The mythical Bigfoot and AI-enabled deep fake technology take center stage in the inaugural competition, part of the all-new Animation District at the upcoming 51st Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival, set for August 31-September 1 in Seattle.
As part of the all-new Animation District lineup within the Visual Arts program of the 2024 Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival, the inaugural Big Fake Deep Foot Competition has issued a Call for Entries. The international competition calls for artists and filmmakers to submit their best deep fakes of Bigfoot as a comedic and harrowing portrait of current deep fake technology.
According to the organizers, “Deep fake animation is challenging our ability to separate fact from fiction, the real from the make-believe. There was a time when seeing was believing, but those days are quickly coming to a close. Artificial intelligence can animate, manipulate, and create increasingly believable content – from celebrities to politicians to house cats – this technology can be great comedy, devastating slander and political mayhem, and will increasingly blur the lines between what is real and what is computer generated.”
The central character of the competition is the mythical Bigfoot. Bigfoot can be shopping at the mall, sunbathing on a beach, or running for president. No matter what your deep fake of Bigfoot is doing or saying, you have 5 minutes max to tell their story. The top 15 entries will screen in the Animation District on Labor Day weekend, August 31 - September 1, during Bumbershoot.
The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $5,000.00.
The competition’s diverse jury includes a Bigfoot expert, a comic artist, a deep fake expert, an art critic, and a “really hairy guy.”
Submissions must be live on YouTube no later than July 28, 2024. Complete competition rules and entry information can be found here.
Seattle’s Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival returns for the 51st year this Labor Day Weekend, August 31 – September 1, with a dynamic 2024 program that includes a brand-new Animation District as part of its robust Visual Arts program. The stellar music lineup features Pavement, James Blake, Courtney Barnett, Freddie Gibbs, and a slew of other performers, curated by returning Bumbershoot veteran talent buyer Chris Porter, who helmed the festival's lineup from 1997 to 2016. As always, Bumbershoot will spotlight exemplary Culinary Arts offerings from more than 50 different Pacific Northwest-focused restaurants, wineries, and breweries.
The newly launched Animation District is part of the larger Visual Arts programming lineup that will host a wide array of exciting installments around the Seattle Center Campus. Highlights include in-person presentations by Troy Quane, director of the Oscar-nominated Nimona, Mike Lasker, the VFX supervisor and Patrick O’Keefe, the production designer on the Oscar-nominated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Shannon Tindle, the writer/director of Netflix’s highly anticipated Ultraman: Rising, and Matthew Welford, the VFX supervisor and Tefft Smith II, the visualization supervisor of Sony Entertainment’s upcoming Harold and the Purple Crayon. Plus, Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey will be on hand to lead Q&As and MC the talks!
Also in the Animation District, experimental animator and artist Stefan Gruber directs “Rock, Paper, Scissors” – a material-based group film program. Other programs in this district include augmented reality, gaming, contemporary art animations, a youth animation program curated by Orion Razat, and film screenings…
… All previewing a soon-to-be-announced 2025 Animation Festival!
Single Day and Two-Day passes are now on sale at https://www.bumbershoot.com.
You can find complete festival information here, the latest music lineup information here, the Visual Arts lineup information here, and the Culinary Arts lineup information here.
Source: Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
