Rock/Paper/Scissors Winner: Gary Finkler Co-Creator: Joseph "Yossi" Rosenberg School: NYU   Watch the Winning Short: Rock/Paper/Scissors

1. How did you get into animation?

Gary: I've always loved to draw. If I have a pencil and paper in hand, I'm probably drawing something. I'd say my school notebooks have more drawings in them than class notes. I've always loved to watch cartoons too, but for some reason it had never really occurred to me that I could make a living creating them. So when I started thinking about possible careers and realized maybe I could draw or do art as a job, I was sold.
Yossi: I've been into animation ever since I was in second grade and I was suspended for making a flip book about the teacher's hair being on fire.

2. Where did you get the idea for this?

The idea for Rock, Paper, Scissors came about when my co-creator Yossi and I were assigned to make an animation portraying anger for our Intro to Animation class. Yossi was taking an anthropology class at the time, and his teacher mentioned that the game rock, paper, scissors might actually portray the animalistic urge for violence and evil within us, which all the students found hilarious; Here was this game that we played as preschoolers which really represents the darkest side of human nature?! We decided to take this idea to the next level.

3. How did you create this short?

We used clay to create the characters Rock, Paper, and Scissors (scissors is made partially from actual scissors), and then we recorded their movements using stop-motion animation. A simple 3 hour class assignement ended up taking us 3 days to film and edit.

4. What are your favorite animated shows or movies?

Gary: My favorite shows would have to be Family Guy and Duck Tales. My favorite animated movie is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Yossi: Ren and Stimpy and Wallace and Gromit