SEMÁFORO PRESS RELEASE 11/21/2013

Inspirado en los artistas bajo las luces de un semáforo

COLOMBIANO GANA DOBLE GALARDÓN  EN PREMIO NORTEAMERICANO A LAS 

ARTES DIGITALES

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• Entre más de 3mil inscritos a nivel mundial, en 11 categorías, la obra SEMÁFORO del colombiano Simón Wilches-Castro fue galardonada en la categoría animación y  recibió el Gran Premio en la categoría de video.

• SEMÁFORO ha sido seleccionado y nominado en más de veinte de festivales internacionales de cine y animación.

• Los premios Adobe Design Achievement Awards, son un reconocimiento al talento de estudiantes y profesionales del diseño a nivel internacional en 11 categorías 

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/tag/adobe-design-achievement-awards

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Nueva York – Bogotá D.C., 21 de noviembre de 2013.

La noche del pasado 19 de  noviembre, la ciudad de Nueva York fue testigo de la entrega de los premios a las artes digitales Adobe 2013 (Adobe Design Achievement Awards 2013). Simón Wilches-Castro, animador y artista gráfico colombiano, fue dos veces galardonado por su obra SEMÁFORO con el Premio a la Mejor Animación y el Gran Premio de la categoría de video.

La obra de Wilches-Castro está inspirada en los artistas de los semáforos en Colombia, está animada e ilustrada cuadro a cuadro y su banda sonora es una composición original de Anna Drubich  (http://vimeo.com/65236871).

SEMÁFORO ha sido seleccionada en más de veinte festivales a nivel internacional como el Ottawa International Animation Festival 2013 - Canadá, Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2013 -Francia, AnimaMundi 2013 - Brasil, y finalista regional de los Student Academy Awards 2013 –U.S.A (los premios Óscar estudiantiles); entre otros.

Lo que inspiró a SEMÁFORO http:/vimeo.com/65236871

“Debido a la continua guerra en Colombia, mucha gente ha sido forzada a abandonar sus territorios rurales y hallar refugio en las capitales. Para algunos el único medio para obtener dinero es montar shows bajo los semáforos de la ciudad. Algunos se visten de payasos o hacen acrobacias, otros escupen fuego o hacen malabares; y otros muestran lo único que les queda: sus deformidades y amputaciones a cambio de simpatía y alguna moneda. Esta es la vida de la gente que vive bajo el semáforo y de la gente que los mira.”

Sobre Simón Wilches-Castro www.simonwilches.com

Simón Wilches-Castro, nació en Popayán, estudió Artes en Bogotá, Animación en la escuela de San Antonio de los Baños en Cuba y ahora vive en Los Angeles donde es candidato a un MFA en animación y artes digitales de USC. Simón es coautor de la serie Parodiario.TV y El Pequeño Tirano. En 2011 fue reconocido con una Beca Fulbright Mincultura para Artistas.

Más información

www.simonwilches.com

contacto: simonwilchesc@gmail.com

Twitter: @simonwilchesc

Página de la película: http://www.facebook.com/Simonwilchesanimation


Selecciones y Nominaciones a SEMÁFORO

Grand Prize Winner Adobe Achievement Awards 2013

Best Animation Adobe Achievement Awards 2013

Official Selection Ottawa International Animation Festival 2013

Official Selection Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2013

Regional Finalist Student Academy Awards 2013

Official Selection Animation Block Party 2013

Official Selection AnimaMundi Panorama 2013

Official Selection Anibar International Animation Festival 2013

Official Selection File +Anima 2013

Official Selection Cutout Fest 2013

Official Selection Tacoma Film Festival 2013

Official Selection Kuandu International Film Festival 2013

Official Selection Cyprus Animafest: Views of the World.

Official Selection RabbitFest 2013

Official Selection Chilemonos 2013

Official Selection Walthamstow International Film Festival Full Programme 2013

Official Selection Adobe First Frame 2013

Flux Screening series at the Hammer 2013

Official selection 12th International Student Film and Video Festival of Beijing Film Academy (ISFVF)

22nd Annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival 2013.

Official Selection Primanima 2013

Official Selection Blackrock animation film festival 2013

SEMÁFORO (Stoplight)

Here it is. My first film made in the U.S at USC. Enjoy! 

