For his Motion Graphics class at Savannah College of Art and Design, Nathaniel Milburn was challenged to enter a video in The Sparky Awards, using the theme of “Sharing Ideas.” The result is this charming short titled Lets brighten dark situations!

They’re keeping it fresh over at the 11 Second Club competition – keeping us on our toes. April’s competition featured an audio clip with no dialog – just sound effects. This resulted in a wide variety of interpretations in the 160 submissions. Taking 3rd this month was Matt Shepherd, who was the reigning champ. Watch his submission, then go get started on the May competition, which is already under way:

The Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) has launched their Chicken Jam event. Here’s how it works – create a 10-second animated film that incorporates the “chicken” theme, submit it to TAIS, and your short will be cut into a showreel that will be screened at the National Film Board in June. Visit the TAIS site for a submission form and further information. The deadline is May 29, 2009.

Here’s Matt Shepherd’s winning take from March’s 11 Second Club competition, which saw 117 entries:

And here’s Noor Mohammed’s version, which placed 9th:

As we mentioned back in February, the gang over at SplineDoctors.com launched a Christian Bale animation contest – challenging animators to bring his potty-mouthed rant to life. Ireland’s Chris O’Hara took the top prize with this Flash-animated version featuring Batman and a Fly Guy. [NSFW - naughty talk]