Ye it’s that time of year again, when the 2nd year students of the Gobelins School of Communication in Paris put their films on show at the Annecy Animation Festival.
The students work in small crews, concentrating only on the production of their group film. No essays, dissertations or other academic distractions. There is intense competition for places on the course; most of the applicants are already proficient animators.
The Annecy shorrts films are made to a very high standard, and are typically 60 – 90 seconds long. One was nominated for an Oscar last year.
The films are released one per day, to be shown at the beginning of each session of screenings. The first to appear this year is the story of a lamplighter in a tropical glasshouse who is beguiled by mysterious sprites. It’s called “Monstera deliciosa”, which is the botanic name for the Swiss Cheese Plant.
(Click these pictures for the big versions, please)
I love the beautiful treatment of the backgrounds in this film
There’s some very daring character design on view.
Someone took great care with the layouts and compositions.
Crew members are: Jérémy Macedo, Julien Perron, Ornélie Prioul, Rémi Salmon.
Here’s the link. (Requires QuickTime)
Another Gobelins post tomorrow, no doubt…
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2 Comments
It’s my understanding that these Annecy shorts are different from the likes of Oktapodi. The quick-fire Annecy shorts are made by 2nd year students, while the longer form shorts like Oktapodi or Blind Spot are made in the 3rd year, and then tour the various animation festivals. It really is quite amazing that the students can work to this incredible standard by the second year of the course.
conceptart.org@Stephen McNally: Thanks for clarifying that. The entrance standard is really high, and there are many applicants for a small number of places each year. The interview alone takes a whole day. There’s a comprehensive discussion of the entry requirements on the conceptart.org forums here.