Art and innovation. (portfolio).(Siggraph's 2002 Computer Animation Festival)

Siggraph's annual Computer Animation Festival is a celebration of art and innovation, where significant advances in technology, interactive techniques, and creativity in computer graphics are illustrated through compelling visualizations, animations, and visual effects sequences. This year, 101 entries from 640 juried submissions have been accepted for the 2002 showcase, titled Imagination, Innovation, Realization: The Art and Science of Computer Animation. Of those, 35 will be featured during evening presentations in the elite Electronic Theater, and the remaining 66 will be shown during the conference and exhibition in the Animation Theaters.

"The Computer Animation Festival has arrived at a crossroad, where the technology achievements and innovations that we have concentrated on in the past are now presented within complex and beautifully executed stories," says chair John McIntosh from the School of Visual Arts. "As the work continues to become more and more impressive, the benchmark of the Computer Animation Festival gets higher and higher."

Yet, these standards are being met and, often, surpassed. Of the nearly 340 student submissions that were received, 12 have been accepted into the Electronic Theater and 27 in the Animation Theater. Their work was judged alongside that of professionals, while pieces from scientists were judged alongside those of artists.

Included in this year's submissions are two productions that have been singled out for their rich animation and extraordinary storytelling. The Cathedral, a short animation directed by Tomek Baginski of Platige Image in Warsaw, Poland, was selected as the Best Animated Short (see "Larger Than Life," pg. 18). Also, The Deserter, a stylized animated story by Olivier Coulon of Supinfocom in Paris, received the Jury Award, given only at the request and unanimous vote of the jury.

Still images from The Deserter and other animations from the festival appear on these two pages.

* The Deserter (Jury Award), directed by Olivier Coulon, Aude Danset, Paolo De Lucia, and Ludovic Savonniere, and produced by Supinfocom of Paris, is a stylized animation set in Europe during World War I. The story concerns a refugee who believes he is a ...