Twenty-four Hour Animation Contest

For a category containing films that were entries to THAC, see Category:Twenty-four Hour Animation Contest brickfilms

The Twenty-four Hour Animation Contest, commonly abbreviated to THAC, is an annual brickfilming contest with a time limit of exactly 24 hours. Participants must create an entire brickfilm from scratch (with the exception of set building, music design, and sound effects) within 24 hours. Originally hosted on Brickfilms.com, THAC is now hosted on and officially run by the website Bricks In Motion. The contest was conceived by David West in 2005 and has been run by various other individuals since 2008. The twelfth and most recent THAC was run by Nathan Wells.

The First THAC
The first THAC was held on Brickfilms.com by David West from 12 noon GMT on August 27th, 2005 to 12 noon GMT on August 28th 2005, though the contest started half an hour late after David's alarm 'failed to go off'. The only method of submission was emailing a maximum of 3mb per minute film at 320 x 240 resolution or less. This is the only THAC that had no option to submit via YouTube, since YouTube had not been publicly released yet.
 * Theme: General
 * Mod Element: The letter "N"

22 of the films entered successfully followed the rules and qualified and they were judged by ballot in 4 separate categories: Animation, Cinematography, Sound Design, and Story. Judges, Entrants and Audiences could submit their top ten films in each category. Most of the prizes were provided by Nick Maniatis, and the judges were David West, James Morr, Brendan Henry, Robinson Wood, and "Watson Films"

Top Five Judges Choice

 * 1) His Master's Plan - by Stefan van Zwam
 * 2) No News is Good News - by Dave Wardell
 * 3) The Evilness Begins- by Roland Szentesi
 * 4) A Quiet Evening - by Christoph Brock
 * 5) Speak - by Rachel Dew

Top Five Entrants Choice
There were insufficient ballots cast by the audience to determine a ranking for the audience choice prize. It was decided that the Audience Choice prize would be awarded to the 4th place finisher in the Entrants Choice Awards (Roland Szentesi).
 * 1) His Master's Plan - by Stefan van Zwam
 * 2) No News is Good News - by Dave Wardell
 * 3) A Quiet Evening - by Christoph Brock
 * 4) The Evilness Begins - by Roland Szentesi
 * 5) Speak - by Rachel Dew

THAC 2
THAC2 was run by David West and began at 12 noon GMT on August 19th, 2006. The judges were David West, Brendan Henry, and "Watson Films". James Morr also submitted a ballot that was rejected for being incomplete. === Top Five Judges Choice ===
 * Theme: The End
 * Mod Element: The letter "E"
 * 1) Melodramedy - by Robinson Wood
 * 2) Negotiations - by Judah Frank and Joseph Frank
 * 3) Spoilerz! - by Nathan Wells
 * 4) Back to School Nightmare - by Zach Macias
 * 5) The Chronicles of Time - by Kevin Horowitz and Jacob Schwartz

Top Five Entrants Choice

 * 1) Negotiations - by Judah Frank and Joseph Frank
 * 2) Back to School Nightmare - by Zach Macias
 * 3) Melodramedy - by Robinson Wood
 * 4) Spoilerz! - by Nathan Wells
 * 5) The Chronicles of Time by Kevin Horowitz and Jacob Schwartz

THAC 3
THAC 3 was run by David West. This contest introduced the concept of two mod elements: color and letter. THAC 4 began on August 4, 2007 at 12:00 Noon GMT. Because of a lack of judges, David West elected to use the Entrant's Choice ballots to determine the Judge's Choice, and Joshua Leasure would determine the single Entrant's Choice winner: Philip Heinrich, for The Pepperonis (who received a Bricksfilms.com DVD).
 * Theme: What Really Happened
 * Letter Mod Element: "K"
 * Color Mod Element: Black piece connected to a green piece

Top Five

 * 1) A Night at the Pier - by Chris Boyer
 * 2) The Pepperonis - by Philip Heinrich
 * 3) Flashbacks - by Nathan Wells
 * 4) Arthur's Legacy - by Zach Macias
 * 5) Abduction - by Jonathan Vaughan

THAC 4
THAC4 was hosted by David West, and is the last time he hosted. THAC4 also set the precedent of THAC taking place during winter break. THAC4 began on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 12:00 Noon GMT. 29 entries were received.
 * Theme: Giving
 * Letter Mod Element: "P"
 * Color Mod Element: Red piece connected to a green piece

Top Five

 * 1) Unsound - by Nathan Wells
 * 2) The Season of Giving - by Zach Macias
 * 3) Abduction 2 - by Jonathan Vaughan
 * 4) The Gift from the Future - by Nikolas Jaeger
 * 5) The Ice - by Brendan Henry

THAC 5
THAC 5 was the first THAC not hosted by David West or on Brickfilms.com. Instead, THAC 5 was hosted by Scott "Uncle_Cheesedog" Loeppky on ilovebrickfilming.com (later to be renamed Bricks In Motion) on April 5th and 12th 2008. THAC 5 was technically two THAC contests that were held a week apart. When THAC 5 was announced just a few days before it was to take place, many users complained that they hadn't been given enough notice. THAC 5A received 19 entries. THAC5b, considered to be the officially THAC 5, recieved 38 or 40 entries, including the entries from THAC 5A. They were judged as one single contest.

