Ottawa International Animation Festival 2005
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 21-25, 2005
Deadline: June 1, 2005

Well, we kick off a new year at VFXWORLD with the topic of previsualization. The first in the series this month is Alain Bielik’s look at the previz work that went into brining Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s WWI set romance epic, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, to the screen.

Ellen Wolff explores how ILM’s Stefen Fangmeier mixed cutting edge technology with a bit of “old cinema magic” to help conjure the retro look of Lemony Snicket.

G4techTV celebrates one of the biggest days of the year for videogame fans and viewers alike with “HALO 2 Day,” in honor of the release of HALO 2, the sequel to the best-selling Xbox game of all time from 9:00 am Nov. 9 to 4:30 pm, Nov. 10, 2004 on the only 24-hour television network plugged into games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes,

The entire day dedicated to this blockbuster release includes shows such as X-PLAY, CINEMATECH, G4TV.COM, THE SCREEN SAVERS and UNSCREWED WITH MARTIN SARGENT devoting programming entirely to HALO 2.

2004 Machinima Film Festival Date: Saturday, November 6th, 2004 Time: Festival- 11am - 6pm, Awards - 8pm-9pm Location: The American Museum of the Moving Image, NY The Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences (AMAS), an organization that provides advocacy, education and community building awareness for the entertainment medium known as Machinima: animated film making using real-time 3D virtual environments, announced today a call for entries for the 2004 Machinima Film Festival. Sponsored by NVIDIA, the worldwide leader in visual and media processing technologies, the third-annual festival will be held November 6th 2004, at the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York. The one-day event will include screenings of Machinima films, workshops hosted by Machinima filmmakers, special screenings, talks with award-winning independent filmmakers and seminars about Machinima production techniques. The event will culminate in an awards ceremony where some of the best Machinima filmmakers will be recognized for their creative artistry in this new and powerful entertainment medium that's set to revolutionize the world of animation.

The Bitfilm Festival for digital film and new media shows films that use digital technology in a creative and innovative way. There are six categories: * 3D Space: Computer generated 3D animations. * FX Mix: Digitally composed hybrids, mixing live-action, effects and animation. * 64K Demos: Audiovisual programs that work with a PC's processor and videocard. * Flash: Linear films and interactive works made with Macromedia Flash. * Machinima: Films that are animated in realtime using game environments. * Micromovies: Films of max. three minutes that are custom-made for mobile devices like cell phones, PDAs, etc. There will be a total of 45,000 Euros in prize money awarded. There is no entry fee. More information and submissions can be found at www.bitfilm-festival.org.

The 2004 Ottawa International Animation Festival announced the winners of the official competition during its closing ceremonies held Sept. 26, 2004 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Taking the top prize was Chris Landreth’s groundbreaking short RYAN, an animated documentary about the famed NFB animator Ryan Larkin.

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF 04) is North America's oldest and largest animation festival. The festival is broken up into four umbrella categories. The first is for animated feature films. The New Media Competition covers Animation Short Made for the Internet, Internet series, interactive animation and "Machinima," films made with video game software. Commissioned Films Competition covers educational, scientific or industrial film, advertising film, station-program identification, music video, television special, television pilot, television series for adults and television series for children. Independent Short Films Competition covers narrative short film under 35 minutes, non-narrative short film under 35 minutes, first film and films made for children. The changes for 2004 include an expanded range of new media categories -- growing from one generic to four sub-categories -- and additional TV categories. Traditionally shown out of competition as a program enhancement, the feature film category was first introduced at the last OIAF held in 2002, and is expected to draw even more entries this time around. Overall, a record 1,700 entries were received for OIAF 02, the most entries ever received by any international animation festival. Approximately 100 more films, selected from an anticipated 1,500+ entries, will be shown during the festival's showcase programs. The International Short Showcase, the International TV Showcase, the Canadian Short Showcase, the Canadian TV Showcase and the first-ever Kids Animation Showcase will comprise this out-of-competition series. Founded in 1976, and held biennially ever since, the OIAF attracts international animators, producers, broadcasters, and enthusiasts to Ottawa to view films entered in and out of competition, and attend special screenings and workshops that ponder the current state and future of animation. For more information, visit www.animationfestival.ca or www.awn.com/ottawa, e-mail info@animationfestival.ca or call (613) 232-8769.

Ellen Wolff talks with Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning as he considers the realtime CG technologies that will change gaming along with movies and TV.

The Portland Indy Animation Festival 2004 is now accepting competitive and non-competitive entries. The Festival celebrates independent animators around the world, the more independent and original, the better. Submissions can include all aspects of animation including 3D, 2D, machinima, stop motion, filmed puppetry (in all its forms), animated trailers for works in progress and interpretations of the art of animation. Format of submissions (which are final) must be provided on one of the following: DVD, SVCD, VCD, VHS (PAL/SECAM/NTSC), miniDV, SWF (Flash) or mpeg2. Entries need to be received by 23rd July 2004. The Festival will take place at several venues 11th - 14th August 2004 in Portland, Oregon, USA. Entries submitted for the competition will be evaluated by judges and the audience. There will be awards handed out to those present on the last day of the festival. Further details and entry forms for the Portland Indy Animation Festival 2004 are available at http://pdxanimation.com (there is no entry fee).