OMEGA – A Fantastic Stop Motion Animated Short
I just watched this great stop animation short film named OMEGA. Fantastic.
Directed by Eva Franz and Andy Goralczyk, along with “an ambitious group of students at the University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany”1, OMEGA is an intriguing portrait of a beautifully desolate future where descendants of machines from the remnants of a long dead culture are the sole life forms remaining on the planet.
My hat is off to the modelers and riggers of both the stop motion puppets and the 3D characters. The variously complex creatures of this world are both creepy and fascinating. Some mimic life as it once was, others are completely unique with a drive and purpose known only to themselves. One of my favorite scenes involved these cool creatures that I will just call The Sorters. You’ll know it when you see it. I was immediately drawn in from the opening shot as I watched a solo ostrich like creature stride across a barren wasteland of a desert in search for energy to consume. It, along with all of the creatures of this Fantastic Planet2, share a “single cycle of energy”3, and live and die searching for it.
From the wonderfully detailed sets and skies to the cinematography, OMEGA definitely deserves a thumbs up. It’s so far earned a Vimeo Staff Pick and as of right now, tops the list.
For Blender heads out there, you’d be interested to know that Blender was the 3D package used for the 3D elements and rendering, but I don’t know if it was used for compositing. Keep an eye on the Making Of Omega page for more information.
Summary
Long after the world has moved on (as Stephen King called it in his Gunslinger series), directors Eva Franz and Andy Goralczyk offer us this glimpse into the far distant future where scrap built machines spend they meager existence scrounging and scraping to get by. In this menagerie of creatures, exists the solitary Ohm, who devours others by absorbing them into itself until The Others, who are made of light, appear in the sky. He then pursues them to the ends of the world.
Watch
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/92022684]
From omegastopmotion.com
The end of evolution awaits in a wasteland dominated by bizarre trash formations, dust and rock. From the scattered remains of a long forgotten culture an electric ecosystem rapidly evolves into the ultimate form of existence…
The mechanical life form Ohm inhabits a bleak and devastated planet. The thousands of mechanical creatures of this world share a single cycle of energy. In this cycle, Ohm is a rogue element. His nature is to devour and absorb others. When one day a gargantuan foreign object appears in the skies. Drawn in by mysterious creatures of light, the Ohm tracks them across the planet, changing the known order of matter, time and space.
Directed by Eva Franz and Andy Goralczyk this extraordinary animated short film fuses high-end CGI and photographic images, miniature sets and traditional stop-motion puppet animation.
Footnotes:
1 – Quote from www.omegastopmotion.com/making.html
2 – For some reason I was reminded of the movie Fantastic Planet. A feature length animated film from 1973. I think it may have been the sound design. Another viewer on the comments on Vimeo also mentioned Fantastic Planet. This is in no way similar story wise, but still for some reason it came to mind. A compliment in my opinion.
3 – Quote from www.omegastopmotion.com
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