Each year students from the graduating class of the remarkable Gobelins, l’école de l’image (Goeblins School of Communications) in Paris are divided into teams that create short animations to be used as introductions to each of the five day’s events at the Annecy International Festival of Animation.

The emphasis is on 2D hand drawn animation. This year’s theme is “France in the Spotlight”.

One of the films, Au Lapin Agile, portrays Picasso and other artists at one of their cafe hangouts, in which a fistfight erupts into splashes of modern art genres.

You can see all five shorts on YouTube, as well as on the on the Gobelins (FR) website.

(Note: images above are just screen caps from each of the five films, not clickable embeds. Please follow the provided links to view the films.)

Ma’agalim is a beautiful short animation (3:30 minutes) directed by Uri Lotan. It is the music video for the song of the same name by Jane Bordeaux.

It portrays a mechanically animated wooden doll in the revolving scene of an arcade amusement, walking in pace as the landscape rolls beneath her feet.

If you click the “Read more…” link on the Vimeo page, you will see someone’s translation of the song lyrics, as well as a more complete credit list for the film.

Given Lotan’s film credits — which include Hotel Transylvania II — I have to assume that this is done with CGI; but the textures are so real and visceral, I have to wonder.

However it was done, it is wonderfully realized, emotionally touching and superbly art directed and produced.

View it in full screen mode.

[Via Jim Nelson]

Mother is a touching and beautifully realized animated short (5 minutes) about the weight of maintaing a family and household.

The film, done in a Japanese influenced style [correction: I’m told the style is Korean], was made by a group of third-year students at Sheridan College.

The group, led by Stephanie Chew, calls themselves Studio Kokorosh. (For full credits, please see the Vimeo page.) They have a blog with concept art and preliminary images as well as screenshots from the film.

Mother has been nominated for Best Student Film for the Annie Awards, and the group is currently trying to crowdfund a trip to the awards presentation.

[Via Digg]

Lost Property is a touching and beautifully realized animated short (5 mins) — written, directed and with art by Åsa Lucande.

[Via Katherine Trendacosta on io9)

Batz is an animated short (6 min) by Max Maleo & Aurélien Prédal.

The animation is done with a CGI process known generally as “cel shading” or “toon shading”, in which the normally 3-D appearance of CG animation is given a look more like 2-D hand drawing by the use of gradients and flat areas of color.

In the right hands, this can be quite effective and pleasing, and Batz, directed by Maleo with art direction by Prédal, is a case in point.

The production is nicely graphic and beautifully designed, particularly in respect to the use of lighting, and scenes that take place in near darkness punctuated with areas of light.

The story involves two bats with very different personalities: one an aggressive insectivore who loves mosquitoes, the other a timid fruit-eating bat who hates and fears them. Add a mosquito and the result is frantic, icky at times, and, well… batty.

There is a website devoted to the film, with images, background information and items for sale, including a “making of” animatic (animated storyboard).

[Via Mark a. Nelson]