-Hothouse

Uno de los sitios de referencia en relación al mundo del cortometraje de animación es la National Film Board of Canada, más con el oscar que se llevó ‘The Danish Poet’ de Torill Kove. Dicho esto, comentaros que esta institución lleva realizando durante los últimos 4 años, un programa que responde al nombre de Hothouse. En él, reunen a un grupo de artistas emergentes de diferentes disciplinas para producir un cortometraje de animación en 12 semanas.

La quinta edición ha reunido, bajo la batuta de Torill Kove, a 6 artistas canadienses y dos brasileños, cuyos perfiles podemos ver en la página de Hothouse, así como un video podcast donde cuentan como está resultando el proceso de filmación de sus respectivos trabajos. Pero lo realmente interesante, es el enlace que allí encontramos, a los trabajos realizados en las tres ediciones anteriores, y que podemos saborear uno a uno.

Son en su mayoría trabajos experimentales, y requiere un tiempo poder verlos todos, pero la experiencia es gratificante, más cuando no nos cansamos de repetir que más allá de Pixar y Disney, existe un universo fascinante en el mundo del cortometraje de animación.(via)

Aquí cuelgo tres muestras de la quinta edición.



"Git Gob" by Phillip Eddolls WEB de Phillip.

Philip Eddolls was born in Bristol, England but raised in Ontario where he graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design. His short film Wat a Wonderful Day received awards at both the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Children’s Film Festival. Eddolls was additionally recognized by RES magazine as one of the ‘Top Ten students of 2006’. His films are self-designed, self-constructed and self-animated.



"Batmilk" by Brandon Blommaert.

Brandon was born in Edmonton and studied printmaking in Calgary. From the moment he discovered animation at Calgary’s Quickdraw Animation Society, he can’t look at pictures without seeing them move. He makes animation and other disasters in his living room, while doing battle with a cat that always has the upper-hand.



"Pearl" by Neely Goniodsky.

Neely Goniodsky is a BFA graduate of Concordia University’s Film Animation program, interested in the research and development of mixed media filmmaking. Neely integrates traditional animation techniques with photography creating vibrant, fleeting, cinematographic sentences. She has animated six short student films, before embarking on Pearl, for the NFB Hothouse.


About Hothouse
Hothouse is a 12-week paid apprenticeship program for emerging Canadian filmmakers. Located in Montreal, Quebec, it was created in 2003 by NFB Animation Studio producer Michael Fukushima and executive producer David Verrall. The aim is to re-imagine ways of making animation that are faster, more flexible and that celebrate the shortest of short forms while maintaining creative and technical excellence, all hallmarks of NFB animation.

This is not “quick and dirty” but rather “intense and amazing.” Think of horticultural hothouses where gardeners create optimal growing conditions to encourage the blossoming of exotic orchids and other blooms in weeks rather than months.

This program is for emerging creators from across Canada with the imagination, vision, experience and enthusiasm to relish the Hothouse challenge, to flourish in the Hothouse environment and to accomplish the making of a successful project within the program’s parameters.

Key aspects of Hothouse include the active participation of an experienced mentoring director, a team of NFB technical and post-production experts who support the filmmakers, and emphasis on the role of the producers as creative partners, all of which highlight the collaborative process of NFB filmmaking.
Hothouse takes place over 12 consecutive weeks in the NFB’s Montreal Animation Studio. This is not a funding or schooling program, but rather a 3-month apprenticeship in real-world animation filmmaking. (via)