The Ebeling Group and director Pete Circuitt/Bitstate just wrapped this 22 minute Christmas special on the true story of Virginia O’Hanlon and her now famous “Is there a Santa Claus?” letter written to the New York Sun in 1897. “Yes, Virginia” was created by Macy’s and JWT and will be airing in the US on CBS at 8pm on December 11th.
Watch the trailer for “Yes, Virginia”
And read more about the production on Pete Circuitt’s blog.
Joseph Pelling’s “Outside The Box” is a tale of two intellectuals debating the methods of their creativity. Quirky and fun to the end, this short picked up the top animation prize at the 2009 Digital Artist Awards in Shoreditch, London.
Humble has released “Humunculus” the first in what will be an annual series of experimental short films by directing collective Hydra. The short combines the alchemist fable of spontaneous generation from decaying matter as well as the Jungian concepts of the unleashed id with a heavy dose of Dutch still life painting.
Production involved sealing off fruits, cheeses, fish, and an uncooked pheasant in a 6 x 6 plexiglass box. Three digital cameras then shot frames every 5 minutes for 11 days to capture the “beautiful decay” while the fuzzy demons were modeled and rigged in Maya.
German digital collective Polynoid is back with this quick and darkly comic look at what might happen when you mess with the wrong uh, skeleton/bird/tree creature.
Directors: Tom Weber, Ilija Brunck, Jan Bitzer, Producer: Sinje Gebauer, Sound: Ilija Brunck . Jan Bitzer, Production: Filmakademie BW
Created for the launch of the Nokia N900 smartphone, this online short with a surrealist twist was commissioned by experimental marketing agency Jack Morton and directed by David Masters. The kinetic transformation and subtle visual effects come courtesy of The Mill’s CG directing trio Bif (Fabrice Le Nezet, Francois Roisin and Jules Janaud).
“Un Tour De Manège ” is visual refreshment for weekend weary eyes. A metaphorical tale blanketed in resplendent pastels and co-directed by Gobelins students Nicolas Athane, Brice Chevillard, Alexis Liddell, Françoise Losito and Mai Nguyen.
Just in time for Halloween, Tim Bollinger’s otherworldly short film “Between” has premiered online. Credit to Daniel Meinl for the bone-chilling cinematography with equally dark sound design from Michael Fakesch.
Yet another exceptional short film from the animation program at Les Gobelins in Paris. The directing team for “The Lighthouse Keeper” was made up of current students Baptiste Rogron, Gaëlle Thierry, Rony Hotin, Maïlys Vallade, Jérémie Moreau, and David François.
Polish director Grzegorz Jonkajtys (who won Best of Show at Siggraph 2007 for The Ark), is back with a new dystopian sci-fi short called 36 Stairs. This time out Jonkajtys adds live action to the mix shooting with what he calls the “amazing” Canon 5D MarkII DSLR in HD video mode.
Starring Rodrigo Lopresti, directed by Grzegorz Jonkajtys, written by Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Philip Koch, produced by Philip Koch
Lorenzo Veracini, Nandini Nambiar and Marco Avoletta tell a story of a chemist, Dr. Albert Hofmann, who is cycling home after work and experiences a “trip” after accidentally absorbing a few drops of LSD. Oh, it was a trip alright, discovering intensified images of the 40’s and feeling the physical and emotional effects altered by acid. Thanks to DeK for the tip.
