Computer Animation Arts

"The Race to the Bottom: What's the Story Behind Bad CGI?" by Bessie Yuill. 2020 In the wake of a string of visual effects disasters, such as ‘Cats’, ‘The Call of the Wild’ and ‘Dolittle’, Bessie Yuill investigates the highly skilled, over-worked life of a VFX artist. - Some (very short) extracts are included below but I recommend you read the full article - link here. "Cats was one of the most talked-about disasters of 2019 – especially in terms of its visual effects. Tom Hooper’s movie musical was rushed into cinemas with dubiously attached tails, Judi Dench’s visible wedding ring, and unsettling “digital fur technology”. Critics across the globe rushed to point out the errors, which only made the film feel more like a bizarre collective hallucination." "As for what he ( Joe Pavlo, Chair of the Animation and VFX Union branch at BECTU) thinks is behind sloppy CGI and bad working conditions (see below), he says that visual effects are “kind of late ...

"A father possum reads his kids a story that’s an alphabet of the most dangerous animal of all – HUMANS! Inspired by the Edward Gorey classic, this black-comedy for kids and parents alike is a hilarious and brutal alphabet of death and mayhem exacted upon animals by ignorant humans. 30 CGI animals were meticulously crafted and killed by a team of 44 students at Media Design School." Accidents, Blunders and Calamities from Media Design School on Vimeo .

Another disturbing animation for you tonight, ladies and gents (I guess my post-Brexit mood is yet to improve!).  This one is pretty dark and contains 'scenes of a sexual nature'.  For an fascinating insight into the making of the film, go here . SHELL from Daniel Ahrens on Vimeo .

Shades of Kubrick's 2001 here in Maxim Zheytkov's abstruse animated short Sputnik...

Fascinating stuff... and suddenly you realise just how young the VFX industry is, begging the question 'what next!?'

George Lucas's pear and Spielberg's walkie-talkies...