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| Mekarate, directed and produced by Hiroyasu Shimo, focuses on an inept office worker who is haunted by a self-destructive wish and plagued with anti-social behavior. |
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| Ode to Summer, directed by Ron Hui and produced by Tony and Raymond Neoh, uses CG to bring to life the art of Chinese ink-brush painting. |
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| Little Red Plane, directed and produced by Joey Jones and Wira Winata of Shadebox Animations, uses digital techniques to take a young boy on a spiritual journey. |
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| The Future is Wild, directed by Steve Nicholls and produced by Paul Reddish of 422 Ltd., places 47 unique and highly diverse CG animals into live-action backgrounds for this 13-part television series from Animal Planet USA. |
Each year, the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival serves as a mirror of what is possible today and as a window into what might be achieved in the future. "The festival is defined by one word—vision," says chair Darin Grant from Digital Domain. "Through a unique blend of art and technology, it has helped display the vision and achievement of the pioneering efforts of our industry during the past 30 years."
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| Pingwin, directed by Wojtek Wawszcyk and produced with Georg Gruber, features a penguin, created in Softimage|3D, which moves to the rhythm of an orchestral selection. |
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| Plumber, directed by Andy Knight and Richard Roseman, and produced by Randi Yaffa of Red Rover Studios, uses computational fluid dynamics, cloth simulation, and other digital technologies to create the dynamic imagery in this humorous animated shor |
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Time Warner Pigs, directed by Bruno Aveillan and produced by Quad-Believe, is a television commercial featuring fantastical CG pigs created by La Maison.
©2002 SSNK New York; Quad, Believe.
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| This Wonderful Life, directed and produced by Liam Kemp, shows how a newfound love can fill the void in a person's heart following the death of a spouse. |
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| Solder Man, directed and produced by Dave Novak, is a story of creation, evolution, and problem solving, as the main character looks to the only solution he knows: soldering. |
This year, the Animation Theater projects were shown collectively in one large venue, rather than in multiple rooms. As a result, the festival jury had to limit the number of selections, presenting 52 projects compared to 66 last year. Of these, 28 are international submissions, and 14 are student productions. Moreover, only 25 pieces were presented in the prestigious Electronic Theater, compared to 35 during the previous year.
"Whether the piece is a fascinating story that has been captured and told through the use of computer-generated images, a creatively edited breakdown of the visual effects work from a professional studio, or a scientific showcase that gives us a glimpse at the edge of our ever-expanding technological horizons, it always represents the best that our industry has to offer each year," says Grant.
A selection of images from the Computer Animation Festival appears on these two pages. —Karen Moltenbrey