The first feature-length animated film by Japanese stop-motion animator Shunsaku Hayashi, inspired by his experiences after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
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The people behind it
The animation, music, and optical printing of Kitsch in Synch was produced by Beckett and the students in two classes he was teaching at CalArts. Although a group project, it is clear that Beckett was the director. The playful, catchy soundtrack is used to create a cycle of building tension and release. The brightly colored shapes create approximate symmetrical formations and become more densely layered, with glimpses of iconographic objects and even live footage near the end. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the iotaCenter, in 2007.
A hypnotic mise-en-abyme constructed from JVC camcorder footage of a parking garage. Produced in tribute to teacher, filmmaker and video artist Peter Rose and the work of Piet Mondrian.
An experiment in meditative and stripped down cameraless filmmaking, edited and sequenced using machine learning models.
'This Socks' is a stop motion animation short film that experiments with different techniques to illustrate a common everyday annoyance.
In a far future lies a strange city called The Axion. Within this city, a descendant of humanity known as The Prototype escapes from experimentation. Thus begins his quest to restore balance to The Axion, and search for what it means to be human.
An important sensory organ, the eye, is damaged. The exhausting healing process takes us on an inner journey full of pain, fragility and mental unrest, in which even superstition and witchcraft seem to have an influence on recovery.
In an alternate Manhattan, two researchers-Robert Lang and Jeff Hawthorne-are drawn into Project STARLING, a covert operation buried deep within the Titanpointe building. When Hawthorne breaks protocol and vanishes into a mysterious portal, the city reels from unexplained phenomena. Lang is forced to navigate a collapsing reality as STARLING agents turn ruthless and the boundaries between dimensions begin to rupture. As transformations unfold and the city descends into chaos, both men confront forces beyond comprehension-shifting identities, spectral adversaries, and a growing sense that something vast and irreversible is approaching.
The sun’s energy circulates throughout the earth, feeding the cycle of life. Everything is connected in a natural loop, which repeats, like the circular discs of magical optical toys. This perfectly balanced rhythm is disrupted by human excess, throwing the cycle out of orbit and temporarily stopping the circulation of energy in nature.
For the multimedia exhibition Tangenten I (Tangents I), Dammbeck and co-organizer, sculptor and painter Frieder Heinze had planned to collaborate on a film that would combine non-camera animation with 35mm footage of a train ride between the two Dresden districts of Radebeul and Pieschen. When the exhibition was banned in 1978, Heinze turned to other projects, but Dammbeck continued working on the film by himself. Metamorphoses I—the first experimental film ever to be shown publicly in East Germany—marks the filmic beginning of Dammbeck’s long-term art project the Herakles-Konzept (Hercules Concept).
Autumn adventurers unite! "Leaf Peeper" takes you on a frantic frolic of Fall foliage until your eyes pop out. Shot on Super 8 in single frames with pixilation, puppet stop motion, frenetic pans, and plenty of plaid, this very short short film packs every second with as many picturesque and picaresque frames as possible, turning leaf peeping into equal parts immersion therapy and extreme sport to capture the sublime bliss of a lovely day out and about.
Taking inspiration from 20th-century avant-garde experiments in graphical sound generation, the entire image in O/S functions as an optical soundtrack. Abstract motion becomes sound.
A meditative journey through the surreal inner spaces of the filmmaker's mind as passing images and thoughts overlap, yearning to coalesce into a concept.
An experimental short from Oskar Fischinger
Maxed out, burnt out, and sex-starved, Amber Su falls under the spell of glamorous self-help guru Coco Ging, whose mentorship turns desire and ambition into different kinds of debt. Repression evolves into possession as Amber molts into a new ego: a worksona.
Hacking a claw machine inside C4D.
An experimental avant-garde film where the character battles with herself, struggling to understand and embrace her true identity. Blending dream-like and reality sequences together, the film connotes inside the character’s mind. Escaping to different parts of her subconscious, she is met with confrontation, fear & desire. This piece of work highlights themes of identity, surrealism & subjectivity, where the instability of the self is at the forefront of the film. The film uses elements of mixed media montage to portray the character’s inner thoughts.
A visual reinterpretation of dance and animated found footage.
Decoherence is an audiovisual composition made with sound waves, water, and granular and spectral processing. A 60 cycle drone from a speaker cone below creates subtle patterns on the liquid surface, which grows increasingly turbulent. This piece explores interference patterns, the interplay of macro and microscopic patterns, chaos and continuua.
Abstract video art set to the music of Philip Glass.
An NTSC space opera.
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Animals band together to save the day when the evil Otto Von Walrus hatches a sinister scheme to accelerate global warming and melt the Arctic Circle.
Po and the Furious Five uncover the legend of three of kung fu's greatest heroes: Master Thundering Rhino, Master Storming Ox, and Master Croc.
Ella Blake, a stop-motion animator struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother, embarks upon the creation of a film that becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her project take on a life of their own.
An animated retelling of ‘Night of the Living Dead’, in which a group of people in a rural farmhouse struggle to survive the threat of bloodthirsty zombies.
GrandPat travels through alternate dimensions and timelines to get home.
Three unlikely heroes - Nachi, a free-spirited coati; Xochi, a fearless monarch butterfly and Pako, a hyperactive glass frog - embark on an adventure to stop wicked coral snake Zaina from destroying their rain forest homeland.
A brave young animal explorer teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it.
Two half-hour animated films based on the much-loved rhymes written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.
After Monster High’s roller skating team is defeated at the Skulltimate Roller Maze tournament, the ghouls team up to face an all-boys league, with the hope of winning back the school crest and restoring school spirit.
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
Charlie Brown is determined to win the big baseball game. But things turn into a fiasco right before the matchup, when Sally bonds with a little flower on the pitcher's mound and vows to protect it at all costs.
The WWE comes to town in the new animated film teaming the Flintstones with Bedrock-ready versions of John Cena, Daniel Bryan and more.
The assassin Deathstroke tries to save his family from the wrath of H.I.V.E. and the murderous Jackal.
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.
After starting up their own teen magazine, Bratz girls Yasmin, Cloe, Jade, and Sasha fly to London to cover a rock concert.
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
Cartoon worlds collide in this hourlong adventure starring whiz kid Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner from "The Fairly OddParents." When the boys duel over Cindy Vortex, it draws the attention of Jimmy's archenemy, Prof. Calamitous, who teams with Wanda and Cosmo, forcing Jimmy and Timmy to work together to save the world from the all-powerful villain.
This collection of 11 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Mower Minions (2016); Yellow Is the New Black (2018); Competition (2015); Cro Minion (2015); Binky Nelson Unpacified (2015); Panic in the Mailroom (2013). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Super Gidget (2019). From the "Sing" franchise: Eddie's Life Coach (2017); Gunter Babysits (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Serenade (2012); Wagon Ho! (2012).
A chainsaw-wielding George Washington teams with beer-loving bro Sam Adams to take down the Brits in a tongue-in-cheek riff on the American Revolution.
