SIGGRAPH Asia 2020 Virtual has officially announced the three award-winning films from its Computer Animation Festival. Selected from a pool of 577 CG animated projects, 51 pre-selection jurors whittled the group down to 139; from there, an international jury of top professionals reviewed each project, choosing three award winners for the CAF Winners Screening, 22 top works for the Electronic Theater screening as well as another 22 for the Animation Theater program.
It was a particular honour this year to be a part of the jury for the SIGGRAPH Asia 2020 Computer Animation Festival.
When I was watching these short films, while I followed the stories onscreen, I was transported to the dark bays of computers at small studios. Supervisors and directors overseeing animators and compositors, modelers and lighters. All focused on making their creation the best it can be. And then a lot of these tremendously complex short animated films are created by crews formed at schools and colleges from all over the world. The contributions from schools to the finalist’s call in this festival are commendable, and MIGRANT is a strong example to this fact.
The exercise of making a film together as a crew, sharpens skills, artistic and technical, logistic and managerial. There’s no better way to learn something than to do it in a team. To then present it to one of the biggest computer animation festivals on the planet is aiming high. Really, this is the only place to aim. This year in the field, there were a refreshing number of outstanding story-based short films, which indicated the massive effort undertaken before the production began. Story is so very important to the overall success of these pieces. And there were so many great stories to choose from this year. Congratulations to everyone who submitted.
“Our CAF winners, Electronic Theater and Animation Theater screenings highlight the work of an incredibly diverse and talented group of artists from around the world,” said SIGGRAPH Asia 2020 Computer Animation Festival Chair, Dan Sarto. “Our jury helped assemble an extraordinary collection of animated projects, including 47 animated shorts, VFX reels, commercials, scientific visualizations and other works, presented online during the festival. Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who took time to share their work with us.”
The SIGGRAPH the 2020 award winners are:
BEST IN SHOW: Shoom’s Odyssey
Director: Julien Bisaro, Producer: Claire Paoletti, Production Company: Picolo Pictures, Country: France
The 26-minute film, which won the Cristal for Best TV Production at Annecy 2020, tells the story of Shooom, a baby owl, that hatches just as a storm turns the bayou surrounding her tree upside down. No sooner has she fallen from her nest, then the little fledgling totters off into the mangrove, pushing a second egg from the brood along with her. Come hell or high water, she’s determined to find a mother… even if that mom turns out to be an alligator or a raccoon!
Click below to watch the ‘BEST IN SHOW’ Shoom’s Odyssey’s Teaser.
BEST STUDENT PROJECT: Migrants
Directors: Hugo Caby, Antoine Dupriez, Aubin Kubiak, Lucas Lermytte, and Zoé Devise, Producer: Carlos De Carvalho, School: Pôle 3D, Country: France, Distributor: Je Regarde
Two polar bears are driven into exile due to global warming. They will encounter brown bears along their journey, with whom they will try to cohabitate.
Click below to watch the ‘BEST STUDENT PROJECT’ Migrants’ Teaser.
JURY SPECIAL: Box Assassin
Producer / Director: Jeremy Schaefer, School: Ringling College of Art & Design, Country: USA
Craig, a pizza delivery boy, recalls the night he was making a delivery to a cold-blooded gang boss and his goons. Unknowingly, Craig delivers not pizza, but the legendary Box Assassin. The assassin shows up and wreaks havoc among the gangsters. Craig attempts to escape but is taken hostage by the gang boss. At the mercy of a cold-blooded gangster, Craig fears this might be the end.
Click below to watch the ‘JURY SPECIAL’ Box Assassin’s Teaser.
This year’s 22 films / projects selected for the Electronic Theater are as follows:
Aura by Timm Völkner
Déjeuner sur l’herbe by Jocelyn Charles, Jules Bourgès, Nathan Harbonn-Viaud, and Pierre Rougemont
Dogs by Benjamin Berrebi, Jakub Bednarz, Diego Cristófano, Mohammad Babakoohi, Théo Lenoble, Karlo Pavicic-Ravlic, and Marthinus Van Rooyen
Eos by Benoît Filippin, Paul Gautier, Laureline Massias, and Mathieu Milaret
Fú by Shaofu Zhang and Andrew Chesworth
Hamsa. by Daniela Dwek, Maya Mendonca, and Chrisy Baek
HBO Asia / Dream Raider / TV Show Opening Sequence by Aslan Malik
In Event of Moon Disaster by Francesca Panetta and Halsey Burgund
Instinct. by Arthur Allender, Mathieu Antoine, Léna Belmonte, Cyrielle Guillermin, Victor Kirsch, and Elliot Thomasson
Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson
Lenny Makes Some-Thing – “Turn Me On (feat.ARCX)” MV by Junha Kim
Love and Fifty Megatons (VFX) by Krez Denis
Pangu by Shaofu Zhang
Ragnarök by Christophe Sarraco, Pauline Lavelle, Hadrien Augier, Théo Blanchard, and Hugo Fredoueil
Soap versus COVID-19 by John McGhee
Sous la glace by Milan Baulard, Ismaïl Berrahma, Flore Dupont, Laurie Estampes, Quentin Nory, and Hugo Potin
The Beauty by Pascal Schelbli
The Heretic by Veselin Efremov
The Journey of Mankind is the Sea of Stars by Bohong Deng
Too Late by Roy Stein
Windbreak by Ágnes Győrfi
Windup by Yibing Jiang
The Computer Animation Festival’s 11 dedicated jury members, who spent two weeks reviewing 139 films and projects before choosing the final three award winners, 22 Electronic Theatre and 22 Animation Theatre selections, are as follows:
BoKyung Park, from Seoul Business Agency
Ed Hooks, from Acting for Animators
Erick Oh, from Tonko House
Jae-huun Ahn, from Meditation with a Pencil
Jeff Gipson, from Walt Disney Animation Studios
Juck Somsaman, from The Monk Studios
June Kim, from UNSW Sydney
Paul Hellard, from VFXScience
Steve Emerson, from LAIKA
Sungho Hong, from Locus Corporation
Vani Saraswathi, from Dancing Atoms
Related links:
VFX SCIENCE 