Back in high school, one of the first videos I saw as internet video was taking off was Don Hertzfeldt’s Oscar-nominated classic Rejected. I still quote it to this day! Hertzfeldt is such a creative animator, and his next short film, World of Tomorrow, looks intriguing. Check out the trailer below, with its mixture of stick figures and colorful, alien vistas. It’ll be out on March 31. Read more…
In the future, we hope to colonize other planets, right? Going to Mars is the next goal, but even that seems so far away. But our imagination can be quite effective at inspiring us and getting there quicker, which is why I have loved the recent boom in space-themed movies, such as Gravity, Interstellar, and others. This short film by Erik Wernquist is an amazing look at how humanity might expand and live in the rest of our solar system. Perhaps most exciting: none of these places are made-up — they’re all real places that we could potentially go someday. Check out the video below. Make sure to open it in full-screen! Read more…
You may have heard of Studio Khara, the group of folks behind the Neon Genesis Evangelion films, founded by series creator Hideaki Anno. His studio has been working on those mostly, but recently have taken time to create several original short films. The first short films is titled The Dragon Dentist, and is a unique piece directed by novelist Otaro Maijo, who also wrote the script. It features a young girl signing up to be a “dragon dentist” to help contribute in a war, but not really knowing what she’s getting into. No embed here, but English subtitles are available: just click here and make sure “EN” is selected in the top right, and then choose “English Subtitles” below the video. I’ve included some of the concept art below the break. Read more…
Evan Daugherty is slowly crawling his way up in Hollywood, writing films like Snow White and the Huntsman and the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His most recent project was directing and writing 4 shorts that were a gritty reinterpretation of Super Mario Bros. Yes, I know. Roll your eyes, as this has been done many times already by many other people. Daugherty definitely comes away with some differences though, especially in Toad’s video which feels heavily inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s monsters for Toad’s design. Mario and Luigi’s videos are equally interesting and silly, but Peach’s definitely feels like it’s all over the place. Still, it’s a fascinating attempt, and I did really like Toad’s film. Check out all four below! Read more…
Big Lazy Robot, a VFX company with something to prove, has put together a seriously impressive 3-minute spec trailer for their fictitious movie, Keloid (released a week ago). Featuring lumbering police robots, armies, and limber mannequin-bots, the short has a gritty, realistic feel to it. They also leave plenty of things vague about the story — which robots are fighting for who? Are the humans losing as badly as it seems? The team made this video over a period of a year and it has paid off: IAM Entertainment and Vertigo Entertainment have already teamed up to look into making it into a feature film. Check out the short and see what you think! Read more…
It can almost become a game to watch out for new short films online. Which one will garner enough attention to get picked up by a big movie studio? Or will they try to Kickstart it? Dr. Easy is a new sci-fi short film by Warp Films, Film4, and Shynola — it’s a prologue to what they hope will be a full adaption of the book The Red Men by Mattew De Abaitua. It’s a great look into what they could do, and I hope someone takes notice. Click through to watch the film. Read more…
I like to try to start off the week with something happy or neat, to beat away those Monday blues, so here’s a great little CalArts film made by Madeline Sharafian. Featuring an adorable little dog who just wants to help prepare food, this film focus on “how meaningful it is to make food for someone you love.” I’m really enjoying how many student films are catching on big with the internet – it’s great to see talented people receive recognition. Watch the video below. Read more…
I love seeing student animation films, especially some of the ones that come out of The Animation Workshop in Denmark. Some real high-quality work is produced there, and this latest short film is no exception. The Reward tells the tale of two adventurers who snatch up a dropped map and embark on a journey for lost treasure… or whatever it is under the X on the map. The journey is long and storied, and – you know – just watch it. The animation is very well done and in particular I thought the character design was fantastic. It’s roughly 9 minutes long, so buckle in and click through to watch it. Read more…
I love seeing up-and-coming artists online. Seeing people with new styles, creative ideas – or something that’s just plain cute. Yawen Zheng created this short animated film called The Song for Rain for their graduation project, which features a young boy splashing about in the rain who discovers a friendly fox. The art style is really adorable, and I love the texture used throughout the piece. You’ll see the ending coming a mile away, but that won’t make you “aww” any less either. Click through below to see the video. Read more…
Halo 4 has been getting some pretty big press, hasn’t it? Forward Unto Dawn has been leading up to the release of the game on Election Day, but now it’s been upstaged by another short film, this time directed by Tim Miller (famous for Scott Pilgrim and the intro sequence of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and David Fincher. Last time I wrote about Halo, I said why not make a feature-length film? They’re getting all these big names to make 3-minute videos promoting their game, which is great, but it seems like a waste at times. I’m sure there are an abundance of legal and monetary issues preventing the Halo film from getting off the ground, so I suppose fans will make do with this for now. The trailer itself is great – watch it after the break. Read more…
With Halo 4 coming out this November, it’s time to get the marketing machine running, right? Well, with the success of previous Halo-themed short films, it’s no surprise that another one has been released. However, this new film, Forward Unto Dawn, is actually a series. This first part is nearly 20 minutes long, and it looks like we’ll be getting 5 parts total, leading up to when Halo 4 releases. While you can watch each segment as it comes out each week, it’ll also come complete in the Halo 4 Limited Edition. It’s a surprisingly solid film so far, making me wonder: why the heck don’t they finally just make a Halo TV series or movie? Read more…
If you’ll take a step back in time with me and recall the excellent short film RUIN, by Wes Ball, that was posted online earlier this year, I’m sure you’d remember something along the lines of: “that was a pretty awesome short film.” Yes, I know, reading minds is a talent of mine. I also thought it could maybe work as a feature-length film, and it seems Fox read my mind. They’re in negotiations now to secure film rights with Wes Ball directing and McG producing. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a watch, and then imagine a full-length live-action movie in that style. Interested?
