SIGGRAPH 2016 announced the winners of the 43rd annual Computer Animation Festival, with Borrowed Time–directed by Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj–taking the Best in Show honor. With the tagline “Render the Possibilities,” SIGGRAPH 2016 wil be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., July 24-28.
The Computer Animation Festival has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented within the festival have been nominated for, or have received, a “Best Animated Short” Academy Award.
“The festival never rests on its laurels. Since its inception, it has been a beacon, attracting the attention of the best creators in the industry from every corner of the world. The 2016 Computer Animation Festival will offer a mix of juried and curated content,” said Roy C. Anthony, director of the 2016 fest.
For 2016, submissions were evaluated by an expert jury of professionals who span the visual effects, animation, research and development, games, advertising, and education industries.
SIGGRAPH 2016 Conference chair Mona Kasra said, “The Computer Animation Festival always attracts the best content from around the world. From the highest quality student work to the most amazing achievements in modern computer graphics, the 2016 festival will be yet another assembly of the most stunning work currently being produced today.”
The 2016 award categories and winners are:
BEST IN SHOW
Borrowed Time (USA)
Directed by Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, produced by Amanda Jones
A weathered sheriff returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget. With each step forward, the memories come flooding back. Faced with his mistake once again, he must find the strength to carry on.
JURY’S CHOICE
Cosmos Laundromat (Netherlands)
Submitted and Produced by Ton Roosendaal
In this short, Franck, a depressed sheep, sees only one way out of his boring life, until he meets with the quirky salesman Victor, who offers him any life he ever wanted. The piece was created as a pilot for a feature film project that, if it happens, will be the first free, open-source animated production.
BEST STUDENT PROJECT
Crabe-Phare (France)
Directed by Mengjung Yang, Gaetan, Benjamin Lebourgeois, Clarie Vandermeersch, and Alendandre Veaux
The Crabe-Phare is a legendary crustacean. He captures the boats of lost sailors to add them to his collection. But the crab is getting old, and it is more and more difficult for him to build his collection.
The 2016 Computer Animation Festival is comprised of two programs: the Electronic Theater and Daytime Selects. An evening event, the highly popular Electronic Theater will contain over 20 primarily narrative-driven short films from around the globe, showcasing technical excellence, art, and animation. In addition to juried pieces, this year’s theater will feature curated works such as Disney Pixar’s “Piper” and Disney Animation Studios’ “Inner Workings.”
The Daytime Selects program has been revamped for 2016 and will offer four, varied sessions targeted to the diverse demographics of the attendee base. These new, unique formats will include:
•BREAK IT DOWN – A chance for attendees to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how movie magic is created, featuring demonstrations of today’s most stunning visual effects from major studios and a glimpse at how standard techniques can be used in new ways. Celebrate the art of the breakdown with participating studios ILM, MPC, Framestore, Weta, Digital Domain, Pixar, Spin VFX, OLM, Mr. X, and many more!
•THE ARCADE – An audience experience that focuses on games from concept art through technology to implementation in cinematic and real time. The show touches on everything from look development through to the amazing accomplishments being made today with modern real-time engines.
•DEMOSCENE – A representation of an international computer art subculture that specializes in creating self-contained programs that produce audio-visual presentations. It is designed for computer scientists, GPU lovers, shader architects, and extreme real-time graphics artists to exhibit programming, artistic, and musical skills within highly constrained limitations.
•WINNERS’ CIRCLE – A celebration of Computer Animation Festival award winners from the past seven years for attendees who wish to revisit some of their favorite winning content from Electronic Theaters of the past.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More