Films

Cube Creative gets away with Murder

Cube Creative have just released a teaser to their short film Le Meurtre (The Murder).

Using a limited color palette, French artists Tom Haugomat and Bruno Mangyoku have created a stylish, screen-printed look to this animated folk tale.

Once funding has been secured, they’re looking forward to completing the project.

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Nick Cross reveals Black Sunrise trailer

Nick Cross has released the second trailer to his indie animated feature Black Sunrise.

I’m not sure what’s more impressive: the stylish, smooth animation or the fact that Cross really has his heart set on creating his own feature-length animated film.

Cross is no stranger to dark themes. His brilliant short The Pig Farmer, also combines incredible hand-drawn animation with political themes and sinister, shadowy characters.

To see more progress reports on the making of Black Sunrise, check out the Nick Cross animation blog.

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Nacho Rodriguez unveils Mister Coo music video

Ça Ça Mirlaquerr is a new music video animated by Nacho Rodriguez.

Nacho is responsible for the Las Aventuras de Mister Coo series of hand animated shorts, and this new music video has the same amount of life and frantic energy.

The simple designs allow so much movement and incredible squash and stretch. This is what I love so much about 2d hand-drawn animation.

To see more of Nacho’s works, check out his website: Mister Coo.

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Happy Feet 2 television spots

Apologies for not posting more regularly, but at Dr D Studios we’ve been working very hard putting the finishing touches on Happy Feet 2.

Crunch time was intense, challenging and mercifully short. I’m really stunned at how beautiful the result is.

Take a look at some of the latest Happy Feet 2 television spots and you can see what I’ve been working on.

I’m really happy with the work, and very excited to be back blogging on a regular basis.

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Bring on the live-action remake of Akira

I’m probably going to animation hell for saying this, but here it comes.

I have no objections to a well-made, live-action Hollywood remake of Akira.

There. I said it.

Rumors of remaking Katsuhiro Ohtomo‘s anime classic have been buzzing around the internet for a while now.

Harry Partridge even showed us what he thinks could happen to Akira in the hands of a Hollywood hack.

Here’s a few reasons why, if it’s done well, a live-action Hollywood Akira remake might actually be an improvement on the original.

Hollywood knows how to make superhero movies

After a dramatic encounter, a kid discovers he has super powers.

What movie am I describing?

It’s the logline of literally hundreds of Hollywood films, from Harry Potter to Spiderman to X-Men to The Incredible Hulk.

Not all superhero films turn out to be classics, but the one thing you can say is that Hollywood has plenty of experience with this genre.

A great director could do a great job

Movies like Donnie Darko, Inception, Moon and the recent Source Code show that it is possible to create intelligent high-concept films that are also entertaining.

You can’t tell me that a version of Akira directed by someone like David Fincher, JJ Abrams, Richard Kelly or Christopher Nolan wouldn’t be well-handled.

Akira is twenty-three years old

Akira was released in 1988. If you were born when Akira came out, you’d be old enough to drink by now.

Sure – just because a movie is old, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ready to be remade, but fanboys can hardly use the “too soon” excuse.

Akira has problems

Right about now the internet is about to explode with rage and vitriol directed towards me.

But I saw the movie recently and there are significant problems with the characters, script and pacing that could be addressed in a new version.

Most of the third act of the film is dominated by Kaneda and Tetsuo fighting and screaming each other’s name at each other.

Tetsuooooo!

Kanedaaaaa!

It doesn’t make any sense. One short scene at the start of the movie where we see a pattern of Kenada bullying Tetsuo would make a massive difference in explaining the motivation of the characters.

In fact, the opposite happens. In flashback we’re told that Kaneda is one of the few children that is nice to Tetsuo – making their showdown even crazier.

The original Akira will still exist

It’s not like as part of the deal to remake Akira is to destroy all copies of the original.

Quite the contrary.

In the same way that the American version of The Office piqued interest in the original British version, it’s very likely that young people will get turned on to the original as a direct result of seeing the remake.

Don’t get me wrong – I think the original Akira is a flawed masterpiece. Even decades after it was made, I’m still stunned at the lighting and artwork. Not to mention the explosions, smoke, fire and flesh effects.

It’s brilliant, but I don’t think it’s untouchable.

In the hands of the right director, a live-action Akira remake could be fantastic.

Let’s wait and see if it gets off the ground.

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David Firth delivers a bitter pill

It’s dark, grotesque, perverse, poignant and brilliant.

It’s Take This Pill, the latest animated short from independent animator David Firth.

The crude animation and fast-talking dialog is a perfect match for this savage look at pharmaceuticals, modern medicine, mental illness and existential angst.

Firth, who created the Salad Fingers animated web series, says he doesn’t mind if people have a negative reaction to his films.

I just do what I do and people react how they react. — David Firth

To find out more about his mind-warping animation, check out David Firth’s website Fat-Pie.com.

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Mukpuddy achieves the impossible in 48 hours

The impossible?

Mukpuddy have just done it.

In the V 48 hour film contest, three New Zealand animators created a six and a half minute animated short in a single weekend.

Mukpuddy’s film came third overall and took out the prize for best animation.

Meanie Pants is Mukpuddy’s second entry into the film festival, where teams have to write, edit, shoot and deliver their films within a 48 hour deadline.

Fortunately for us, they documented their progress with this “behind the scenes” video:

Seeing what is achievable is a powerful motivator and allows you to reassess reality.

Most people thought running a mile in less than four minutes was out of the question.

It didn’t seem logical to me, as a physiologist/doctor, that if you could run a mile in four minutes, one and a bit seconds, you couldn’t break four minutes. But it had become a psychological as well as a physical barrier. — Roger Bannister

Yet within three years of Bannister running a four minute mile, sixteen other runners had done the same. It’s now considered a standard benchmark for professional middle distance runners.

Rethink what is possible. Maybe the obstacles you face aren’t that real after all.

For more information, check out the Mukpuddy blog.

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Happy Feet 2 in 3D trailer

Warner Brothers has just released the trailer for Happy Feet 2 in 3D.

George Miller is back to direct the sequel to his Oscar award-winning film Happy Feet.

It’s so great to finally be able to show what I’ve been working on for the past 11 months or so.

Wade Robson provided the choreography for this sequence and it was fantastic to see the shots progress from the dancers peforming live on our studio sound stage in Sydney all the way to the finished renders.

Congratulations to everyone at Dr D Studios.

We still have a lot of work to do before the film is finished, but I’m really excited and proud – both of the story, and also of the talented people working on this project.

Happy Feet 2 in 3D is scheduled for a November 2011 US release date.

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