Beijing native and LA freelance director/animator Yangzi She explores themes of identity and alienation in her charming and visually confident UCLA Animation Workshop thesis film about a boy whose expressions contradict his feelings and who insists on saying “eggplant” instead of “cheese” when his picture is taken. [Watch]
London director/designer Jesse Collett graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2014 on the strength of this low key but technically adventurous short film he describes as “an ethereal, multi-dimensional mashup of real and animated elements.” [Watch]
If you watched the animated short “Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou” from Ringling College students Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon last year, you know the gap between student and professional character animation work has vanished. Here’s evidence the same has happened for character-driven VFX. [Watch]
Rendered in visceral, expressionistic oil pastels and backed by layered audio fragments, Marcus Armitage‘s BAFTA nominated graduation film “My Dad,” looks, feels and sounds like an edgy and experimental NFB short from the 70’s. That’s a good thing. [Watch]
Wonderful mix of styles and techniques add up to a whole lot of quirky charm in this self-referential short film from director/animator Jon Boutin, currently in his third year at the EMCA in Angoulême, France. [Watch]
Beakus animation director Sophie Koko Gate created her short film “Half Wet” during her studies at the Royal College of Art in London after discovering the water level in the human body decreases as we age, “meaning in a way we evaporate very slowly over time.” [Watch]
