Computer Animation Festival …

                               Computer Animation Festival
                                   11 ­ 15 August 2008
                              Los Angeles Convention Center
                                      Nokia Theatre


Overview

                                              The 2008 Computer Animation Festival presents
                                              artists and experts in talks on all aspects of
                                              production, from animation to visual effects, from
                                              shorts to full-length features, from television to
                                              movies, from art to science, from learning the
                                              history of animation to learning the craft.

                                             Attendees will be given the change to participate in
                                             the selection of the Audience Prize and see the
                                             results at the Festival's first annual award show ­ an
                                             hour of animation, animation directors, prizes, and
                                             surprises. Nightly events hosted by Pixar, Sony
                                             Pictures Imageworks, and Industrial Light & Magic,
                                             as well as talks and several production sessions,
                                             including a mind-bending look into Speed Racer, a
journey behind the scenes of "Cloverfield" and "Iron Man," and a glimpse through the eyes of
gaming pioneers at the evolution of user-generated game experiences.

For a complete sneak peek, view the Computer Animation Festival Trailer.


Competition Screenings
The Computer Animation Festival Competition Screenings present the best of this year's
computer animation, including visual effects, animated shorts, excerpts from motion pictures,
student work, scientific visualization, abstract art, and so much more. As in the storied past of
this event, these screenings represent the finest submitted entries from around the world, juried
by industry experts for screenings in LA's new Nokia Theatre.

Invited Screenings
The newly expanded Computer Animation Festival adds a slate of curated screenings to the
juried content: something new, something old, everything exceptional.




"Animation Mother" SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival 2008; copyright Meats Meier
Festival Awards Ceremony
Since 1999, the Computer Animation Festival has been considered an official qualifying festival
for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Animated Short Film award. This year,
SIGGRAPH takes the honors a step further, acknowledging the nominees and winners in a fun,
lively awards event hosted by industry professionals.

Nominees for this year's Computer Animation Festival Awards are:

Best of Show Nominees                Jury Award Nominees               Student Prize Nominees
Bolides                              Chump and Clump                   893
Supinfocom, France                   Germany                           Supinfocom, France

Carbon Footprint                     Mauvais Role                      Al Dente
Jellyfish Pictures, United           École Supérieure de               Supinfocom, France
Kingdom                              Réalisation Audiovisuelle,
                                     France                            Bärenbraut
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa                                            Filmakademie Baden-
DreamWorks Animation, USA            Oktapodi                          Württemberg, Germany
                                     Gobelins, l'école de l'image,
Oktapodi                             France                            Blind Spot
Gobelins, l'école de l'image,                                          Gobelins, l'école de l'image,
France                               Our Wonderful Nature              France
                                     HFF Potsdam, Germany
The Chemical Brothers "The                                             Mauvais Role
Salmon Dance"                        The Plush Life                    École Supérieure de
Framestore CFC, United               Timothy Heath, USA                Réalisation Audiovisuelle,
Kingdom                                                                France




Stereoscopic 3D: Research, Applications, and Entertainment
Modern 3D technology permeates everything from product design to entertainment, from games
to animation, from the living room to outer space. In these talks, experts teach the foundations
of 3D, from acquisition to projection, from history to the future.

Monday, 11 August
       ·    3D   Primer: The Fundamentals of Stereoscopy From Acquisition to Projection
       ·    3D   for Science and Research: From Inner to Outer Space
       ·    3D   for Gaming and Alternative Media: How 3D is Changing the Way We Play
       ·    3D   Screenings: A Visual Odyssey

Tuesday, 12 August
       ·    Animated 3D Cinema: Imaginary Worlds Brought to Life
       ·    Live 3D Cinema: Capturing Real-World Depth
       ·    3D Future: Rounding Up the Future
Festival Talks
The Computer Animation Festival offers four days of talks and presentations that teach,
entertain, inspire, and illuminate.

Monday, 11 August
      ·   The Process of Animation: A Three-Hour Tour
      ·   Mummy Unwrapped: Director Rob Cohen, Digital Domain, and Rhythm & Hues Unveil
          Filmic Secrets


Tuesday, 12 August
      ·   A Brief and Irreverent History of Character Animation: An Entire History in a Single Day


Wednesday, 13 August
      ·   The Making of "Big Buck Bunny": An Open-Source Evolution
      ·   Making of an Oktapodi
      ·   Meet the Artists: Festival Animators Reveal the Inspiration Behind the Animation
      ·   A Tribute to the Life and Work of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston: Current Legends
          Talk About Their Mentors
      ·   Terra: The Creation of a World, a Species, and a Full-Length, All-Star, Very
          Independent Animated Feature
      ·   Building An Animation Studio: How a Band of Artists Followed Their Dream, Launched
          a Studio, and Started Developing an Animated Feature Film.
      ·   Polygon Pictures: A Quarter Century of Animation
      ·   Disney and Pixar: Two Animation Studios Reveal the Secrets of Their Shorts
      ·   Future History: Three Inspiring Broadcast Projects Peer Into the Future


