Today we’d like to introduce you to NASMAR Committee.
Hi NASMAR, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
NASMAR, or “National Association for Stop Motion Auto Racing”, is a film parody of NASCAR, in which every week a Stop Motion animation is created to go along with the real life NASCAR event. Using 1/64th scale diecast cars, the drivers of NASCAR are shown off by us, fans of the sport, embracing their uniqueness and traits. We are a community of over 300 members who work together to create the best possible show for 38 weekends a year, ultimately combining our works to crown a champion in the same way that the real sport does.
The NASMAR Community has been around since 2021, when it was founded by the Youtuber @UpperGrooveRacing. The dream still is, and always has been, to take the talents of multiple NASCAR Stop Motion creators on YouTube and let them showcase their work on a grand scale. This is done through assigning every race of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule to many different Stop Motion creators, and having them post a video of their own parody race the same day as the real life NASCAR event takes place. All of these races are then strung together by the NASMAR committee, who work to add up points, ensure races are released orderly, and help to serve the community as a governing body. At the end of the season, all of the NASMAR races together help to determine a NASMAR champion, a representation of the combined creativity of each creator.
NASMAR is currently in it’s 5th year of operations, now headed by YouTube creator @SerreCupSeries, alongside 6 other NASCAR Stop Motion creators. Together, we hope to continue expanding our operations and putting the spotlight on growing Stop Motion YouTubers. NASMAR is truly a great place to learn how to work as part of a much larger team, and has taught many of us valuable lessons on collaboration and cooperation. Our goal is to continue to inspire the next generation of both NASCAR fans and talented artists, as well as to create a group of people who can enjoy the company of others through the bond of NASCAR.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the largest challenges we must tackle each year is how to tie in everyone’s works to create an overlapping storyline. We give as much autonomy to each creator as we possibly can in order to let everyone’s own personality and style come through. However, by doing this, we all must have high levels of communication and coordination to ensure that the overarching storyline makes sense.
Just like in NASCAR, NASMAR uses a “Playoffs” at the end of our parody season. This means the committee must keep track of the finishing results and points earned throughout the projects made all year, and work with each individual creator to get results ahead of time. Keeping everyone accountable when it comes to submitting results on time can become quite tricky, but has made all of us better at working under pressure, navigating tight deadlines, and learning how to get the most out of the other members of our team.
Of course, there are also the complications that come with managing more than 300 individuals within a group. Given that most of our collaboration is done over the internet, it’s a constant and evolving challenge to make sure that everyone gets along well enough for all of us to continue to work smoothly. Managing people has been a uniquely challenging and fun learning experience, and we are currently the most organized we have ever been even with the large number of people active in our community.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Our work at NASMAR consists of the creation of nearly 40 Stop Motion films meant to be a parody of the NASCAR Cup Series. We are currently on our 5th season of production, with our production season being between February and November each year. We have over 300 individuals involved with the community, whether through directly making the stop motion films, creating digital graphics, providing critical voiceovers, or other tasks. Our works are produced across a variety of YouTube Channels to better highlight each individual creator, and we compile all of these projects in playlists, posts, and messages under the @nasmaracing YouTube Channel as well as a handful of other socials.
There is nothing else like what we are in the world at the moment. Our goals, execution, and consistency has been extraordinary over the course of NASMAR’s existence, with more often than not projects being on time week in and week out. Maintaining this relative consistency over the course of 38-40 weeks per year is extraordinary, and everyone at NASMAR takes immense pride in the quality that we produce each project with. Everyone involved has learned a tremendous amount about how complex information chains work, and have learned cooperative skills working on long term projects that will undoubtedly help everyone involved in other aspects of life outside of the NASMAR hobby. Having the artistic vision, passion, and dedication to the craft of Stop Motion and NASCAR is an incredible point of pride for all of us.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are always looking to add new members to the community, diversifying our creative pool and allowing those who have potential to showcase their work. The best place to reach us about joining the community would be through our Discord, or from a dm via our other social media platforms. We look for those with dedication and passion to not only Stop Motion, but also to the sports of Auto Racing. Beyond being a community that creates NASCAR parody films, we also come together and bond through the medium of Racing and Sports as a whole, and have daily discussions about these topics that create a very friendly and open community to all.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nasmaracing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASMARacing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nasmaracing
- Other: https://discord.gg/V56HeSS6nq
Image Credits
https://www.youtube.com/@SerreCupSeries
https://www.youtube.com/@NLSNetwork
https://www.youtube.com/@GavinBeers12
https://www.youtube.com/@Mlcsracingnetwork
https://www.youtube.com/@speedcupstopmotion
