The Wanderer

The range of diversity and creativity of the graduation films coming out of The Animation Work these past months has been nothing short of inspiring. The final short of this year's series, The Wanderer, ends on a high note. Taking us through the lifespan of plant-like alien being the short poses the question, what would you do if you only had one day to live?

Created by a team of third year Character Animation and CGI students, The Wanderer is a strange, ephemeral and beautiful short and a perfect way to tie off this year's collection of graduation films. Congratulations Class of 2015!

Fibers

Fibers is yet another impressive graduation film from the Denmark's illustrious Animation Workshop school and the first of this year's impressive crop to feature a combination of live-action along with CGI. Whereas previous films have consisted of narrative stories told from beginning to end, Fibers is an interpretive dance video told through both a macro- and microscopic scale of events. Jens Brøndum choreography set to Thomas Ahlmark and Kristoffer Jorgensen's pulsating electronic score is a sight to behold.

Baxter

We wrote on Ty Coyle's impressive graduation film Baxter when it was posted months ago, but we had to retract our post when the short mysteriously vanished from the web. Turns out, The film was nominated for the Student Academy Award and had to be withdrawn in order to comply with the contest's requirements. Now that the film's festival run is over, we're happy to repost it!

Baxter is a anal retentive raccoon who manages to make his way into Granny's Sweet Shop. But will his obsession for immaculate detail unwittingly set off his own downfall? Many thanks to Ty and the rest of the crew from the Savannah College of Art and Design for sending this back our way. Great job guys, can't wait to see more of your work in the future!

Roommate Wanted - Dead or Alive

'Roommate Wanted - Dead or Alive' is yet another graduation film from the venerable students of The Animation Workshop. The short opens with Adam, a financially-strapped medical student posting a desperately-worded roommate opening online.

Within minutes (as is the typical case for cartoons), Adam is greeted by Zack, the one and only response to his posting. Little did Adam suspect however that his plea for a roommate regardless of whether they possessed a pulse or not would yield a result for the latter. Can these two strangers manage to make it out together, and maybe even become friends along the way?

The Odd Couple

There's a lot to love about this short. What sets "Roommate Wanted" apart from the rest of the graduation films I've seen come out of the Workshop lately is that it is a purely physical, clay-mation puppet production as opposed to the 2D-3D animations we've seen up until this point.



It certainly wears its influences on its sleeve, with the exaggerated pantomimic gestures typically associated with Wallace and Gromite coupled with an over-the-top Vincent Price-esque narration rhyming throughout the short. I absolutely adore the intricate touches of detail,  the crooked xylophone-like grating of the radiator, the faded postcard stickers and leather of Zack's suitcase.
The slapstick tone of Composer Mathias Winum's score certainly is reminiscent of Frederic Bayco's iconic work. Check out more of the team's production work on their student Tumblr.

Vagabond

If there's one thing that can survive the suffocating hardships of the dystopian future, it's the love between a man and his dog. Vagabond follows the story of Dio, a homeless man whose unwavering resilience to save the life of his best friend leads him straight into the dark, uncaring industrial sprawl of a towering metropolis.

One of my (many) favorite shots from the film.

With a fascinating futuristic setting of an apparent working-class society, the border-less character-design, The ominious sharp-forking piping of the backgrounds, and the choice use of minimal spoken dialogue and atmospheric sound design, Vagabond is a student short with a strong core premise executed exceptionally.

That final full-shot of the city is spectacular, definitely conjuring up comparisons to Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack. Vagabond is the graduation project of a team of five animators and three computer graphic students of The Animation Workshop university based in Denmark. Check out more behind-the-scenes production art and bios on the students at the film's Tumblr!

'Le Gouffre' is An Exhilarating Testament to Conquering the Impossible

Lightning Boy Studio's Le Gouffre (The Gulf) is an animated short that is thoroughly engrossing as it is visually spectacular. The film tells the story of two intrepid young explorers in their attempt to traverse the titular chasm of "Le Gouffre". Over many weeks, the friends not only manage to forge an death-defying suspension bridge across the expanse, but also forge a relationship with the small rural farmers who call the forested end of the valley their home. But when the leisurely effort quickly shifts into a battle against the elements, can they manage to make it across in time?

The project has amassed a terrific reaction following the overwhelming success of its Kickstarter campaign in 2013, which allowed the creators to finance the movie's post-production. I'd say the money went to good use. The fact that Lightning Boy is made up of no more than three friends who met in animation school is further proof to the point that great things come from small beginnings.
Check out the promotional site for more information about the studio and check paste the break for the equally fascinating behind the scenes video!

This 30-Second 'Apocalypse Now' Student Trailer is Ridiculously Impressive

Apocalypse Now is one of Francis Ford Coppola's most storied and critically-acclaimed films and a sobering depiction of the ravages of war on the human psyche. The only thing more iconic than the film itself is it's subsequent documentary Heart of Darkness, wherein we get a glimpse at the process behind producing the film that nearly drove Coppola himself to the brink of insanity.

The best part of waking up is napalm in your cup!

A class of students from The Animation Workshop,Denmark's leading animation institution, have released this epic 30-second trailer depicting Captain Willard's journey into the dark heart of the jungles of Vietnam to kill the demented Colonel Kurtz. I think it manages to succinctly capture the psychological gravitas and iconic imagery of one of cinema's most enduring classics. Great job guys!

Way Out

What happens when our over-dependency on virtual communication takes on a life of it's own? This is the central conceit behind Yukai Du's MA graduation film inspired by Sherry Turkle's novel, "Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other".  The short combines Du's distinctive chalk-pattern aesthetic with beautifully engrossing ambient sound design courtesy of Angus MacRae.

