Run

     A junior in high school, Curie Lu developed this short film for CAP Hollywood at Montgomery Blair High School. She won Best Picture and Best Art Direction for this contest. Lu did all of the animating with some others aiding in coloring.

     While many are left clueless by the ambiguous meaning behind the story (as only half of the story was animated due to the limited time Lu had), I believe it's centered around our education system. As the two characters get older, the instructors care less about their talents that are not centered around academics (like art for instance). This is demonstrated in our society today as standards push more towards "core subjects" like the sciences and away from the arts. They are in quotations since that phrase could have a broader definition than what is to be expected, although it does not. While English and math classes do prove to be beneficial, other courses like 2D Drawing or Music Theory would help students pursuing careers in those fields as well. Despite the benefits, many schools do not offer such classes nor even consider them in their budgets. To relate to the film without giving spoilers, this focus on the core curriculum limits the freedom a student has in developing their skills as memorization takes priority over talent.

     From an artistic point of view, the animation is impressive. Lu had the discipline to focus on her work as a sophomore and finish what was necessary in time for the deadline while she juggled with school and her life. There is barely a still or stiff frame in this, and every motion looks natural. The only scene that felt awkward to me was when the white-haired boy went towards what frightened him instead of backing away. However, I understand that Lu had to manage time wisely and that it was possible that it would be more difficult and more time-consuming had she went that route.

     The film is below for anyone who wants to see it.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year! I hope everyone starts their new year off well and that it will continue to go well for the rest of the year. With works such as Moana, Kubo and the Two Strings, Finding Dory, and even Zootopia, 2016 was a good year for animated movies. Luckily, it seems that 2017 might be a good year as well. Despicable Me 3, Coco, The Boss Baby, and Captain Underpants will be coming out later this year. To celebrate the new year, have this cute animation that I found.

Terrible Fate - Behind the Scenes

     So it seems that I've had some of my beliefs about my previous post wrong. EmberLab did in fact  have shooting locations. All of their environments are shot and not animated. However, in the final composition they are animated. In fact, they masked the fairies (the fairies were balls of light with attached sticks that were taken out, or "masked", during production) and used a chrome ball to recreate the environment and lighting. The models were so realistic that I assumed that everything else was CG as well. There's more details and information included in the video below.

You've Met with a Terrible Fate, Haven't You?

     Nintendo is a company known for its gaming consoles and engaging games. Among Mario and Pokemon, the Legend of Zelda is one of their popular series, and EmberLab decided to dedicate a short film to Majora's Mask. It centers around Skull Kid and how he obtained the mask in the game. All of the environments look so realistic that I was surprised when I saw that they were not real. They effectively captured the mood of each scene that they portrayed, and I was left speechless by that ending. I think that they did a fantastic job with the character models and the animation. Below is the video.

There's a Man in the Woods

     Jacob Streilein's film There's a Man in the Woods centers around a teacher and how one child manage to change everything. Throughout the story, the mood changes and matches the emotions of the teacher. I saw this once in 2014, so I was really glad that I discovered it again. The poetic feel of this film adds on to the accumulating tension, and I really like that Streilein went this route. The only flaw that I noticed that stood out the most to me was that Streilein should have picked another voice actor with a deeper voice to suit the teacher better. However, I understand that this is a student film, so it makes sense that the teacher would have a younger-sounding voice as everyone working on these films would be around their early to mid 20s. Despite this flaw, this film still is exceptional in story-telling and I like how he executed the animations to show as much emotion as possible. Below is the film.

The Present

     Since it's Christmas, what better time to post about gifts than now? In The Present, Jacob Frey presents a boy coming to terms with a surprise. To avoid spoiling the end, the only things that I will say is that it warms my heart that the "gift" helped him with his own life. I feel that the gift's animation and the boy's attitude towards it helped stir some emotion. Below is the film.

The Wishgranter

     Making wishes aren't always as simple as they seem, as shown in The Wishgranter by Echo Wu, Kal Athannassov, and John McDonald. In a small town, there is a magical fountain that is managed by a small creature that has been shown to grant wishes when a coin is thrown. This concept of wish granting is a fresh twist on that fountain myth, and it is interesting to see how it occurs. The animation quality is professional as it has a style that looks like it could be a full-length movie. Below is the film.