THAC 5A

 * Theme: Misunderstanding
 * Letter Mod Element: "V"
 * Color Mod Element: Black piece connected to a blue piece

THAC 5B

 * Theme: Intervention
 * Letter Mod Element: "X"
 * Color Mod Element: White piece connected to a red piece

Top Five

 * 1) Cashman - by Philip Heinrich
 * 2) Narrow Escape - by Nikolas Jaeger
 * 3) Leo - by Jeremy Wisoff
 * 4) The Incident in the Alley - by Ryan Boyle & Jason Boyle
 * 5) Happy Together - by Thomas Missault

THAC 6
THAC 6 started out being hosted by Stevie Collins, with control later handed over to Dustin Finstrom. From this point forward, all future THACs would he held on Bricks in Motion. The judges were Philip Heinrich, Dustin Finstrom, Jordan Harris and Evan Linsey. Beginning with this contest, only the top three entries were emphasized. There were 67 entries.
 * Theme: New
 * Letter Mod Element: "A"
 * Color Mod Element: Red piece connected to a yellow piece

Top Three

 * 1) Winner - by Brendan Krick
 * 2) Weed Cops - by Nikolas Jaeger
 * 3) Abduction 3 - by Jonathan Vaughan

THAC 7
THAC 7 was hosted by Evan "Cheshire" Linsey. This was the first THAC that was officially sponsored by Bricks in Motion. The judges were Philip Heinrich, Zach Macias, Bert Loos, and Randy Yard.
 * Theme: Unexpected
 * Letter Mod Element: "S"
 * Color Mod Element: Black piece connected to a yellow piece

Top Three

 * 1) Sssssss. - by James Morr
 * 2) Expect This - by Jordan Johnson
 * 3) Robot Hunter - by Jordan Harris

THAC 8
THAC 8 was hosted by Dylan Woodley. It started on 12 noon GMT on December 18, 2010. 3 coupon prizes were provided by Brick-A-Thon, a Bricklink store. Judges were Dylan Woodley, Aaron Bulger, and Randy Yard.
 * Theme: Ambition
 * Letter Mod Element: "M"
 * Color Mod Element: Red piece connected to a green piece

Top Three

 * 1) Love's Labour - by "Legoander"
 * 2) LEGO VS. - by "namchild"
 * 3) Elmore - by Jonathan Vaughan

THAC 9
THAC 9 was hosted by Evan Linsey. A list of entries can be found here.
 * Theme: None
 * Letter Mod Element: "L"
 * Color Mod Element: White piece connected to a blue piece

Top Three

 * 1) The Amazing Cashman - by Philip Heinrich
 * 2) Black and Blue - by Stephen Burchell
 * 3) Green Eye - by Jonathan Vaughan

THAC X
THAC X was hosted by Harry Bossert. A list of entries can be found here.
 * Theme: A Grand Unveiling
 * Letter Mod Element: "M"
 * Color Mod Element: White piece connected to a grey piece

Top Three

 * 1) Le Special - by Thomas Evans
 * 2) STEAM - by Christian Colglazier
 * 3) Hidden - by Spencer Olson

THAC 11
THAC 11 was hosted by Harry Bossert. It received a total of 78 entries which can be found here.
 * Theme: A Mistaken Identity
 * Letter Mod Element: "T"
 * Color Mod Element: Grey piece connected to a red piece

Top Three

 * 1) The Supervisor - by "Legoander"
 * 2) The Police Delivery - by Thomas Evans
 * 3) No Crawme Steals Christmas - by Sean Warton

THAC XII
THAC XII was hosted by Nathan Wells on January 3, 2015. A total of 68 entries were received which can be found here. The judges were Nathan Wells, Timothy Ratner, Christian Colglazier, "Fun Sucker", Philip Heinrich. Prizes were donated by Nathan Wells and Jorden Davis.
 * Theme: A Fresh Start
 * Letter Mod Element: "N"
 * Color Mod Element: Black piece connected to a blue piece

Top Three

 * 1) Fried Circuit - by Thomas Evans
 * 2) Warshaw - by Seán Willis and Brian Willis
 * 3) Released - by Abraham Feldick