Anchorage Film Festival

Nothing beats an international film festival for displaying the latest works of the world’s most talented film makers. Telluride, Tribecca, and Sundance all have their supporters, but the Anchorage International Film Festival draws the purest forms of celluloid brilliance. For almost fourteen years now, the festival has promoted the most elegant and thought provoking methods of telling stories on film, and for many of those years, animation has been front and center. From hand drawn traditional cell work, stop action claymation, and digital manipulation, the art survives within the independent realm quite handily without the corporate fixations of the Hollywood production machine.

Animation at the Anchorage Film Festival

The medium has shifted with the digital form taking center stage at the festival, though traditional mediums remain as anchors of the storyteller’s art. Stop motion capture has made a significant comeback, perhaps with the re-introduction of its sister in soundtrack engineering, vinyl. This medium is often the first foray into animation for many film makers, as the equipment requirements are simple: a digital camera, a sturdy tripod, and homemade props. The images are strung together over a sequence, with text and audio laid in after in post production.

Next, artists often experiment with claymation as an obvious offshoot of stop action, though digital manipulation can easily come into production play as well. Entrants of this genre have been widely applauded at the Anchorage Film Festival for not only their story telling ability, but also work in texture and film interpretation.

Digital animation is however, the current rage, with artists not only creating films with established software programs, but leading the industry with ground breaking techniques. Attendees of the film festival often get a first glance of the public showings of these developments, and the effects never fail to amaze.

About the Anchorage Film Festival

Held in December, the Anchorage Film Festival draws film makers and audiences from across the globe to show their most recent creations. For ten days, screenings take place all across the city, with favorites billed highly, and new comers discussed at length. Participants can expect a wide variety of original material as well as adaptations of time honored classics. It all depends on what the film makers wish to bring to the table, and this wonderful air of mystery not only lasts from year to year, but from day to day. No film goes unnoticed in Anchorage, and perhaps that is the reason the festival still continues its long history of relevance and charm.

Want to pursue a career in animation? Get more information about programs in your area or online using our animation degree finder at the top of this page. ↑

If you would like more information on the city of Anchorage festivals, check out the link cited below.

Source: http://www.anchorage-alaska.com/festivals/