Claymators shouldn't...

Any manifesto for a young aspiring claymator, such as mois, have a list of to do's and to don'ts.
Claymators have responsibilities to themselves and others. Whether the hard work and discipline needed, to the originality it takes, you have to know where to bite off others and when to throw in the towel.
Now if you want to spend about three years of your life doing things the wrong way like I did, then by all means, don't listen to a single word I'm going to say. I congratulate you for taking my path but insist on you using every bit of information from others that you can.
Every filmmaker it seems bites a little off of others. With certain claymations, they need publicity so they make fun of blockbuster hits to get some air time. For me, I bite off of others techniques. That is, how they film certain things, how you can make something look like its flying, or how many frames per second should be used to show something moving fast.
A claymator, nor any filmmaker, shouldn't take ideas or characters away. If your going to make your mark, then like Nick Park, create some well developed characters and make them your own. I'm sick and tired of seeing redos of things already done. Sure there have been a few good shorts, (even non claymated features) that have made fun of Star Wars or Spiderman, but they seem to be piggy back riding other artists.
Originality is what anyone should strive for. Making your mark. I don't want to see twenty more spin offs of a certain show. No one does. Create two or three characters make a skit or two. And if you don't fall in love with their performance, start anew. And if you can't do that, then claymation sure as hell requires too much patience for you.
Quitting cannot be in your vocabulary unless you are absolutely sure that a film you are undertaking will not have the quality or output you need. It's a hard strive to make any movie let alone a claymation so don't hit yourself over the head when you make a failure, we all do.