Update 6-1-12 12:00pm ET

Right now we have hit our goal, but we still have time left!!! So to keep everyone involved I have decided that the lucky backer that pushes us over the $10,000 mark will get the custom made spaceship "SPUD" in the film!!!!

What's SCI-FLY about?

SCI-FLY is a space adventure short film that follows the tiny vessel "Spud" trying to elude a black hole that is engulfing the universe. A dark premise contrasted with divine imaginary. A fluctuating ride of tone and emotion.

This will be our 2nd animated film. Our debut, "Wiggle Room" would go on to be an official selection at the Atlanta Film Festival, Athens International Film Festival, and won "best animated short" at four film festivals to date. The Indie Grits Film Festival, Cape Fear Film Festival, Carrboro Film Festival, and 42 annual USA Film Festival. Teaser trailer for "Wiggle Room" can be found at the bottom of this page.

SCI-FLY will rely heavily on "in camera" visual effects using stop-motion animation & time lapse photography. CGI will be used sparingly during the shooting process.

Why the lack of CGI?

First of all, I love CGI and in no way I am trying to discredit the great elements it can bring to a film.

CGI has opened a whole new world of film making and is growing at an extremely fast rate. No shocking news there, but I feel it is also hindered the creative experience of the cinema process.

I do believe in MOVIEMAGIC (corny, I know). I think there is an element of surprise that can happen when filming in a physical environment. When the only way to find out how it will look is to go out and film it. Sometimes it doesn't work and other times you really can find magic. Some people call it luck but I think it is the energy of being "in the moment" and having the camera rolling. This is my favorite element of making a movie. It keeps me coming back every time.

Turn "Mystery of Science" into "Movie Magic"?

I have found dozens of wonderful science experiments online that would make fantastic elements to use in our film. Check out these examples and tell me how cool it would be to incorporate this into SCI-FLY.

We will try to discover new methods for capturing effects. The techniques we learn & develop will also shift the storytelling arch. I want SCI-FLY to evolve organically just like all the effects we are creating.

So, how's it going?

If you watched our video, you can see that we've already started test shots that turned out really nice with the minimal amount of materials used. We've created stunning wide shots but now need to actually follow our little ship "Spud" as he weaves in and out of a crumbling universe.

Where is your $$$ going towards?

Since we are creating a universe from scratch a lot of your pledges will go to obtaining the materials needed for creating planets, spaceships, aliens, stars, clouds, laser beams, black holes, and wormholes just to name a few. (its crazy how all this adds up to be quite expensive)

We are asking for $8,500 which will cover the costs of getting the film shot. We believe it will take a bit more for professionally done post-production. SCI-FLY will be an experience of sight and sound. We plan to have the color and sound professional mixed and processed. This is something we wish we had in our budget for our last stop-motion film "Wiggle Room". It is our goal to have SCI-FLY processed to a high-end digital format (DCP) for viewing on large theater movie screens and mixed for Dolby surround.

So, if we happen to hit our goal of $8,500 before deadline please consider helping us campaign more to cover post-production costs. We will cross that bridge when we get there. :-)

If we don't make our goal of $8,500, we don't get anything. Plain and simple. That's the way KickStarter operates.

What are the rewards for your backers?

You can read more about them on the right hand side if you haven't yet. ---->

We want you engage our backers as most as possible during the production process. The more you pledge, the more access you will have to see what we are doing with your contributions. There will be tons of behind the scenes footage of us trying to create all sorts of elements for our universe. Here is a little taste of you are in store for...

Another reward will be our cool SCI-FLY posters. Check out the poster we came up with for WIGGLE ROOM to help you get excited!!

And just remind me, who are you again?

I'm Joe Schenkenberg (aka: Joey Shanks), and I've been making little passion projects like this one for over a decade now. This will be my 2nd animated film and my first (Wiggle Room) has already made some noise in many film & animation communities. It has won best animated short at 4 film festivals, including a win at the prestigious 42nd annual USA FILM FESTIVAL in Dallas, TX.

I have only touched the surface of what I can create within the realm of stop-motion and can't wait to see what creations I can conjure up for SCI-FLY.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Check out our updates above to watch more videos shot during the campaign process.

Please visit our production website at..

MovieMagicNow.com