Thursday, 14 August
      ·   Next Great Talent Search: An International Panel of Educators Reviews Programs and
          Students
      ·   Making "Horton Hears a Who" Into a New Kind of Classic
      ·   Future of Character Animation: From Stop Motion to Flash; From Keyframe to
          Puppetry, Industry Animators Discuss the Road Ahead
      ·   Where Science and CG Converge: Examining the Line Between Reality and Fiction
      ·   Flash Forward: A Forum on Flash's Increasingly Vital Role in Games, Online
          Entertainment, Art, and Academia
      ·   Altered Realities: FX Guru Kevin Mack in Conversation with the DemoScene
      ·   Fat Panda: Visual Design Development in DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda"
      ·   Monster.com "Stork": Making a Photo-Real Stork in Eight Weeks
      ·   El Tigre: Behind the Scenes
      ·   Animation in Commercials: A Look at the Process, the Joy, and the Unmentionables


Production Sessions
Panels, roundtable discussions, and conversations about marketing, behind-the-scenes
developments, production-related art, digital film production, and retrospectives.

      ·   Great Failed Ideas in Production
      ·   Machines and Monsters: Tippett and ILM Reveal the Secrets Within "Cloverfield" and
          "Iron Man"
      ·   Pursuit of Awesomeness: The Making of "Kung Fu Panda"
      ·   "Speed Racer": How Digital Domain, ILM, and Sony Pictures Imageworks Transformed
          a Vintage Anime Into a Wild Ride for the 21st Century
Studio Events

Pixar Animation Studios, Tuesday, 12 August, 8 - 11 pm, Nokia Theatre

Screening of "The Man Who Planted Trees" Followed by a Conversation With Frédéric
Back and John Lasseter
8 - 9 pm
Over the last 20 years or so, John Lasseter has redefined the animation industry, shaping the
way we watch animation and showing us the sweetness, complexities, and hilarities in the
simplest and most unlikely places.
Frédéric Back, a two-time Academy Award winner for "Crac" and "The Man Who Planted Trees"
(above), joins John Lasseter for a rare conversation about the passions to which he has
committed his life: animation, art, and the environment.

An exhibit of Frédéric Back's work is available for viewing at the Linwood Dunn Theater of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mary Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study,
1313 Vine Street, Los Angeles.

Screening of "The Pixar Story" With Introduction and Q&A by Director Leslie Iwerks
and Friends
9 - 11 pm
An in-depth look behind the scenes of the ground-breaking company that pioneered a new
generation of animation and forever changed the face of filmmaking. Using never-before-seen
footage from the Pixar library, along with historic archival animation and first-hand accounts by
animators, studio executives, directors, producers, and voice performers, Academy Award-
nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks tells the riveting story of the Bay Area start-up that
revolutionized Hollywood.


Sony Pictures Imageworks, Wednesday, 13 August, 8 - 11 pm, Nokia Theatre

Saying that Stan Winston helped transform visual effects into a legendary industry is a good
beginning to recognizing his contribution and his legacy. He altered the course of movies when
he transformed makeup effects from latex to animatronics. His credo ("I don't do effects, I do
characters") provided the foundation for a veritable galaxy of interstellar aliens, menacing
chrome robots, and predatory dinosaurs. Hs work blurred the lines between makeup, puppetry,
and visual effects.

In films ranging from "Terminator" to "Edward Scissorhands" to "Iron Man," audiences could
barely discern where the actor ended and the effects began. Winston inspired legions of
directors, visual effects supervisors, and artists to stretch their abilities beyond what they knew to
be possible. He challenged our imaginations, inspired our creativity, and showed us worlds we
couldn't have conceived. His insatiable curiosity even moved beyond the film world into robotics
and artificial intelligence, in innovations that found their way from the labs at MIT to the
workshop in Van Nuys. Sony Pictures Imageworks presents an evening of tributes, celebrations,
clips, and memories of Stan Winston and his legacy.

A screening of a classic Stan Winston film follows the discussion.


LucasFilm, Thursday, 14 August, 8 - 11 pm, Nokia Theatre

Lucasfilm presents an advance screening of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," the much-anticipated
animated feature film from director Dave Filoni and executive producer George Lucas. This event,
hosted by ILM Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll, begins with a discussion of the film's unique
design and signature style. The intergalactic struggle between good and evil continues with a
screening of the next "Star Wars" adventure to hit the silver screen.