Le Mannequin Holds Recognition in BMW Shorties In another short film competition of the BMW Shorties short film competition, nine finalists were chosen by top panel judges of industry professionals. One of the top honours that made it is from The One Academy students who submitted the team final year project Le Mannequin, a short film which incidentally made it as the only animated finalist in the competition. For team members Wong Wei Jian, Cheong Tsae Yen, Audrey Au E-Theng, Chin Shen Yin and Cheong Kai Yen, Le Mannequin marks a winning step of their final year effort in the film-making industry. It took them one year to complete the short film, ensuring that their works are produced with quality in terms of story and its aesthetic values. Having graduated from The One Academy since then, Wong said that studying at The One Academy has not only taught the students how to survive in the industry, but also “opened up our sights to learn to appreciate the beauty of life,” and we reckon love was one of them. Well done all! 2. BMW Shorties http://www.bmwshorties.com.my/2009/  3. Edmund Yeo's Blog - a Malaysian filmmaker's blog http://swiftywriting.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html "Le Mannequin is very whimsical and romantic, reminds me of a Pixar animation (an obvious influence, I'm sure), and a dash of French romantic comedies like Amelie... and also the pain I myself have with women. I heard it took nearly ten months to work on this, I can say that the hard work can definitely be seen here!" 4. The Animation Blog.com - http://www.theanimationblog.com/tag/spotlight/page/2/  "Another great student film for you all to check out."5. Milk and Cookies http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/152504/detail/  6. torrents.ru http://torrents.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2187266 |
(can someone help to translate? i very care about what the french ppl thinking as we made a french background animation yet none of us had been there before :P)
13. Shot of the Week
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2009/09/05/le-mannequin/
"From the moment Geppetto first carved Pinocchio, the idea of a puppet that comes to life has been staple food for storytellers and animators alike. Created by Parktology (five students from Malaysia’s The One Academy of Communication Design), Le Mannequin is the story of a pair of puppets positioned and posed to beautify the front window of a French boutique. Wong Wei Jian, Cheong Tsae Yen, Cheong Kai Yen, Audrey Au E-theng and Chin Shenyin create a charming piece in their depiction of a marriage proposal between two stringless puppets.
There is always an air of sadness about puppets masquerading as humans. The team addresses this phenomena to a point when the young man’s hand falls off at an inopportune moment (there’s never a good moment!). The young would-be lovers gaze out their shop window set to see a real life couple embrace in the square after the man has proposed to the girl. This ignites an intention in the puppet man’s head. The film’s opportunity to communicate a sense of pathos in how dolls view bona fide humans is missed as this film avoids such grandiose claims. Instead, the film’s charm comes through its archetypical character traits: gentle foolery, the over-earnest suitor, and the occasionally coquettish girlfriend.
I have covered many student films on my Animation Blog, but this is my first from Malaysia. The 3D work is very competently handled—the characters brightly lit with clever points of view. What is interesting is the choice of France as a location. We are well used to French movies of charm from such animation establishments as Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image or Valenciennes’sSupinfocom. Le Mannequin has something of that look, though it owes just as much to the inimitable Pixar style. It’s a genuinely stylish piece with a light touch however, and for those who like happy endings, don’t miss the action as the credits roll."
