SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival Award Nominees Announced

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACM SIGGRAPH announced today the award nominees for the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival to be held in Los Angeles this summer. Nominees were chosen from more than 900 submissions from around the globe, presented by both professional studios and students alike. An esteemed panel of jury members reviewed each submission to compile some of the greatest works submitted this year.

“With nearly 30 jurors from all corners of the globe, and two separate jury meetings, this year’s Computer Animation Festival jury was one of the most comprehensive in the Festival’s history,” stated Samuel Lord Black, Computer Animation Festival Juried Co-chair. “The varied expertise we received from our jury ensures that this year’s festival is well-balanced, exciting, and a great snapshot of the industry’s finest material.”

Since 1999, the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival has been an official qualifying festival for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "Best Animated Short Film" award.

New in 2008 is the addition of the Computer Animation Festival award presentations, where winners will be revealed during the event. This year’s expanded Festival also offers attendees an array of activities over a five-day period, which includes competition and showcase screenings at Los Angeles’ famed Nokia Theater.

Attendees interested in all aspects of animation can also participate in a variety of panels, talks, and presentations, including two full-days that will focus on the world of 3D stereo cinematography. These events will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

For complete details on this year’s Computer Animation Festival, visit http://www.siggraph.org/s2008/submissions/juried/caf/.

The nominees for this year’s Computer Animation Festival Awards are as follows:

Best in Show Nominees

Bolides

Supinfocom, France

From Supinfocom, this imaginative student film treats us to a chaotic, hilarious, wheelchair race through an old age home.

Carbon Footprint

William Rockall, Jellyfish Pictures, UK

Using computer graphics, Jellyfish Pictures drives home the point of global responsibility, presenting the decomposition of a single soda can over half a century, in a single seamless shot.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

DreamWorks Animation, USA

Hilarity, peril, romance, and zoo animals; everything expected from DreamWorks Animation, this glimpse into their upcoming film provides a whole new perspective on flying with animals.

Oktapodi

Julien Bocabeille, Francois-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, Emud Mokhberi, GOBELINS l'ecole de l'image, France

GOBELINS' third year students direct this animated short about two octopi in their comical escape from the grasps of a stubborn restaurant cook.

The Chemical Brothers 'The Salmon Dance'

Framestore CFC, UK

Great music combines with hilarious animation to provide a new perspective on aquaria, as a tank filled with rapping, beatboxing, and dancing fish comes to life, featuring over 300 hand-animated fish.

Best Student Piece Nominees

893

Supinfocom, France

Once again, France's Supinfocom combines story and style in this tale of honor, tradition, and imagination.

Al Dente

Supinfocom, France

Combine opera, pasta, and a knife-wielding chef and the result is another delicious animated short from this prolific school.

Baerenbraut

Derek Roczen - Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction, Germany

This tale of disproportionate love shows how relationships can change over time. This remarkable 2D animation illustrates a complicated subject and a complex relationship using the most limited of color palettes.

Blind Spot

Johanna Bessiere, Nicolas Chauvelot, Olivier Clert, Cecile Dubois Herry, Yvon Jardel, Simon Rouby, GOBELINS l'ecole de l'image, France

Peripheral vision is everything in this animation about a nearsighted grandmother, a clumsy robber, and a surveillance camera that doesn't quite tell the story of what's really going on in the convenience store.

Mauvais Role

Alan Barbier, Camille Campion, Dorian Fevrier, Frederic Fourier, Frederic Lafay, Min Ma, Jean-Francois Macem, Emanuel Reperant, Jeremie Rousseau, Olivier Sicot, Supinfocom, France

This little tale tells the story of getting whatever you want, as long as you know what it is. Watch as a monster constantly cast in games, finds his perfect job in a game you'd never choose for him.

Jury Award Nominees

Chump and Clump

Michael Herm, Stephan Sacher, Germany

This short shows us just how distracting your friends can be....and just how they can lead you to miss your bus. Repeatedly

Mauvais Role

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Oktapodi

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Our Wonderful Nature

Tomer Eshed, HFF Potsdam, Germany

This documentary uses time stretching, film camera work, and creative sound design to tell the story of water shrews in the wild.

The Plush Life

Timothy Heath, USA

This film, rendered entirely with NVIDIA's Gelato, shows us what happens when you pick at something that just shouldn't be picked at: you might just imperil your trip to work.

About SIGGRAPH

SIGGRAPH 2008 will bring an estimated 30,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles, California, USA for the industry's most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from Monday, 11 August through Friday, 15 August 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Celebrating its 35^th year, SIGGRAPH 2008 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 12-14 August 2008. More than 250 international exhibiting companies are expected. Registration for the conference and exhibition is open to the public. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2008

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery www.acm.org, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.