I found this to be a very inspiring and eventful week packed full of animation goodness! It was nice to see some of my friends from the course and it also presented a good opportunity to network. Over the week I saw a lot of short films, commissioned films and feature films. Aside from this I also enjoyed Serge Bromberg's morning interviews with the short film directors, a VFX conference, a feature film conference, talks from directors, a talk from an animation supervisor from Dreamworks, the awards ceremony and a rounders game! The festival seemed to strike a balance between the mainstream and the weird and wonderful stuff being produced on the fringes. It was inspiring to discover a large, open-minded and respectful audience for all things animation.
Here are a few of my favourite films that I saw:
Features:
Wrinkles directed by Ignacio Ferreras.
"An astonishing cocktail of friendship, resistance, and life that goes on in the unexpected setting of an old folk's care home" - Annecy guide.
The characters were really well developed and the story was moving, well structured and interesting. It was visually quite stunning.
Approved for adoption directed by Jung Henin and Laurent Boileau.
"200,000 adoptees have been scattered around the world since the end of the Korean war. Jung is one of them." - Annecy guide.
This was a very personal account of the directors life growing up as an adopted child. It was 3D but rendered in a refreshing 2D style. The film juggled this style with live action documentary footage of Jung speaking, old footage of the family as well as some expressive 2D animation to emphasise some key moments. The mediums that were utilised encapsulated Jung's story on different levels and offered a rich and vivid account of what he had been through both internally and externally. The film won 2 awards at the festival.
Le Tableau directed by Jean-Francois Laguionie.
"Three characters living in an unfinished painting venture out into the real world in search of their creator, to convince him to finish his work." - Annecy guide.
This was also created in 3D but rendered in a very painterly style - visually, it was quite unlike anything I've ever seen. It was a good concept with some funny and surreal moments. Whilst at the festival I went to see Jean-Francois Laguionie talk about making this film. He noted several interesting points:
-He had 2 years financed to make the film plus 6 months for pre-production.
-The animatic is a great communication tool. It is helpful for the producer to help outline a budget.
-Drawing helps establish the connections between objects, people, landscapes etc. more then writing a script. He felt that he was writing with his drawing.
-Recording actual actors/actresses prior to making the characters is an advantage.
Commissioned films
We cut corners "Pirates life" by P.Adamski and K.Kijek
This is a very cool hand drawn animation - it goes to town on the simple visual theme of water and reflections.
Five years older "I should have known better" by Dirk Koy
This shows an interesting technique that has been carried off effectively, showing landscapes in a constant state of flux.
Ants directed by Gerrit Bekers
This is definetly 30 seconds of your time well spent!
Short Films
I saw a lot of great short films at the festival - it would take me a long time to post every one that I liked so I will just put up a few. Most of these are trailers.
The people who never stop directed by Florian Piento
This was visually stunning and contained a nice message.
Tram by Michaela Pavlatova
This had the audience in stitches! A wild journey through the driver's fantasies..
Second Hand directed by Isaac King - Full film!
This has to be one of my favourites. Brilliant and funny characters, interesting visuals and a strong message. Definetly worth a watch.
Modern no.2 directed by Mirai Mizue
An excellent synchronisation of visuals and music. The animation looks great.
How to eat your apple directed by Erick Oh
A Dali-esque surrealist take on eating an apple. Pretty surreal and fun.
VFX conference and other things
I found the VFX conference very interesting. People from MPC, Framestore, BUF and Double Negative talked us through breakdowns of Wrath of the Titans, The Tale of the Three Brothers (animation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Marsupai and John Carter of Mars. I always like learning what goes on behind the scenes so it was a highlight of the trip. I particularly enjoyed seeing the making of The Tale of the Three Brothers as it is quite a distinctive and stylish animation which brings together a variety of techniques. Dale Newton, Animator supervisor noted how Houdini was used for the procedural forming of the bridge. I really liked this effect (and the other effects.) Later in the week I spoke to a Houdini representative who showed me the software - I'm inclined to try it out when I get a bit of spare time.
The directors conference was quite interesting as well. What I found amazing was how these productions were spread across several countries. It really takes some strong organisation to make these things materialise and stay cohesive.
I also enjoyed Serge Bromberg's morning interviews with the short film directors. It was nice to hear about their inspirations and ideas behind the films.
I had a couple of interviews in the week with Snarx FX, Paris and Mokko studios, Montreal. This was a valuable experience.
It was good to meet several other fellow animators/vfx artists throughout the week. The rounders game on Saturday was highly enjoyable and I scored two rounders!
Annecy itself is a beautiful place and I'm glad that some of my mates from the course could make it. I hope to return in the future.
Photos:
Inside Bonlieu (the main venue)
Serge Bromberg interviews Jun-Ki Kim - director of 'Her Story'
Tom and Fran sitting outside of Bonlieu next to the big outdoor screen. Mountains and the vast Annecy lake are in the background.
The outdoor screen. Serge introduces the last screening of the festival.
The Annecy ident.... 'LAPIN!!' (sorry - only people who were at the festival would get this ;-))
To summarise - it was a great week packed full with films, conferences, meetings and people and all set in a beautiful location. After every competition film was screened the director would be invited to come up and take a bow. This was one of the (many) strengths of the festival - paying much deserved tribute to the creators. I would definetly like to return in the future.
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