Movers and Shakers

What do a robot in a bra, a man with a goldfish bowl for a head and a body-popping skeleton have in common? Simple: they’re all characters from the best student animations of the past year. The films on our shortlist are an eclectic bunch, ranging from disturbing stop-motion fantasies to slick motion graphics; from pounding abstract visuals to whimsical character pieces. What they all have in common is that they were all entered for a major festival this year, were created in 3D (or contain a good dollop of it, in the case of the mixed-media shorts), and are of a quality that would not look out of place in the output of any leading animation studio.

In the cover feature from issue 77 of 3D World, you can read our interviews with their creators. And here, you can download the weird and wonderful work of the 3D industry’s brightest young artists…

WHAT’S ON THE SHORTLIST?

Clik Clak
Batteries Not Included meets the ghost of René Magritte in this charming, surreal short, which went on to win the Grand Prix Imagina and top honours at Animex
Animators: Aurélie Fréchinos, Victor-Emmanuel Moulin, Thomas Wagner
More information: http://clik.clak.free.fr

Bath Time
A literal soap opera featuring some brilliant character animation, this ultra-short short earned a cult following online… and its creator a job at DreamWorks
Animator: Carlos Fernandez Puertolas
More information: www.charpu.com

Exit
Stark, striking and with more dialogue than your average existential novel, this black-and-white short traverses the borders of madness with wit and humour
Animators: Xavier Aliot, Florian Bestel, Nicolas Chombert, Guillaume Roux. Copyright Ecole Supérieure de Métiers Artistiques 2005
More information: www.exit-lefilm.com

Le Building
Singing in the shower can be hazardous to your health in this gleefully madcap Flash-and-3D short. Features graphic scenes of bus crashes and pizza delivery
Animators: Marco Nguyen, Pierre Perifel, Xavier Ramonède, Olivier Staphylas, Rémi Zaarour
More information: www.le-building.com

Ego
One man discovers his negative ‘twin’ in the chaotic world beyond the mirror. Alice Through the Looking Glass meets Fight Club in this unnerving 3D short
Animators: Louise Blaise, Thomas Lagache, Bastien Roger
More information: www.ego-lefilm.com

Fabel
Download the English version of this magical German VFX short, featuring the self-explanatorily named ‘goldfishbowlheadman’ and his fairy godmother
Animators: Max Stolzenberg, Anja Perl, Hannes Gerl, Stefan Kessner, Leif Arne Petersen
More information: www.filmakademie.de

All Star Vitamins
Discover why a balanced diet builds better bones, brains and Booleans in this dynamic motion graphics homage to everyone’s favourite dietary constituents
Animator: Tom Elgon
More information: www.tomelgon.co.uk

90 Degrees
Black and white and blue all over, this striking abstract short features a kinetic electronic score, and netted two of its creators jobs at leading UK studio The Mill
Animators: Jules Janaud, Raphael Martinez-Bachel, François Roisin
More information: www.tinyurl.com/phjbg

The Fish Heads Fugue…
…And Other Tales For Twilight is a mixed-media masterpiece inspired equally by Jan Svankmajer and old puppet shows. Uncover its gothic beauty here
Animators: Lauren Indovina, Linday Mayer-Beug
More information: http://indovina.blogspot.com

Football Toys
Violence, cross-dressing, and the creative use of lipstick: all in a day’s work for the denizens of a toy factory production line in this polished comic short
Animator: Pericles Michielin
More information: www.rsad.edu/portfolio/ca.php

Thanks to the Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games for their help in compiling this article. You can vote for your favourite film from Animex’s own shortlist in the festival’s Audience Award here