Stalingrad is a Russian WWII drama directed by Fedor Bondarchuk. Main Road Post, headquartered in Moscow, is responsible for all the VFX work on this film.
For the opening title sequence of Guy Moshe’s film Bunraku, Guilherme Marcondes introduces us to the Bunraku alternate universe — from pre-historic animals fighting for survival to its present-day third world war. It’s got a lovely mixed-media style, including the puppeteering technique explored earlier in his short film Tyger. The title sequence was entirely fabricated and shot at the Hornet Workshop.
Originally made back in 2008, it’s finally available online. Don’t miss the great production photos and art at Gui’s Flickr Set.
Credits
Directed by Guilherme Marcondes
Produced by Hornet Inc.
Executive Producer: Michael Feder
Producer: Hana Shimizu
Animation
Producer: Jan Wohrle
Lead Compositor: John Harrison
Compositors: Yussef Cole, Julien Koetsch, Arthur Hur
Storyboard Artists: Tom Lintern, Carlos Ancalmo
Character Design: Rafael Grampá, Mike Luzzi
Background Design: Morgan Schweitzer
Character Animation: Mike Luzzi
Additional Animation: Frank Summers, Keng-Ming Liu
Editor: Joe Suslak
Live Action
Director of Photography: Toshiaki Ozawa
Live Action Producer: Joel Kretschman
Assistant Director: Jeff Lazar
1st Assistant Camera: Scott Maguire
Gaffer: Michael Yetter
Best Boy: Rich Ulivella
Key Grip: Joe Mandeville
Art Director: Ryan Heck
Asst. Art Director: Andy Byers
Set Design: Andrezza Valentin
Puppet Fabrication: K&Z Studio Inc., Adam Parker Smith & Carolyn Salas
Puppeteers: Adam Pagdon, Ulysses Jones, Megan McNerney, Celli Clemmons
Production Assistants: Matthew Churchill, Rick Matera, Connie Li Chan
Yellow Cake is a new short film by Nick Cross, an Ottawa-based animator who has worked for everyone from Nickelodeon to Spumco over the course of his career. He calls Yellow Cake a “lamentable tragedy mixed full of pleasant mirth.” Animated in Flash, with digitally painted backgrounds, the fine-tuned muted color palette, retro-styled animation and the symphonic, almost saccharine, music all work to lure you into a tale of adorable blue creatures who spend all day baking and then eating their own delicious yellow cakes. But soon the tide turns, and Nick’s film explores a modern parable of terrorism and war, addressing our own attention span in a devastating way.
You will remember that way back in 2003, Yellow Cake Uranium was one of the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Iraq allegedly possessed. Watch the film first, then read on for more with Nick Cross.
Questions:
1. Can you give us a brief run-down of your animation background, other shorts films you’ve done or commercial work that’s been notable in developing your own films?
A. I’ve been working in the commercial animation world since 1996, mostly working on children’s television programming. Since two of the things I enjoy the most is drawing and films, animation was a natural fit for me. However, since I never went to animation school, working in animation was a good education and grounding for making my own animated films later. I made my first film in 1998 just to sort of learn animation, and I’ve been making films ever since.
2. What was the specific inspiration for Yellow Cake?
A. In 2003, while I was working on my previous film, The Waif of Persephone, there was a lot of talk in the media about Iraq purchasing yellow cake uranium. It was talked about so much that it was eventually just referred to as yellow cake, which I thought was pretty funny since they were speaking in such ominous tones about a tasty dessert treat. I just kept thinking about it, forming the story in my head until I finished Waif of Persephone in 2006, and then I jumped right on to working on Yellow Cake.
3. I know that you’ve mentioned that you’ve worked on this film (off and on) for almost three years. Even then, at over 8 minutes, how did you ever find the time to make this all on your own?
A. Over the years, I’ve developed a pretty streamlined production method through trial-and-error. Working almost entirely digitally now saves me a lot of time; I draw right into Flash with a Cintiq tablet and paint all of the backgrounds in Photoshop. I think that I could have made the entire film in just a few months if I didn’t have to keep putting it on the shelf to do commercial jobs, but such is the life of an independent filmmaker.
4. Did you deliberately use a few visual cues from well-known photographs from history? We’re thinking of the famous Napalm Girl photo and the Orwellian / They Live references in the town… Are there any others we might have missed?
A. Yes, definitely. I think that photograph from the Vietnam War really encapsulates the horror of war, so I couldn’t help referencing it. Also, 1984 is my favorite book so I couldn’t help but put some Orwellian imagery in there. The only other overt reference that I put in the film is to the Disney short, The Brave Little Tailor. When all the cats are freaking out near to the end of the film is based off of the montage of the villagers yelling “Seven in one blow!”.
5. The ending of the film leaves the fate of the little blue guys a little bit up in the air, cutting right to cartoons, music, sports and a final test pattern before the film ends. Watching the film leaves the audience itself a bit complicit: we’re all cats, aren’t we? Is there a call to action there?
A. It’s not really a call to action, it’s just sort of my thoughts about how we as a society view war. We are interested up to a point and then, since it doesn’t really affect us in our everyday lives, we get distracted and kind of forget that there is even a war still going on.
Thanks, Nick! Good luck with the film on the festival circuit and with the release of a DVD collection of your work. We’re looking forward to that.
We should also mention that Nick is one of the creators of the pilot for Angora Napkin which premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival a few weeks ago.
Some more links:
The Brave Little Tailor
Phan Thị Kim Phúc (The Napalm Girl)
1984
Obey
The Waif of Persephone (1 minute preview)
You can also buy the Waif of Persephone at Nick’s site.
NOTE: Some people might find this not safe for work (NSFW).
Optix Digital, based in Hamburg, Germany, flexes their muscles in two new CG spots. First up is Bontrust “Geldvermehrung” (marginally NSFW).
This may be one of the strongest metaphors I’ve seen in a while for global economic convergence. It’s also loads of fun. Unique character designs and a full narrative arc are packed into the tiny space of the spot.
The circling cameras and love-bird music set the perfect stage for what lay ahead at the climax of the story. (Wink, wink.) I wish we could get away with making this type of work in the States!
For a little more behind the Bontrust project, including process images from Optix, read on.
Next up, an action-packed, type-based spot for Inlingua.
Key words and economic phrases comprise helicopters, fighter jets, tanks, and explosions—all obstacles we fight as we make our way toward the final goal. The POV camera work and excellent sound design help sell the ambiance of warfare and chaos as we duck in and around bunkers and dodge bombs of type.
Bontrust
Client: Bontrust Finance
Agency: Grabarz & Partner Werbeagentur GmbH, Fedja Kehl / Paul von Mühlendahl
Production: OPTIX Kreation
Producer: Steffi Beck, Tobias Ziegler
Creation: Andreas Pohl (CD / animation director), Petra Delitsch (AD)
3D Animation: Markus Geerts (Leadartist), Michael Gottschalk, Florian Weyh, Marc Goecke
Posted on Motionographer
As a follow up to their previous spot for Israeli telecom company Pelephone, Gravity teamed up with director Eli Sverdlov on another spot full of charm and cheer for agency Adler Chomski & Warshavsky/Grey Israel.
Like “Other World,” “Canons” is reminiscent of director Rupert Sanders‘ penchant for magical realism, but with a decidedly campy twist. The saturated visuals and grin-worthy denouement suggest an alternate reality of storybook proportions, the kind of place that could just as easily fit in a snow globe as it could in your imagination.
I like that level of approachability for something so surreal. It’s a difficult thing to master in 60 seconds of airtime.
Posted on Motionographer
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A. during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
