Before being depicted by graduate visualization students at Texas A&M University, snack machines appeared to be the very definition of banal. But in their computer-animated movie “Goobees,” the students showed a snack machine having an inner, wild world of candy at war, with battle losers ending up as edible products for unsuspecting humans.
The students’ fun and somewhat sinister work has earned them a place in the prestigious SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival competition. SIGGRAPH is an organization composed of a diverse group of researchers, artists, developers, filmmakers, scientists, and other professionals who share an interest in computer graphics and interactive techniques.
Seth Freeman, Michael Losure, Patrick O’Brien and P. Antonio Piedra directed and produced the film with the resources and support of the Viz Lab, part of the Visualization Department at the university’s College of Architecture.
SIGGRAPH bills its annual gathering, which takes place Aug. 11-15 in Los Angeles, as “the world’s premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.”
“As you know, your selection has been chosen among hundreds of submissions and many disciplines from all over the world,” said Samuel Lord Black in an email accepting “Goobees” into the competition. Black is the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival Chair.
“I’m pretty thrilled its going to be there,” said Mike Losure, one of the animated short’s four directors and producers. “I’m really proud of ‘Goobees,’ but I have been surprised at how well-received it’s been, because of the subject matter … it’s kind of dark,” he said.
“It was always our hope that it would end up at SIGGRAPH, and I wouldn’t have been able to say with any confidence it would end up there, but it was always on our minds,” he said.
The film has been drawing raves on the Internet since its debut in February 2008, on cartoonbrew.com and motionographer.com.
For the complete “Goobees” experience, go to www.goobeesfilm.com. In addition to the film, there’s lots more information about the film and how it was made.
