SIGGRAPH 2002 Announces Best Animated Short and Jury Award

ACM SIGGRAPH today announced the Computer Animation Festival's BestAnimated Short and Jury Award winners for SIGGRAPH 2002, the 29thInternational Conference on Computer Graphics and InteractiveTechniques, being held 21-26 July, 2002 at the Henry B. GonzalezConvention Center, San Antonio, Texas. The Computer Animation Festivaljury selected these two award winners from 640 entries for their richanimation and extraordinary storytelling. John McIntosh, School ofVisual Arts, is the SIGGRAPH 2002 Computer Animation FestivalChair.

The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is an internationallyrecognized and highly anticipated showcase documenting the significantadvances in technology, interactive techniques, and the seeminglyunlimited creative potential of computer graphics.

The winner of the Best Animated Short is The Cathedral byTomek Baginski, Platige Image, Warsaw.

Based on the novel The Cathedral by author Jacek Dukaj, thisis the story of a pilgrim who arrives at the edge of the known world atthe end of a long journey. Here he finds the cathedral, a place full ofsecrets. The cathedral is not only a building, and the pilgrim is notonly a man. The short was animated and rendered in 3D Studio Max,painted in Photoshop, composited with AfterEffects, and edited withSoftimage DS. The artist made the piece over a period of 14 months withthe support of Platige Image, a studio that supports independentprojects by its artists.

The Cathedral was selected as the Best Animated Short byunanimous vote of the Computer Animation Festival Jury. Theextraordinarily rich visualization achieved in The Cathedral wasa seduction for the CAF jury. It was viewed repeatedly and each timethe jury became more entranced by this production. It is a beautifulanimation -- very representative of the outstanding work received fromsmall, highly creative production companies in the U.S. andinternationally.

The Jury Award was given to The Deserter, by Olivier Coulon,Supinfocom, Paris. This story is set in a prostitute's room where WWIdeserters have found refuge. One of them thinks he is a bird who canfinally, in one leap, rise above the events around him.

The Jury Award is only given at the request and unanimous vote ofthe Jury. The Deserter is another example of the fine animationand wonderful stories that were submitted this year. The Deserter is awonderfully stylized and animated story that while set in Europe duringthe First World War remains equally relevant and poignant today.

SIGGRAPH 2002, www.siggraph.org/s2002, will bring nearly 20,000computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from sixcontinents to San Antonio for the week-long conference, 21-26 July. Acomprehensive technical program and special events focusing onresearch, art, animation, games, interactivity, and the Web areplanned. SIGGRAPH 2002 includes a three-day exhibition of products andservices for the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from23-25 July 2002.

SIGGRAPH 2002 registration information can be found atwww.siggraph.org/s2002/registration or by contacting SIGGRAPH 2002Conference Management, 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611USA. +1.312.321.6830 phone; +1.312.321.6876 fax;registration@siggraph.org.