"Under the three lights of a Colombian stoplight a beautiful circus act becomes a terrifying freak show"
"Bajo las tres luces de un semáforo colombiano, un acto circense se convierte en un terrible show de fenómenos"

Idea & Animation by: Simón Wilches-Castro // Music composed by: Anna Drubich

Regional Finalist Student Academy Awards 2013
Official Selection Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2013
Official Selection Adobe First Frame 2013
Official Selection Chilemonos 2013
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Due to the ongoing war in the Colombian jungles, many people is forced to flee their rural territories and find refugee in capital cities. Their only mean of acquiring money is to put on shows under the city stoplights. Some dress like clowns or do acrobatics, others spit fire or juggle; and some show the only thing they have left: deformities and amputations in exchange for some sympathy and change.

This is the life of the people that live under a stoplight and the people who watch them.
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Debido a la continua guerra en las selvas colombianas, mucha gente ha sido forzada a abandonar sus territorios rurales y hallar refugio en las capitales. Su único medio para obtener dinero es montar shows bajo los semáforos de la ciudad. Algunos se visten de payasos o hacen acrobacias, otros escupen fuego o hacen malabares; y otros muestran lo único que les queda: sus deformidades y amputaciones a cambio de simpatía y alguna monedas.

Esta es la vida de la gente que vive bajo el semáforo y la gente que los mira.

Painted frame by frame in Photoshop.

STOPLIGHT: FINALIST FOR A STUDENT OSCAR

A few days ago I got news that SEMÁFORO is a regional finalist for the Student Academy Awards in the animation category. This is an amazing honor for me and the film and I'm so happy this idea is resonating with people around the world. Teenage fantasies one step closer.

Along with me are the works of USC Hench DADA Alumni Maria Sequeira and Ryan Kravetz. Whose thesis films were finalists for Experimental and Animation category

  

STOPLIGHT GOT INTO ANNECY & CHILEMONOS!

Great news for my short film SEMÁFORO (stoplight) which got selected for the student films category in ANNECY ANIMATION FESTIVAL 2013

SEMAFORO (Stoplight) Teaser from Simonwilchesc on Vimeo.

"After slogging through 2,461 submitted films, artistic director Marcel Jean and his team have selected 176 films to compete for the coveted Cristal prize at the 2013 Annecy International Animated Film Festival & Market (taking place in France June 10-15).The festival organizers have divulged that the selected films hail from 43 countries—including less often represented regions like Colombia, Mexico, Moldavia, Lithuania and Slovenia—. For a full run down of the selected films, visit www.annecy.org/annecy-2013/festival/official-selection."

UPDATE: Today, 3/27/2013 I got news from the Chilean festival CHILEMONOS, that Stoplight got into the official selection in the experimental category 

Including ADOBE FIRST FRAME 2013, This is the third festival that has accepted the film. I feel so honored for the appreciation that the film is getting. It was a tough one to lay out and produce, so I'm glad people are going to get to see it.  

SEMAFORO (Stoplight) Teaser Trailer.

SEMAFORO (Stoplight) Teaser from Simonwilchesc on Vimeo.

Some festivals are still up to give me an answer, until then all I can show from the film is this. Soon, the entire short! I promise.

SEMÁFORO (Stoplight) Poster

This is it! I'm finally done with my first film at USC .It's called Stoplight and I'm hoping to release it online soon after some festivals give me the green light! (ahem) 

We will see. 

Meanwhile... Enjoy and Download a HI RES COPY for printing.

Thanks.

KEEP WALKING

Messing around with walk cycles.

LIVING ILLUSTRATION: THE NIGHTMARE

My first attempt at creating Living Illustrations. Click on the link to watch it move.

THE LIVING ILLUSTRATION

"The rumble made them run out of the house. Out of the fog emerged the great ghost ship sailing over the dry blades of grass. Simo held her mother’s hand tightly"

 More to come.

http://www.simonwilches.com/Living_files/Postcards/POSTCARD.html

STOCHASTICALLY SELF-SIMILAR NON-EUCLIDIAN REPLICATIONN

A guy told me once: "Learn how light bulbs are made and you'll be amazed every time someone turns a light on". (Update: It certainly does not apply for sausages and other animal biproducts)

USC has been succesfully pushing an alliance between film and science. I entered a competition last semester aimed at opening a communication channel between both schools. This is our interpretation of a scientific concept:

 

We got and honorable mention and a prize for best animation. I'm very happy with the result. Hope you like it and get interested in fractals, which is supposed to be the subject of study.

Here I am getting the prize for best animation from professor Richard Weinberg. 

via (http://celebritysc.com/2012/01/26/science-film-competition-celebritysc-winners-of-the-evening/)

A little behind the scenes in the production of this film

Enjoy!

