The first trailer for the David Fincher- and Tim Miller-helmed animated anthology series for adults is for “mature, messed-up” audiences only. Entitled Love, Death, & Robots and described in a press release as a “Sentient Dairy Products, Rogue Werewolf Soldiers, Robots Gone Wild, Sexy Cyborgs, Alien Spiders And Blood-thirsty Demons From Hell Converge In An 185-minute Genre Orgy Of Stories,” the anthology series contains 18 separate animated short films, each produced in a different visual style. In addition to that robust list of topics above, the series will deal with such heavy themes as racism, government, war, free will, and human nature. The trailer itself doesn’t dwell on any one of these for long; rather, it shows bursts of the animated shorts to come, revealing the different art styles and animation that each short will have. It’s a frantic patchwork tease. We’ll have to wait and see just where the “sentient dairy … [Read more...] about First trailer for Netflix’s animated anthology Love, Death, & Robots makes it clear this is for adults
Animated short film
Hayao Miyazaki takes on computer animation in Never-Ending Man
Co-founder of Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki takes on a new medium in a new documentary. Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki will showcase the filmmaker’s first foray into digital animation as he creates a short film, his latest project since his 2013 retirement. Miyazaki is a legend, helming films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and Academy-Award winning Spirited Away. In 2013, after the release of The Wind Rises, Miyazaki announced his retirement for directing. But his passion for creating drew him to a group of CGI animators. Though Miyazaki has been a champion of hand-drawn animation for his entire career, he decided to try his luck at taking on his first computer animated project. The documentary follows Miyazaki over the course of two years as he creates an entirely computer animated short film, featuring a little hairy worm. It’s rare to get such an intimate glimpse of the elusive artist, but the film allows for a close-up look … [Read more...] about Hayao Miyazaki takes on computer animation in Never-Ending Man
This new Overwatch CGI short for D.Va is like Pacific Rim with bunny mechs
Overwatch has a new animated short film that expands the lore behind those characters that have been running around and shooting each other for two years now: this time the CGI camera lens turns toward Hana Song, AKA D.Va, and her drive to protect Korea against robotic invaders at any cost. This one probably won't make you sob like the tear-jerking Bastion or Mei cinematics, but it does have a pretty neat explanation of how D.Va figured out her Ultimate ability.It's also nice to see D.Va characterized beyond her 'lol git gud' voice lines; I guess that's a competitive persona she drops when she's hanging out with close friends. Though I gotta admit… this video mostly makes me want Blizzard to add one of those flying squid Omnics with the bunny ears as a playable character. Make a genius hacker flying squirrel pilot it or something, I don't care, just gimme that Nendoroid. That wasn't all Blizzard had to show for Overwatch fans at Gamescom 2018. It also revealed Busan, a … [Read more...] about This new Overwatch CGI short for D.Va is like Pacific Rim with bunny mechs
This year’s Dota 2 short film contest saw some incredible entries at the last minute
Valve opened the gates on the 2018 Dota 2 short film contest at the end of May, and fans of the MOBA wasted no time submitting their videos. Passion aside, it's not hard to see why: the top submissions will be featured in The International 2018 Battle Pass, and the winners will be shown on-stage at The International itself. There's also some sizable prize money up for grabs: $25,000 to first place, $10,000 to second place, $5,000 to third place, and $500 to the rest of the top 10. There are only a few simple rules on submissions, which you can read in full here. The key points are that entries must be 90 seconds or less, they must be original films created for the contest, and they must pertain to Dota 2. Notably, they "can use any form or combination of animation or live-action," so using Valve's popular Source Filmmaker is not a requirement. This year's entries hit the whole spectrum of techniques, but the past few days in particular have seen some stunning animated films, … [Read more...] about This year’s Dota 2 short film contest saw some incredible entries at the last minute
Florida Film Festival: LGBTQ themes star
The Florida Film Festival, which starts Friday, will present 18 films that it says have LGBTQ themes. They range from “The Feels,” a comedy about a bachelorette party for a lesbian couple, to “The Cakemaker,” a drama about a German baker who travels to Israel and surreptitiously meets the widow of his late gay lover.The animated short “In a Heartbeat” explores a gay boy’s infatuation. The documentary “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” details the life of a man, now 94, who says he procured same-sex partners for film stars.The lineup was not by design but reflects the festival’s focus on diversity, said Matthew Curtis, the event’s programming director.“We do not seek out LGBTQ films in particular, just the best and most original and interesting films,” he said. “When we are getting nearly 2,000 submissions, many excellent works with LGBTQ themes happen to be part of that mix and rise to the … [Read more...] about Florida Film Festival: LGBTQ themes star