation." He says he made the first AVA film when he was junior in high school, in June 2006, and he exploded all over the internet. At the time of the funding for Animator vs. Animation IV, he completed 3 AVA films, and says he "tries to step up his game in each one." And even though he intended the 3rd to be the last one, the "End to The Trilogy", he received thousands of requests for AVA IV. He said he wanted to make people happy, but said it wasn't as easy as it was when he was a high school kid messing around on his laptop. Now that he's grown up, and fresh out of college, he says time is literally money, and he can't devote hundreds of unpaid hours on anything if he wanted to be financially stable.
He explains the dilemma of the funding of AvA IV, and says "how am I going to answer the cries of thousands of people, without killing myself on going bankrupt?" This is where the viewers (12,000+ subscribers at the time) and Kickstarter comes in. If Alan could get enough support to last him the next year, he would create an Animator vs. Animation that would blow number 3 out of the water. His funding goal is about 1/3 of the salary a typical animator makes in the industry today (in 2013), and the more the viewers can give, the more time he can devote on the film. Thus, the faster he can make it.
He also says he has rewards to give. For $5, he'd send exclusively the viewers HD versions of the 3 Animator vs. Animations, as well as number 4 when it comes out. This was a big deal because everything you'd see on YouTube is based on a source file that's only half of HD. So, what he's going to do is go back into the source file, remaster it, so it actually gives High Definition. He says he knows it is going to take a long time before anyone sees the finished animation. So, for $10, he'd give access to a password-protected video every 1 or 2 weeks, in which he explains his process, so that you could use his techniques as well, and as well to assure you that progress is being made.
Other rewards include having your name in the credits (for all eternity), the original .FLA files of Animator vs. Animation I, II, and III, a signed Animator vs. Animation IV poster, as well as an official T-shirt, both designed by Becker, a cameo appearance in the animation, using either your name or your photo, a 1-on-1 Skype or Google Hangout chat (for as long as you want, or until it gets awkward).
He also says "as many people don't know, I have a page on IMDb (Internet Movie Database), as "Alan Becker (V)'" If the viewer pledges enough for a Special Thanks, Executive Producer, or Produced By credit, you'll be listed on IMDb under Animator vs. Animation IV. You'll also get everything else listed previously. Becker also says that "with new technologies like Tablets and iPhones, the possibilities for the next animation are almost endless." One idea he had was to have the stick figure travel by USB cord to the animator's iPhone. (Which did happen) There are 2 options you can do. 1. Pledge towards this project if you want to see Animator vs. Animation IV, and II. Share this with all your friends.
He then goes on to say "even though I've counted 218 million views of my whole series, only a tiny fraction of that is in my reach. So I'm really gonna need your help." The video then ends off with the animation from the beginning of the video, were the stick figure destroys Alan's computer, with the text "CLICK HERE FOR THE KICKSTARTER PAGE!".
Characters[]
Protagonists[]
Antagonists[]
- Kickstarter Video Stickfigure (debut/only appearance)