Stop-motion animation Own Drum

Barbie is attracted to the same sex and after a while she falls for a mysterious, red-haired beauty. Because of her lack of confidence she is not able to express these new emotions and instead she does what is expected of her. She gives in to a loveless relationship with Ken and tries to suppress her true desires. Her life takes a turn for the worse as the pressures from society and her relationship with Ken sink in. Barbie finally realizes that her life is empty and that she has destroyed the only opportunity to become happy. Or is there still a chance to learn from her mistakes and walk her own path?

Barbie and Ken are the cliché of heterosexual love, encompassing the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity. Our movie looks behind the curtain of the perfect couple and tells a story about self-determined actions and the influence of the society on our personal happiness. It takes courage to be able walk your own path and to listen to the desires of your heart, independent from the prejudice of others. March to the beat of your Own Drum!

We will use stop-motion animation in the film, that means we will use real Barbie puppets and animate them in single frames. To show emotion, Barbie's expressions will be done using professional puppeteers for animation. We will shoot the movie from the 5th of August until the 30th of September.

OWN DRUM is a coming-of-age-animation movie with LGBT background, which is rare in the film industry. The target group is an open minded audience, who question their role in society and who enjoy well-produced stop-motion animations.

OWN DRUM will go on a world festival tour after completion. The agency "aug&ohr medien" will do the distribution. Their movies are seen in some of the most important film festivals in the world and have won in e.g. the Deutschen Kurzfilmpreis, the Short Tiger Award and the Deutschen Schnittpreis. They were nominated for the First Steps Award and the Deutschen Kamerapreis. Additionally, they received the title "Besonders Wertvoll" several times.

Our big goal is the application for Berlinale 2014 and to therefore finish the film in 2013.

OWN DRUM is a special project that is hard to categorize. This is an animation film that takes a critical look on the omnipresent figure of Barbie and the controversial presence she has in the media. This film has a high level of awareness, coupled by controversial looks by the less open-minded whom are generally the older generations. The time has finally come after 50 years to destroy the Barbie stereotype and to help with her late coming out!

OWN DRUM is the first stop-motion production with real Barbie puppets. Because these puppets are difficult to use in animation, we had them especially prepared for the project. In the end not only Barbie should be able to march to the beat of her own drum; our crew wants to use this opportunity to make the movie how we imagined it. Therefore we need your help!

We need the money to finance the production and the post-production in fall 2013. Stop-motion animation is a very elaborate type of work that costs both time and nerves. In one day we are only able to produce 14 seconds of moving images, even though we work on two sets with two cameras and several animators. This is why we need 2 months for the 11 minute short-film. The total amount we need for the production is 40,000 €. We have already funded 30,000 € through a German film subsidy from "Kuratorium junger deutscher Film" and private sponsors that gave either money, equipment or material. However, we will receive the subsidy from the Kuratorium after finishing the movie, therefore we have to pay everything from our own pocket. That's why we need the help of Startnext and especially you to fund the last 10,000 € and continue our work.

Additionally, we have costs for the scenery and costumes (everything has to be built from scratch), the modelling of the puppets, the complicated camera-shots and the postproduction. We have experience in low-budget productions and will use the donation effectively and usefully! But keep in mind: The bigger the support, the better the outcome. You can enable us to produce the best possible movie and every Euro dollar helps to attain a higher level with our production.