The students in Shihchien University's visual communications department wanted to do something for their graduation exhibition that would set them apart from the many other such shows currently going on around town. To do so, they simply dropped any allusion to their school in their promotional materials. Despite this, it's still a show by graduating students and displays many of the weaknesses and strengths one would expect in student works.
The exhibition, called 20 Sicknesses
Foremost among the difficulties faced by artists making 3-D computer animation is achieving natural textures and movement. In this regard, some of the students represented in the exhibition have mastered the technique better than others.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TIVAC
Chang Kunyi's
Chang's film is among the longer of those on exhibit and strings together a loose narrative about an ant-like figure breaking from the ranks and running toward freedom.
A curiously large number of the films touch on the subjects of technology and progress, almost as if the artists are commenting on the medium they are using to create their works. This is especially evident in Mechanization by Liang Hsuan-wei
At the other end of the spectrum thematically, Yang Dong-qiao (楊東樵) tells a story about a discarded, deflated basketball thrown into a closet. The other sport balls in the closet join forces to pump up the basketball overnight with the predictable ending of the ball's owner opening the closet to find a newly inflated basketball. The short film will remind viewers of Toy Story and not just because the story is a bit similar, but because the animation is just as good, if not better.
Because of their themes and animation the works have an undeniable "techy" feel to them. The one exception to this rule is Chuang Ching-fu's
No matter what angle or style of animation the students chose, however, they expressed an impressive amount of creative ability in a medium that is still evolving and that those long in the field are still developing.
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