A Bugs Life verses Antz
Antz (1998) made by Dreamworks Animation was the second computer-animated feature film to be released
Antz (1998) was closely followed by A Bugs Life (1998) that was made by Pixar/Disney
Both films are about ant colonies and individual ants who rebel against the system
Pixar/Disney made accusations that Dreamworks stole their idea as Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney to form Dreamworks Animation during the time Pixar/Disney was planning a bugs life
In the box office battle A Bugs Life proved more popular but both films won critical praise
Gorillaz (UK)
Created by Bamon Albarn (from the rock band Blur) and Jamie Hewlett (comic artist and creator of Tank Girl)
Albarn and Hewlett were inspired to create the band after watching what they believed to be mindless, empty music videos on MTV
Hold the Guinness World Record for the most successful virtual band
Perfect Blue (1998) (Japan)
Directed by Satoshi Kon
Psychological story of a pop star told from different perspectives with a deliberately confusing story that mirrors the disturbed state of mind of the central character
Satoshi Kon was a protégé of Akira (1988) director Katshuhiro Otomo
USA cartoons in 1999
Futurama (Matt Groening)
Family Guy (Seth McFarlane)
Spongebob Squarepants (Stephen Hillenburg)
The Periwig Maker (1999)
Made by Steffen Schaffler, the short stop-motion film is set during a seventeenth century plague epidemic
Took five years to make and was nominated for an Academy Award
The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
Oscar-winning film by Alexandr Petrov
Made in the unique style of finger painting with slow drying oil paints on multiple planes of glass, often working for days and nights without rest
An adaption of Ernest Hemingway’s story
The Wolfman (1999)
Short film by Tim Hope (UK)
Example of lo-fi approach to computer animation
Hope went on to produce music videos for well known bands including Cold Play’s “Don’t Panic”(2001) and designed animated sequences for TV comedy show The Mighty Boosh
Sink (1999)
Satoshi Tomioka (Japan) combined working for commercial animation studios with making his own unique CG animations at home
Has also created commercials for Honda and Japanese Rail
Pixar Shorts
Pixars policy was to produce regular short films to accompany features and also to test out new technologies, techniques and approaches
It also helps to maintain Pixar’s image as the kind of company that gives new directors a chance to prove themselves
For the Birds (2000)
Geri’s Game (1997)
The Man with the Beautiful Eyes (2000)
Created by Jonathan Hodgson (UK)
Film was made non-digitally, shot at film using paint, ink and collage
Informed by his interest in unsophisticated scribblings of children
Creates visual poetry he calls his “bad animation” - Based on a poem by Charles Bukowski
Won BAFTA for Best Animated Short
Father and Daughter (2000)
Made by Dutch director Michael Dudok de Wit
States his influences as Eastern European animation, Tintin, and the art of Tibetan Monks
Dialogue free film about a young girl who watches her father row out to sea and never return, and every day she cycles back to the same spot and waits for him
Won there British awards and an Oscar for Best Short Film
Blog work
Review of Geri's Game
Geri's Game is a 1997 computer animated short film made by Pixar, written and directed by Jan Pinkava. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1998. This film is set in an empty park during autumn, where an elderly man , Geri, plays a game of chess against himself, "becoming" each of the players in turn by moving to the other side of the chessboard, where he changes his personality and either puts on or takes off his glasses to show this change. As the game progresses, it seems as though there are two people playing; at one point, the hands of both "opponents" are in frame, however this is achieved by quick cutting the shots. This take on characters perspective was visually engaging and intrigued me into the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment