In An Abandoned City Before A Tropical Storm…

… a woman decides to stay…
“Fin d’ete (End of Summer)” is beautiful and very atmospheric animation from Patrick Harboun, Ronan Le Fur and Joaquim Montserrat – three French students from animation school Supinfocom. You can find a lot of information about this animation and its creation at www.findete.com.

Impressive, realy impressive! Not so often students tend to do realistic 3D but it has its own cause of course. So, VideoDoc advises:

• use proper cameras. Cameras in this video was smooth, slowly moving. This helps keep focus on character, his feelings, face in that case, allows to predict, guess what caracter is feeling before unknown coming storm. Does hand held action camera would properly deliver atmosphere in this case?

So much for a students! Great atmosphere. This time VideoDoc let video speak for itself!

Zombies Want To Dance Too

Gone Bad 2 is short 3D animation made in pseudo-horror style. Old wise man goes fishing on his old boat. He puts the music on and show goes on. One zombie goes to water-dance until he got caught on baited hook! All dance stops.

Animation directed by Marco Bertoldo and many people assisted him.

VideoDoc took a closer look to key-successful moments:

• Make Cool Intro. Intro left impression that video is worth watching further from the very beginning. Black and red colored environment comes good to horror genre. So, cool intro makes appropriate atmosphere from the very beginning and allows to intuitively predict with what viewer will have a deal.
• Use Humor. This dancing zombie rocks! He definitely liked to dance in real life. Why somebody needed to throw that fellow into lake? Humor can found its place even in horror genre.
• Use Nice Graphics. No glitches in graphics gives a nice look. VideoDoc felt good graphic’s impression while watching those zombie hairs nicely flowing in water. And movements!
• Italiano Musica. This song definitely became more popular. Good way to promote music. And horror doesn’t always mean horror music. Other style music can create interesting tension.

VideoDoc found just one small weak point and it is:

• Not Fully Revealed Character. It would look little better if zombie could move his mouth while singing (if he was singing).

Fishing could be dangerous! Be sure not to hook some zombie! They can have a party down there!

For bonus VideoDoc suggests to take a look at Episode 1 which is good work. It’s about pastor who teaches zombies to respect church.

Creepy Smile

Smile is a very creepy student film by Yuval Markovich and Noam Abta produced at Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem. Horror films are too rare in animation, and this short does a solid job of building the tension and creating a mood of paranoia and uncertainty. Technically, it looks like the film was shot in live-action, with over sized Computer Graphic heads placed on the live bodies. It’s a surprisingly effective technique that adds to the film’s uneasy mood. You can check out more of their films at www.lioninzion.com.

Best Elements:

• Creepy interesting Scenario. As good horror films this video starts normally and peacefully, with ordinary day in life of ordinary young people. And with every minute with every action it becomes more and more scary, you start to feel emotions of main hero and associate yourself with him. And in the end you become very scary and paranoid as in the best horror movies.

• Action Takes Place in Real World. Main hero is the ordinary young man who visits his friends in ordinary flat just as your. Ordinary everyday situation which can happen everywhere with everyone. And because of this it becomes much scarier than if action took place in some fantasy world. You can more easily associate with main heroes, feel how he feels, and become as scary as he become in the end.

• Use Original Elements. Computer graphic heads placed on the live bodies, looks amazing . Those sharp-edged noses makes kind of really creeping feeling, associates with something frightening, hidden deep in our self, reminds some old nightmares. Usage of old black and white fashioned movies scenes just in right time looks very cool! And the ones need to fund such a films and moments and figure out where to put! lol

• Don’t Forget About Emotions. Facial expressions help understand what hero feels, makes virtual experience exchange between viewer and virtual hero. And makes big part of attraction.

Negative Elements:

• Hearing Problems. They speak unusual language – Hebrew, but they used subtitles so everybody can understand what is going on. But at some moments VideoDoc is confused – who is talking? Voices sometimes sound similar and camera shots changes too fast.