A group of us from Animation class visited the Manchester Animation Festival on Wednesday 16th. We went to watch the Student Films (Block 2) to get an idea of the type of competition we’d face in our third year of University, and let’s just say we have a lot to live up to. 10 films were shown overall – some being absolutely breathtaking, hilarious or heart-wrenching. The visuals on many of them were stunning, as was the direction, soundtracks and the animation itself. The titles of the films are found below.
White Silence (2D Animation)
A foreign language film about a girl accidentally killing her friends dog out of jealousy. A very strong start to the festival, with stunning 2D animation, amazing colour design and overall an intriguing story.
Mr Madilla or The Colour of Nothing (Live Action + 2D)
Perhaps one of the funniest an most creative shorts of the block, Mr Madilla had a very strong art style and a fantastic story of the filmmaker ‘interviewing’ a fictional character called Mr Madilla.
Gaining Altitude (2D, Photography, Collage)
A short, sweet and simple animation using a lot of cut-out’s and real life photography on the history of women in aviation.
AMA (2D Animation)
A very simplistic story with minimal dialogue about a women who breaks off from her group to discover mermaids fishing off the coast. It’s story didn’t have a lot to grip on, but it rather asked for you to simply enjoy it for what it is. It wasn’t the most engaging, but it had beauty in it’s simplicity.
Hound (2D)
A collection of short gags and simple set-up – resolve – jokes. It had a very unique art style with a lot of creativity bursting from every frame. The jokes were short but hilarious, with resolutions you just couldn’t see coming. Overall very enjoyable to watch with it’s quick pace and unique jokes.
Post (3D)
A breathtaking film with no dialogue. It tells the story of a robot delivering the same post to the same house in some strange futuristic dystopia. It had a lot of great directing techniques, the editing was pitch perfect to the story and the visuals really drew you in and made the world feel believable. It had a very gritty texture to it and made you almost feel dirty on every frame. Fantastic watch.
Until Dawn (2D, Charcoal + Chalk)
This film was animated entirely using charcoal and chalk, and while the style didn’t appeal to me personally, it was interesting seeing the technique in use. The story was of a woman losing her husband (presumably) in a car accident while crossing the street. The story was difficult to pick apart, but that demands a second and perhaps third watch of it, bringing audiences back for more. This film wasn’t personally for me, but I appreciate the efforts the filmmakers went through.
Eye for an Eye (2D, Sketchy Style)
This was absolutely gripping all the way through. At first, the story isn’t revealed to you. But as the interview progresses, you realise it’s of someone on death row for murdering a mother and her daughter. He reflects on the experience and his regret, eventually saying he deserves to die for what he’s done. It was shocking, and the very minimalist style really helped achieve the tone of the audio recording. Absolutely amazing, I’d love to watch this one again knowing what it’s about from frame one.
Itsuarpok* (Stop Motion)
A sweet little stop motion of a fictional creature befriending a bird in some very cold woods. The story involved no dialogue, but rather was told through movement – a great practice to see in action for my own development. The character design of the creature was tonally acute to the story, and it immediately made you sympathise with him – even when things go wrong.
Cowboy Land (2D Animation)
There are no camera angles but one in this short comedy of a criminal who escapes a prison in the wild west. The camera only pans right as we see the criminals and subsequently the sheriffs journey to escape. The jokes hit hard and the art style really complimented the wild west feeling (with it’s very washed colours and yellow tint like a desert). This was a very unique and fantastic short.
Perched (3D)
The last film in the block was a hitter. It told the story of a man stuck on a submarine, precariously perched on the tip of a mountain. How did he get there? No idea. How long has he been there? Clearly a long time. A bird then disrupts the peace by shifting the weight too much and putting the mans life at risk. He deals with the bird, but realises it’s baby is left behind. He becomes the hero, and decides to travel down the mountain. It was refreshing to see a bright and colourful 3D animation with an interesting story. It was unique and fun, and the story was excellent. Every time the ship tilted you felt the tension rise. I couldn’t have been happier it ended with this film, because it was one of the best of the show.
*Title may be spelt wrong.
I had an extremely enjoyable time visiting the animation festival and getting to see where the quality of my work should be at the end of my journey at university. Seeing all the different styles of art, story, design and so forth was fascinating as it’s helped give me inspiration for the direction in which I could go in. I’ll definitely be coming back here again next year to see how the quality of work rises.
Joshua JM 