SIGGRAPH 2008: Day 4
Thursday, I took a detour and spent some time in Long Beach. (Secret mission - perhaps more on that at a later date.) Long Beach hosts some nifty oil rigs right offshore. Only these rigs were made into artificial islands that look like they came from a 60’s Bond film. Who could oppose offshore drilling with such cool modern mega-art?
No, Mister Bond, I want you to die.
I made it back to SIGGRAPH in time to catch two more Computer Animation Theater programs. I was sad to see that a number of the shorts from a different program were repeated. SIGGRAPH easily receives 1000 submissions a year - why repeat so many films? I have no doubt there were many fine pieces that were turned down completely. Of the bunch, however, the visual effects from “Dai Nipponjin” were astounding. It’s hard to describe, but imagine a photoreal, mutated, 10-story giant fighting all manner of weird-ass creatures in some downtown Japanese city. I can’t wait for that one to reach the theaters! “Marin” was also an incredible 3D short - absolutely beautiful stylized design. The WTF Award Of The Year goes to Bjork’s “Wanderlust” video. All the words in the English dictionary can’t properly describe that one. I’d suggest looking for it on Youtube. The second program was a sneak screening of “Clone Wars.” For George’s latest spectacle, I shall save my fury for a separate post.