"
Welcome to the Zion Archive. You have selected Historical File #12-1: The Second Renaissance."
So begins the short film of the same name by Mahiro Maeda
[Flash: 1 2 - QuickTime: 1 2] -- a devastating yet beautiful work of animation.
Originally produced to explain the backstory behind the
Matrix trilogy, Maeda's project ended up telling a story far darker and more affecting than any blockbuster.
Using a blend of
faux documentary footage and
visual metaphor, his serene Instructor relates in biblical tones the saga of Man and Machine, how age-old cruelty and hatred birthed a horrifying, apocalyptic struggle that consumed the world.
Packed with striking imagery and
historical allusions galore, this dark allegory easily transcends the films it was made for.
But while "The Second Renaissance" is arguably the best work to come from the
Matrix franchise, it's hardly alone -- it's just one of the projects made for
The Animatrix, a collection of
nine superb anime films in a
wide variety of styles designed to explore the universe and broaden its scope beyond the usual sci-fi action of the movies.
Click inside for a guide to these films with links to where they can be watched online, along with a look at
The Matrix Comics, a free series of comics, art, and short fiction created for the same purpose by
some of the best talent in the business.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Feb 14, 2011 -
54 comments
"Sintel" is an independently produced short film, initiated by the
Blender Foundation as a means to further improve and validate the free/open source 3D creation suite Blender. With initial funding provided by 1000s of donations via the internet community, it has again proven to be a viable development model for both open 3D technology as for independent animation film.
This 15 minute film has been realized in the studio of the Amsterdam Blender Institute, by an international team of artists and developers. In addition to that, several crucial technical and creative targets have been realized online, by developers and artists and teams all over the world.
[more inside]
posted by Fizz
on Oct 1, 2010 -
15 comments
Telephoneme: Even if your Alphabet Conspiracy succeeds and you destroy the books, machines have no minds of their own. They are easily confused by different voices and different accents. It is the brain of man that tells them what to do.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 20, 2010 -
10 comments
Watch the
Oscar-nominated animated film Logorama in its (glorious 16 minute, corporate-logo assaulting,
nsfw maniacal Ronald McDonald flaming queen Mr. Clean) entirety on
Facebook.
posted by WolfDaddy
on Feb 11, 2010 -
22 comments
An eerie tribute to countless Twilight Zone episodes, Pixar Animator Rodrigo Blaas has published his animated short film
Alma.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Dec 22, 2009 -
72 comments
minuscule: La vie privée des insectes (warning: auto-play sound). This is a series of short, funny films with no dialogue (so you don't need to know French to appreciate them), combining actual footage with 3d animation. Films include:
bouse de là!,
catapulte,
chewing gum,
hyperactive,
l'attaque de la sucette rose,
les vers sont dans la pomme,
libellules,
petit repas entre mouches,
silence,
top départ and
zzzeplin.
[more inside]
posted by joannemerriam
on Nov 23, 2008 -
14 comments
BURN-E is a short film by Pixar Animation Studios based on a character who was briefly seen in the movie
WALL-E. It takes place concurrently with the movie during the sequence when WALL-E and EVE fly around the Axiom starliner, and enter through a door, locking a welder robot outside of the ship.
posted by Effigy2000
on Nov 13, 2008 -
97 comments
What happens in the shadow, in the grey regions, also interests us – all that is elusive and fugitive, all that can be said in those beautiful half tones, or in whispers, in deep shade.
Here are some short films by Stephen and Timothy, the
Brothers Quay. [more inside]
posted by Iridic
on Feb 3, 2008 -
13 comments
Rustboy , a short film about a Pinocchio/Frankenstein-esque robot child almost a year in the making thus far, has up until recently been illustrator Brian Taylor's personal side project. He's been keeping a diary of the process on his site and posting movie clips, storyboard sketches, and descriptions of how he achieves various effects the whole time. Followers of the site recently got the good news that Taylor has received funding to work on Rustboy full-time beginning in April. I've bookmarked it so I can check in every so often and say, "MAN, I wish I could do that!"
posted by apollonia6
on Mar 24, 2002 -
22 comments