CON EL CORAZON ROTOSCOPIADO.

After 48 hours without sleep I finally finished and shot all 120 drawings (10 seconds) for my rotoscopy assignment.

For those who don't know, Rotoscopy is an animation technique where you trace a video source for movement reference.

FYI: This technique was patented by the Fleischer bros, the same guys that did Betty boop, Popeye and Superman Cartoons.

This is the first time I've been able to do rotoscopy with pen and paper... Over the monitor.

There is still a lot of work to do for the video to be ready, but I wanted to share my favorite images from the bunch as a teaser of what's to come.

Possibilities are endless.

STRAIGHT AHEADS 1.2.3

Post #100. And I don't have anything special prepared for it.

So I guess I'll do something special for the 101th post.

For now... I'm trying to get a better and more intuitive sense of timing and movement so I decided to make this straight ahead improv animation for fun and training.

Like my friend Andrew called them...Push ups for animation. I liked that.

BACK TO BASICS.

So, I moved to L.A in August to start my MFA at USC.

I just spent most of the previous month, and then some, getting things in order. So I haven't been able to do or post anything.

However, class exercises are starting to come about, so I'll try to make some cool things to post.
but I must warn you...I'm pretty rusty with non digital techniques. So, let's see...

I begin with a Zoetrope exercise.

Here are some animated gifs showing how the thing ended up looking.
(Click them to see the animation)

1. Face (Frame by frame)

2. Face (With a blur)

LA RECONTRA Celebrates the YEAR OF THE RABBIT.

I do live video for an event called LA RECONTRA. 

Here are three loops from last party celebrating 2011, the year of the rabbit.

Click Through to watch them move.

Enjoy!

THE ETERNAL (and very heavy) FALL.

If you want to watch this very relaxing animated gif, you have to click the image and wait for the 3.4 MB it takes for the animation to load.

APARTMENTS: 5 YEARS AFTER/ 5 YEARS LATER

Apartment Number $ - The Shaman. (2006)
from Simonwilchesc on Vimeo.

In 2005 I started developing my graduation project. It was a
15min animated short consisting of 4 pieces in different techniques.

At the time; there were many things I did not know, could not do,
or never took into account while developing the project.

I decided, for many reasons, to give it a second look and try to fix
some of the technical shortcomings of the piece. I have been working
on it the past two months. This is sort of the result:

I am pretty satisfied with the results. They are not perfect by any
means, however these show some of the skills I have come to
learn these past years. 

MORAL: Never be absolutely satisfied with anything you do. 
There will always be room for learning and improvement. 

Thank you for Watching.

Simón.

BECOME A VOTING WITNESS! so says Miss Etelvina

TESTIGOS ELECTORALES from Simonwilchesc on Vimeo.

Written by Santiago Rocha, Santiago Rivas, Simón Wilches
Doña Etelvina's Voice by Santiago Rocha // Narrator's voice by Santiago Rivas
Animatión by Simón Wilches Castro


"A quick institutional made to inspire people to become a "voting witness" for the election day. It was commissioned by Colombian's Green Party.

The original inspiration came from UPA shorts and Zagreb's Bordo. And also instructional videos from the 50's.

I'm very happy with the result, but in retrospective I shouldn't have made Miss Etelvina's breasts so big because there's no room for the mouth, I had to get a bit arbitrary with it.

Eh! What you gonna do."

SUPER MAN-PERIOD RUNS!!

Want to read the first Strip of Super Man-Period?

This is my first moving image made directly on photoshop with the lasso tool
and no help of pencil or onion skin. It's moves clumsily, but in this case It helps the attitude.

My good friend Edweard Muybridge made this photo-study of the character running.

More to come. Enjoy.

Line test 1: Resilient Man

One of the things I enjoy doing most are these sketchy line tests, because they allow freedom and experimentation with body masses without having to worry about details.

Enjoy

PS: Today I'm feeling like this poor fat blob. :S

PARKINSON: EVERYBODY IS TALKING ABOUT HIM!!! ((ANIMATION))

Click on the image to see the animation


 














Frame by Frame Sequence.

HOMO SAPEENS BACKGROUNDS

These are the backgrounds I made for the new episode of The Little Tyrant. Because the episode is a parody of an old colombian nursery rhyme. I tried to do a more cartoonish kind of background, inspired by fairy tales and Disney's sleeping beauty style by Eyvind Earle.

You can go Fullsize by clicking on the pictures.
 

Enjoy :)