A group of Classical Animation grads (and one instructor) have won Best Picture in the Trick 17 Stop Motion Contest!

The challenge, as described by the contest organizers: 30 teams compete over 3 days to write, shoot and edit a 1 to 3-minute Stop Motion Film. But wait, there’s a catch; teams will be provided with a sealed Top Secret style category, theme and Inspiration Package. With categories such as Stikfas, Claymation or Paper and themes such as Music Video, Movie Trailer and Commercial, animators will be challenged to work with familiar and unfamiliar mediums.

The VFS Classical Animation team included graduates Michelle Clement, Tzanko Tchangov, Tammy Dubinsky, Ian Milne, Choom Lam and their former Digital Ink & Paint instructor Jim Inkster (who must have the most appropriate name for an instructor ever).

On her blog, Michelle notes that the team was given the category of Stikfas, the medium of music video, as well as the music - a rap song.

Congrats to all the team members! You can check out the winning vid here.

And we understand congratulations are also in order for Michelle and Tzanko, who recently — and very spontaneously — tied the knot! Ahh, another great VFS result…