I can't help but reflect on my own over-reliant social media habits after watching "Way Out". The ease-of-access of modern information technology has made us lax in the categorization of that information between that which is edifying and that which is stunting. And what happens when human interactions are lost in the mix? Still, I think it's possible to navigate the ubiquity of the modern age while still bearing in mind what's really important.

Flow

Mathijs Demaeght's graduation film "Flow" was released over four months ago, though for some reason it seems to have re-entered into the orbit of the blogosphere after detouring in the space in which all hidden treasures reside.

A beautiful and near-seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation, Flow depicts the story of a young girl who, in the depths of mourning a lost loved-one, follows a white wolf into a mysterious realm of forests and spirits.

"Go then; there are other worlds than these."

The animation here inspires favorable comparisons to the aesthetics of such works as Journey, Sword & Sworcery, and the Gobelins student film Myosis. With the exception of backgrounds, storyboards and score, everything was created and animated by Mathijs himself. If this film is any indication, I'd say he's got a quite the promising future ahead of him.

Habitus

Habitus is a term in sociology that refers to, "the lifestyle, values, dispositions and expectations of a particular social group that are acquired throughout everyday life experience within that group". A concept beautifully illustrated by Timor Barshtman in this sleek three-minute motion graphic that charts the course of one man's journey through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Velda's Vision

Presentation is everything when you're a student, especially when it comes to presenting portfolio work. Thomas Hernandez's Velda's Vision took an environment modeling demo created as his final project at the Vancouver film school and added a cinematic aspect to it, much to our surprise. It's rare to see students put this much love into simple presentation, but going the extra mile tends to do the trick when your work is on the employers desk. Very nice work.

Velda's Vision is a modeling demo reel that brings to the spectator, the fantastic world of witchcraft. It is settled in the core of an ancient dark forest, in a old and hidden hut, where all the magic is crafted for the protection of this dimension against the darkness.

Portepluie by Idriss Bodhy

We came across another great piece from a Supinfocom student: This time we present Idriss Bodhy's Poretpluie.  Utilizing vibrant colors and interesting textures, Bodhy tells the short and simple story of a man who comes to the realization he is in the wrong business.  Knowing your market is pretty much step 1, and he discovers this much to his dismay.  However, sometimes life finds a way, and we end up utilizing the most random of objects.

Deathigner

Deathsigner initially caught my eye as by it's charming style, showcasing an art style similar to many of Dreamworks' earlier hand-drawn animation. While the story is simple, a tale of of a young Grim Reaper finding it's talent in life, the execution is awesome and the inclusion of other bringers of death adds an extra level of style. Animated by a team from the National Taiwan University of Arts, Deathigner once again proves that the next generation of animators is something to keep an eye out on. 

Runaway - The Story Of a Man And His Fridge

Runaway is probably as close to a new The Brave Little Toaster as we're ever going to get, but if it doesn't tug at the heartstrings at least a little you've got quite a cold heart. Telling the story of a man and his refrigerator, this short animation would feel right at home as a short sitting in front of a feature length movie. Runaway proves once again that student animators are constantly ahead of the animation industry when given creative leeway. 

Dumb Day by Kevin Eskew

We've already showcased several of Cartoon Brew's shorts from the Student Animation Festival, but none quite so abstract as Kevin Eskew's  Dumb Day.  He takes slife of life examples, and twists them into something very bizarre.  The art style is a basic black and white, sketch-like style, and the animation is purposefully twitchy, giving it a sense of discomfort.  Which of course just adds to the abstract feel of it all.

Ugly Cute - An Unfinished Student Project We'd Love To See Finished

Ugly Cute is a student project by Slovakian based artist Flou. While Flou has stated that the project was never completed and remains missing a key scene of "irony" the overall sense of flow and completion is all in place. Flou's harshly inked style flows incredibly well with the style of animation and blends perfectly for the unique style which seems to pay homage to classic Disney cartoons.

Croc/Exile

A thieving crocodile finds himself on the run after a recent heist, only to find a bit of a safe haven.  Stumbling upon it by poor chance, he enjoys burgers, wine, and a little entertainment, only to find his car towed.  This sketch-like, stylized short is understated both visually and audibly, but the creator, Reza Iman, pulls is off well.

Dia de los Muertos

In a perfectly lighthearted Sunday morning cartoon fashion, we stumbled across the student animated short, Dia de los Muertos.  A story about, you guessed it, the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead."  In the short, a little girl finds herself mourning at a gravesite, only to be whisked away to the land of the dead.  Instead of finding something scary as she clearly first thought, she finds a land of innocent celebration. As is fitting with the holiday, the art style is bright and colorful, and is overall fun to watch.  Created by Ringling College of Art and Design students Lindsey St. Pierre, Ashley Graham, and Kate Reynolds.

SpyFox

Ringling College of Art and Design Students Yoav Shtibleman, Taylor Clutter, and Kendra Phillips collaborated to create this fun, retro-inspired animated short, SpyFox.  Since the terms spy and retro obviously go well together (thanks, James Bond), this concept wasn't too far out of the park, but we loved the fun story and typical, cheesy dialogue. Our spy protagonist is played by a clever fox, naturally, and he's on a mission to save the world, or the girl.  The 3D characters are simple, but have a lot of life.  Definitely a silly, lighthearted short to brighten up the afternoon!

Sun of a Beach

While I've enjoyed the last few days of surreal, dark animations, I'm ready for something much more lighthearted.  Cue recent animation graduate Nathan Moura's animated short, Sun of a Beach, as part of the Cartoon Brew's Student Animation Festival that we've previously mentioned.  Here the poor, poor Sun just wants to make friends at the beach.  But his problem, is that people apparently don't like neither blinding light in their face, or too much of those nasty UVA/UVB rays.  A very sad existence indeed.