Badgered Creator, Sharon Colman, Is Comin’ to Town – Hurray!
Dimples has already profiled Sharon Colman and her marvelous animated short, “Badgered”, that was nominated for a 2005 Academy Award. We’re ecstatic to announce that Miss Colman has accepted a position with Dreamworks and will be packing her bags for America. As reported at news.scotsman.com:
“Colman is swapping her modest lifestyle in rainy Scotland for the stars, sunshine and six-figure salaries of southern California. “
Dimples hopes she knows that six-figures barely pays the rent in La La Land. The Scotsman goes on to say:
“Colman’s Oscar nomination for Badgered attracted the interest of Sony, Disney and Pixar. But it was DreamWorks – the creators of box office hits such as the Shrek series – who waved an impossible-to-refuse contract under her nose….
Colman said: “It came off the back of the Oscar nomination. One of the studios I went to was DreamWorks and they approached me with a job. I’ll be working in the storyboarding department and I’m really excited.
“It’s strange because I had to say goodbye to all my friends and colleagues, but it didn’t really feel like I was saying goodbye. I haven’t got very emotional yet.
“I went back to DreamWorks to have another look [at the offices] and have a chat with them. It’s an amazing opportunity that they have given me and I’m extremely excited to be joining them.”
Colman admitted that her Oscar exposure probably brought her the job that other animators covet.
“I don’t know if this job offer would have happened if I hadn’t got the nomination.
“I know that DreamWorks were aware of my film because during my graduation the company have a talent scout who grabbed on to my film and took it everywhere.
“She’s been amazing – she took it to all the festivals. But as soon as it gets into the Oscars, everyone in LA knows about it. It definitely ups the ante. It’s a big adventure.”
Sharon’s film was exceptional because it was full of personality. You could really identify with that Badger. And, it was made the old-fashioned way. It was hand drawn 2D animation that attracted the attention of every major animation studio. She told a story. She told a story with a character the audience understood. That’s what movie-making is all about.
Congratulations Sharon Colman. Have your people call my people and we’ll do lunch.
I wish.
[tags]Sharon Colman, Dreamworks, Badgered, 2005 Academy Awards, 2D animation[/tags]
Gitanjali Rao – Animation Rising Star
Gitanjali Rao graduated from art school in 1994 and went on to intern with Indian Animator Ram Mohan. She wrote, drew, directed and produced a fifteen minute animated film, “Printed Rainbow”, that was selected in the short film category at Cannes in 2006.
Rao’s first film was “Orange” which did not make it through the strict Indian censorship policies. The style of “Orange” is reflective of her day job creating animated commercials.
The story concept for her Cannes selection, “Printed Rainbow”, is fascinating. From Television Point:
This 15-minute short film is about a woman in Mumbai, who lives all alone with just a cat for company. “She is an avid collector of match box covers. This leads to a dream world where she does adventurous things. From one matchbox to another, she goes on weaving her adventures along with her cat. Finally she comes back to reality,” explains Gitanjali. The film has no narration and is a visual rendition of the woman. “Each frame is painted. I had to do it myself because it’s experimental animation. I have shot the first part of the film in black and white to show the dreary existence of this woman. The rest of it is in a myriad of colours. I am so excited that it has been selected and that too for Cannes,” says Gitanjali.
Observe the contrast in the image below from “Printed Rainbow” between the woman in black and white and the brightly colored matchbox.
And, the bright world of the matchbox comes alive in this still from the movie.
The Dimples team hasn’t seen this movie but we love the concept and the stills. We’re sure that there is much more to come from Gitanjali Rao. And, for a final tantalizing sample, here is a still from another short film, “Blue”.
[tags]Gitanjali Rao, 2D animation, animation, Cannes, India, animation news[/tags]
Grant White’s Animated Bugs With Borderline Personalites
Grant White was chose by the BBC Showcase for New Talent as one of the best new animators of 2004 for his short short film “Bugs”. “Bugs” is available for viewing on Mr. White’s website. The website itself seems to be a bit neglected. There are more animations as well as great cartoon strips on his page. Be sure to visit “Tadpoles” which is a combination cartoon strip and Flash animation. It’s all very innovative and great fun. Dimples loved “Bugs” and would like to know more about Mr. White but he seems to be a mystery man. If anyone out there knows anything about this guy, please let Dimples know.
Run Wrake’s Rabbit – It will make you vegan.
Dimples stumbled across Run Wrake‘s website over the weekend. This guy has some serious weirdness in his head. We love it.
First, Dimples must make a small digression. If you’re here, you’re probably looking for animation but the Dimples’ team is broadly educated and wants to point out a strange similarity between Run Wrake’s award winning animation “Rabbit” and the super creepy art brut illustrations of Henry Darger. Darger drew small children and, regardless of gender, they all had diminutive male genitalia. He worked as a janitor in a school. He had hypergraphia and he is a darling of art brut collectors. Here are some of Darger’s little girls.
Returning to our animator, Run Wrake, here is an image from his short film “Rabbit”.
These images are not the best to make the comparison but, trust our dimples, there is a strong similarity in style.
“Rabbit” is an entrancing nine minute short that is sure to turn the biggest Whopper sucking red neck into a llama petting vegan. Take a look here.
When you visit Run Wrake’s website be sure to look at his biography. It’s the best part
Academy Award Nominated “Badgered” from Sharon Colman
Sharon Colman made Badgered the old-fashioned way on a traditional 2D animation disc mounted in a homemade plywood box. The charming result was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Animated Short of 2005.
The synopsis for the story is “the tale of a badger who just wants the world to let him sleep” but it is much more than that. It’s funny. It’s political. It’s totally engaging. Listen to an interview with Sharon Colman on the BBC.
The Dimples’ staff admits they have a decided fondness for the Crows in Badgered. You can see Badgered with Quicktime here.
Matt Sandbrook – BBC 2005 New Animator Award Finalist
Matt was a finalist in 2005 for the BBC New Animator Award for Coffee Shop Hell shown below. It’s a wonderfully funny gritty film noir meets techno short. It’s also curious that Matt is obsessed with coffee since he claims he doesn’t drink the stuff.
While we enjoyed Coffee Shop Hell, we loved his short flash animation Poor Little Bunny. It appeals to our total lack of taste.
Visit this young animator and laugh along with his delightfully disgusting imagination.
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