******** ANIMATION OPEN CALL ********
Hellavision Television Network Presents
Hellavision Television Network Presents
A Celebration of Movement
Inviting you to dance outside the ordinary and transform live-action performance into animation. Leave the stage behind. Dance somewhere unexpected, rotoscope or reference the results, and discover what your body can say that words cannot.
Record yourself or someone else to begin your animation. This footage should be a starting point – whether you end up directly using the dance footage as a base layer for rotoscope or as reference is up to you.
Record yourself or someone else to begin your animation. This footage should be a starting point – whether you end up directly using the dance footage as a base layer for rotoscope or as reference is up to you.
Your submission must include a dance in an atypical, unusual, or off-the-wall location.
PROCESS
① Consider Space
Option A:
Choose a location you can physically interact with. For example, dancing with, in or around a particular tree. On a staircase at the park. (please don't trespass anywhere and get arrested!!).
Option B:
Choose a location that feels safe and secure. Like working with a green screen in your home or studio. Use an object, a piece of furniture, or a feature of the architecture to influence movement.
Choose a location you can physically interact with. For example, dancing with, in or around a particular tree. On a staircase at the park. (please don't trespass anywhere and get arrested!!).
Option B:
Choose a location that feels safe and secure. Like working with a green screen in your home or studio. Use an object, a piece of furniture, or a feature of the architecture to influence movement.
② Capture Reference
Set up a camera. Record yourself dancing, or someone else dancing, or many people dancing. Gather the names of your dancers so they can be credited.
Explore dance and movement in a space that calls to your imagination and your own sense of dance expression. Get as weird as you want. Consider the full spectrum of dance styles. Feel free to reference any past, present, or future dance styles and make them your own.
Explore dance and movement in a space that calls to your imagination and your own sense of dance expression. Get as weird as you want. Consider the full spectrum of dance styles. Feel free to reference any past, present, or future dance styles and make them your own.
③ Animate
When considering how to use your dance video reference, try experimenting with materials you may not normally use in your regular art/animation practice. We suggest trying rotoscope!
Feel welcome to try new things to help you express a feeling, a story, a memory, a dream, a nightmare, a vibe, an energy that may be tough to put into words. What can the body and the materials say that words can’t?
Place your dance in a completely different environment. It doesn’t have to be an environment that exists in reality. You could perform in hell, in a painting, in a sci-fi world, in any point in history.
Feel welcome to try new things to help you express a feeling, a story, a memory, a dream, a nightmare, a vibe, an energy that may be tough to put into words. What can the body and the materials say that words can’t?
Place your dance in a completely different environment. It doesn’t have to be an environment that exists in reality. You could perform in hell, in a painting, in a sci-fi world, in any point in history.
④ Consider Sound
Does your foley sound and/or music clash with your dance? Does it flow? Does it exaggerate? Does it soften? How does sound expand the expression of your animation?
⑤ Go Deeper
Tap into the spectrum of human emotion in your dance animation. Push your movement into the unreal, surreal, beautiful…
⑥ SUBMIT
TL;DR: Record yourself or someone else dancing. Let this footage influence what you make. Use that footage for rotoscoping or as reference in animation. Place your character in a completely different environment.
FORMAT
REQUIREMENTS
We prioritize work made deliberately for Hellavision. We consider Hellavision to be a making platform. You can still submit work that was made independently, we just may or may not use it.
*****Your submission must include a dance in an atypical, unusual, or off-the-wall location; NO dance clubs, dance studios, stages, or theaters. *****
DO NOT INCLUDE CREDITS ON THE ANIMATION
MUST HAVE SOUND
NO COPYRIGHTED MUSIC
DO NOT USE AI FOR SOUND AND/OR VISUALS
10 to 60 seconds (NO MORE NO LESS)
1920x1080
24 fps
H.264 - no bitrate limit
.mp4
Use the following naming convention:
Title_FullName.mp4
*****Your submission must include a dance in an atypical, unusual, or off-the-wall location; NO dance clubs, dance studios, stages, or theaters. *****
DO NOT INCLUDE CREDITS ON THE ANIMATION
MUST HAVE SOUND
NO COPYRIGHTED MUSIC
DO NOT USE AI FOR SOUND AND/OR VISUALS
10 to 60 seconds (NO MORE NO LESS)
1920x1080
24 fps
H.264 - no bitrate limit
.mp4
Use the following naming convention:
Title_FullName.mp4
SUBMIT
SPEND AS LITTLE TIME ON IT AS POSSIBLE. CUT ALL CORNERS. BAD IS GREAT.
Make choices without judgment. Low effort. Low, low, low. Make things that are profound, or have absurd circumstances, or are visually interesting. Consider impact. Less shocking, more intelligent.
Need a sounding board? Wanna share your work and see what other people are doing? Check out our DISCORD.
We will email confirmations roughly 2 weeks after the open call deadline.
Make choices without judgment. Low effort. Low, low, low. Make things that are profound, or have absurd circumstances, or are visually interesting. Consider impact. Less shocking, more intelligent.
Need a sounding board? Wanna share your work and see what other people are doing? Check out our DISCORD.
We will email confirmations roughly 2 weeks after the open call deadline.
SUBMIT HERE
Soft Deadline:
September 6, 2026
Discord Show & Tell TBD. Don't need to participate in this event to be able to submit. Soft Deadlines are just a one week warning/check-in. Not strict.
Hard Deadline:
September 13, 2026
This is the HARD deadline, please submit by this date.
