Pictoplasma - Characters in Motion returns contemporary character design to its narrative origins, putting the style back into animation.

In traditional animation, industrial production conditions have established a universal visual system of interchangeable characteristics and predictable movements with a limited gestural vocabulary. Now however, the new explosion of pictorial visuals in art, media, advertising and urban landscapes has opened the way for a new breed of character design to re-claim the world of animation!

Pictoplasma presents its latest publication: a unique DVD/book set, exploring the very best of contemporary character design in animation, music visuals and motion graphics. The book/DVD includes more than 90 cutting edge character-driven animations by 60 style setting studios, animators and designers, such as 1st Ave Machine, Aaron Stewart, Adam Eliott, Benjamin Bocquelet, Bernard Derriman, Bessy & Combe, Blind, Buroco de Bala, Chris Harder, Dalek, Dean Bradley, Doma, Eugene & BirG, Feel Good Anyway, Fons Schiedon, Foreigh Office, Freestyle Collective, Friends With You, Genevieve Gauckler, Ghostmilk, Guilherme, Guru Studio, Hornet Inc, Hunter Gatherer, Joshua Krause, Lobo, MadReal, Mari Chan, Monkeehub, Motomichi Nakamura, Nathan Jurevicius, Peskimo, Pleix, Psyop, Saiman Chow, Sprite Entertainment, Studio Aka, Studio Soi, Tokyoplastic, Trunk, Waytion, Woof Wan- Bau and many, many more...

The DVD is divided into 3 chapters: characters in narration, characters in music visuals and Characters in Motion graphics. The specially designed menu also allows viewers to create their own programme, sorting the 180+ minutes of animation by artist/studio, character, style or genre. The 96 page, full colour book provides in-depth information on the creators, presenting their latest work and grounding the animation on the DVD in the context of a wider character design practice.

All films in a printable format

This DVD has never been screened

Reviews and Other Info:

"Pictoplasma is doing amazing work...totally fresh and an inspiration" John L. Solomon, Creative Producer, Disney

2006-09-26  digital-web.com By Meryl K. Evans book cover Pictoplasma is a showcase of contemporary art created by international graphic designers, animators, artists, and production companies. Thaler states in the book's foreword that "Character design is the most universal of graphic languages. Characters work independent of cultural context and narrative structure. They are entirely self-referential, defined by clearly distinctive characteristics and have a life of their own." Thaler is absolutely correct when saying the characters have taken on a life of their own. Furthermore, the art attempts to convey the artist's message emotionally while reaching out to its viewer in the hopes of bonding more effectively with them. The entire book is pure eye candy in every free hand drawing, pixel, vector graphic, 3-D objects, and an encyclopedia of resurfacing motifs. Even non-Internet surfers will recognize many of the colorful and creative designs because they are found other media including television, books, and video games. The index lists all the titles of the art, contributors' names along with their email and Web addresses. As a confessed non-artist, I'm in awe as I flip through pages of expressive and colorfully rendered art. The book can be much more than just another art book, it can be an inspiration for those in the process of creating. This is the coffee table book for geeks and Web designers and it'll go just fine with the books containing the Monets, Picassos, and Renoirs.

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