- No photos inside please
Last month’s LA ACM Siggraph meeting was held at Disney Animation in Burbank. They were gracious enough to provide food, beverages, and their theater for a viewing of the SIGGRAPH 2011 Computer Animation Festival. Though not an animator, I’ve always enjoyed the medium and the whole package – the festival, the place, the proximity to home – was a real treat.
The festival itself was quite an inspiration. Though some of the reels were geared towards industry professionals and focused on the tools and effects of the trade, there was some very creative storytelling going on as well.
The three films that I enjoyed most were ‘Paths of Hate,’ ‘Flamingo Pride,’ and the Best in Show Award Winner ‘The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.’ ‘Flamingo Pride,’ about a straight Flamingo at a gay Flamingo fest, was the Best Student Work winner and had everybody cracking up. It’s a lot of fun but I can’t find it on YouTube to post.
‘The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore’ was produced by Moonbot Studios (from Louisiana) and was truly a notchabove the rest. Moonbot has more info about their process and the interactive apps they build on their website.
My favorite film, however, was a stylized aerial dogfight film that poses a moral question, called “Paths of Hate” by Damien Nenow. The look of this is amazing. It looks like a graphic novel in three dimensions. Seriously, the towering clouds are the most painterly 3D models I’ve ever seen. Fortunately, this video has been made available by Platige Image on Vimeo.
Damian Nenow’s SIGGRAPH presentation at Autodesk booth from Platige Image on Vimeo.