In March 2015, Framestore LA creative director Ben West released his phenomenal buddy-film sushi comedy “FUGU & TAKO” exploring the perils and unexpected perks of eating live puffer fish. The film and perfectly realized VFX were created while West was a director and VFX super at Robot in Sydney. [Watch]
Inspired by a life-threatening family tragedy, New York director/writer/cinematographer Vincent Peone (who co-founded the video team at collegehumor.com) leads a stellar crew on a seven-month, stop-motion and CG journey to reveal the magical story behind just why The Sea is Blue. [Watch]
It’s no secret how Vancouver filmmaker Eoin Duffy feels about Xmas, skewering the season’s conventions for three years running with short, acerbic animated tales. His 2015 take, titled “Happy Holidays” teams Duffy with character animator Henrique Barone and audio maven John Black at Cypher Audio. [Watch]
Over-the-top anti-materialist fun to put you in the mood for holiday shopping (or not) from London animation house Blue Zoo and powered by a cheeky and infectious track written and produced by musical comedian Ben Champion. [Watch]
Dublin animation powerhouse Boulder Media (The Amazing World Of Gumball, Danger Mouse, etc.) turns their considerable character magic to an in-house short called “Fresh Cut Grass” about an eager little dog on a quest to find his sister but discovers circumstances have changed since their idyllic childhood.
[Watch]
The real-world smartphone zombie phenomenon is proving a deep and rich vein of comic-tragedy for animated filmmakers. Here’s a round up of three of the best we’ve seen over the last 12 months: “Life Smartphone” by Xie Chenglin, Stromae “Carmen” by Sylvain Chomet, and “Way Out” by Yukai Du. [Watch]
