Within the world of animation, most experimentation occurs within short format productions, whether they be high budgeted commercials, low budgeted independent shorts, or something in between. The growing number of short film festivals around the world attest to the vitality of these works, but there are few other venues for exhibition of them or even written reviews. As a result, distribution tends to be difficult and irregular. On a regular basis, Animation World Magazine will highlight some of the most interesting with short descriptive overviews.

This Month:

f8 (2001), 13 min., directed by Jason Wen, USA. Info: Jason Wen. Fax: 972-240-0087. Email: jason_wen@hotmail.com

Os Irmãos Willians (The Willians Brothers) (2000), 12 min., directed by Ricardo Dantas, Brazil. Info: Zoo Filmes Ltda, Rua Armando Pinto, 142, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Tel/Fax: 55-11-91127286. Email: zoo@originet.com.br.

Ornaments (2001), 5.5 min., directed by Aaron James Erimez, USA. Info: Aaron James Erimez. Email: ajerimez@aol.com.

The Shark and the Piano, 6 min., directed by Gabriele Pennacchioli, co-directed by Alessandro Carloni, Germany. Info: Alessandro Carloni. Email: alecarloni@aol.com. Or Gabriele Pennacchioli. Email: gpennacchioli@iol.it. URL: www.munich-animation.com and www.nightflight.it

Still I Rise (2001), 6 min., directed by Umesh Shukla, USA. Info: Umesh Shukla, 5809 Abernathy Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Tel: 310-216-5724. Email: info@umeshshukla.com.

If you have the QuickTime plug-in, you can view a clip from each film by simply clicking the image.

See a clip!   f8.© Jason Wen.

f8
Jason Wen's science-fiction short is both compulsively watchable and inherently frustrating. A tour-de-force of computer-animation technique, f8 is also largely indecipherable at a narrative level, and -- with its episodic structure composed of short segments punctuated by dissolves, fades and blackouts -- often feels more like a trailer or a non-interactive video game than a cohesive work. While it's clear that the film has something to do with the individual versus the omnipotent techno-state, the story doesn't resolve any further. The imaginative visuals and attention to detail are awesome and Wen demonstrates substantial mastery of the computer-animation idiom. However, as digital tools become more available and sophisticated, and computer-created milieux more widespread and familiar, the need for a meaningful and engaging narrative becomes even more important if one is to move beyond the generic.

Jason Wen is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art & Design. f8, which he began while a student, is his second film. (His senior thesis, Whirligig, screened at SIGGRAPH in 1999.) f8 was completed over the course of 3 1/2 years, using Lightwave 3D with the Project: Messiah plug-in. The film was composited in After Effects and edited in Adobe Premiere.

f8 screened at the 2001 SIGGRAPH, where it won a Jury Award, as well as the Hollywood Film Festival, Prix Arts Electronica (Austria) and many other festivals. It received a Gold Award at the 2001 Japanese Digital Animation Festival.