Portfolio (July 2007)
Issue: Volume: 30 Issue: 7 (July 2007)

Portfolio (July 2007)

Cafard This unique student short was produced by Anne Brotot from
Supinfocom Arles in France. It appears in the Animation
Theater titled “Madness.”
 
Respire, Mon Ami (Breathe, My Friend) Also appearing in the
“Madness” themed theater is this animated  short
from director Chris Nabholz from the Ringling
School of Art and Design in the US.
 
Venus, Venus This still, from an animation by Tomoko Nagai
from the CAD Center Corporation in Japan,
debuts in the “Science” theater.



 
The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival; since 1999, numerous works from the festival’s Electronic Theater and Animation Theaters have been nominated for, or have received, a Best Animated Short Oscar. After looking at the 2007 festival selections, that tradition has a good chance of going strong for at least another year. Last month’s Portfolio offered a snapshot of the more general-interest Electronic Theater; this month it provides a glimpse at the more specific content from the Animation Theaters. According to the festival chair, Paul Debevec of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, the animations in this venue are illustrative of a more specific field of interest. To this end, all the disciplines are represented in one of several themed showings.
 
“Both the Electronic Theater and Animation Theaters have innovative and excellent pieces. The difference is that the Animation Theater pieces were chosen to have particularly strong appeal to the people interested in each film’s category, whether that’s scientific visualization, research, or animation, for instance,” says Debevec. “Since reels are organized by theme, people can choose what they want to see, and the audience will have the best pieces waiting for them that appeal to their interests.” This was made possible through the vast collective knowledge of the jury, as each juror was chosen for the individual’s strong expertise in at least two of the submission categories. A selection of still images from the Animation Theaters is presented on these pages. Additional works will appear in next month’s Portfolio. —Karen Moltenbrey  
 

 
Beginning Featured within the “Creativity” theater, this animation is presented by
director Takehisa Igarashi from Tohoku University of Art & Design in Japan.


Fat Chance Another student work, this presentation is from Ben Jones, a student at
Bournemouth University in the UK. The animation is part of the “Madness” theater.
 
Fight Night Round III An animation from the PlayStation 3 title of the
same name, this clip from Christopher Sjoholm, Kat Kelly Hayduk,
Mike Blank, Celia Jepson, Rob Hilson, Andrew Ellem,
Vicki Ferguson, and Pawel Siarkiewicz from Electronic
Arts in Canada appears in the “Games & FX” theater.