“The level of quality and technical expertise exemplified by this year’s submissions continues to raise the bar for the extreme innovation and leading technology the Computer Animation Festival delivers year after year,” said Joshua Grow, Computer Animation Festival director and 3D stereo coordinator for The Creative-Cartel. “The submissions selected to be featured at SIGGRAPH 2011 are a true testament to the leaps and bounds the Computer Animation Industry has achieved since the Computer Animation Festival first debuted at SIGGRAPH.”
The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the festival have been nominated for or have received a “best animated short” Academy Award.
This year’s selections will be featured through a series of daily festival screenings and the iconic Electronic Theater allowing attendees to get a glimpse behind the making of computer generated effects, visualizations and animations.
Best In Show Award
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, Moonbot Studios
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and Technicolor musicals.
Jury Award
Paths of Hate
Directed by Damian Nenow, Platige Image
Two pilots, driven by blind hate, chase each other in their airplanes and thereby write cryptic messages of madness into the firmament. On their way into the abyss they transform into inhuman and distorted creatures that finally become part of the history of hate.
Best Student Project Prize
Flamingo Pride
Directed by Tomer Eshed, The Konrad Wolf Potsdam-Babelsberg Film and Television University
Frustrated being the only straight flamingo in a gay flock, our hero falls in love with a lady stork that flies by. Unable to convince her of his serious intentions he isolates himself and goes through an identity crisis. An intensive encounter inspires him to make a bold move.
Jury Award Runners-Up
Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!
Directed by Tod Polson, The Monk Studios
A young storyteller challenges the old master in a pub on the Irish west coast. Escape of the Gingerbread Man is a mad romp through the Irish countryside. As well as a subtle commentary on the changes in traditions, and culture that is happening throughout the “emerald isle.”
The Experience of Fliehkraft
Directed by Till Nowak, frameboX
Humans mount themselves onto gigantic robots and try to get centrifuged through space. Sounds like science fiction, but it is what happens in theme parks. Machines with the power of tanks offer five minutes of anti-gravity therapy – an attempt to escape this world, driven by 10,000 horsepower.
Best Student Project Prize Runners-Up
DreamGiver
Directed by Tyler Carter, Brigham Young University
A regular night of dream delivering turns into a literal nightmare when an orphan’s book of ancient Aztec mythology comes alive. The Dreamgiver must save the orphan from his own nightmare!
Sweater Dog
Directed by Gina Moffit, Ringling College of Art and Design
A normally happy-go-lucky dog is put into a restricting sweater by his owner but tries to go on with his normal every day activities.
