:: an incredibly imaginative and creative stop-motion / paper-flip animation from Donato Sansone. Sound design by Enrico Ascoli. Enjoy.  // AjS

:: see below for an intensely imaginative and creative 3D animation film titled Water Brain. The short was produced by a team of students at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) that collectively form Ani7ime Animation Studio. Water Brain accurately and tragically depicts the incredible performance pressure Chinese school children face throughout adolescence from parents / teachers.

In the world of Water Brain, school-children’s brains are water. When overstressed, their brains boil and give off steam that serves as food for the schoolbag-shaped monsters (parents / teachers) “enslaving” them in energy factories (classrooms / bedrooms). I don’t want to spoil any of the details – just watch it. I’m certain you’ll love it.

Water Brain was recently awarded the Best Graduation Film Award at GAFA and will be presented at SIGGRAPH 2009, an international animation and computer generated graphics exhibition.

If the below Vimeo video loads slowly in China, Water Brain is also available on Tudou and Youku. To download Water Brain, right-click here and select “save as.” We’ll be keeping an eye on Ani7ime Animation Studio, so watch this space.

For more from Ani7ime Animation Studio on NeochaEDGE, link here. // AjS

This post was originally published on NeochaEDGE, a site I regularly contribute to. To see more of my posts on NeochaEDGE, link here.

NeochaEDGE is a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.

:: check out this superb 3D animation by Neocha.com-user ZP686 titled Fatman & Moto. It was nominated for awards at the University Animation Festival and by the Beijing Film Academy’s Animation Institute. In his infinite modesty, ZP6986 told me that he’s actually in the process of redoing Fatman & Moto because he doesn’t think it’s very good. At any rate, enjoy – I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say it’s excellent. To view the video on VIMEO, link here. Below the video I’ve also shared a slideshow of “making of” photos – it’s very interesting to see the process of the character coming alive.

ZP686 is originally from Baotou, Inner Mongolia. He graduated from the Beijing Fashion Institute’s new media and animation school in 2008. Although trained as an illustrator and animator, he is currently employed in Beijing by the American special effects company Base FX as a concept art designer. // AjS

[full disclosure: fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: I’m an animation and 3D / CG junkie. I recently watched Coraline. It’s excellent. I highly recommend taking the time to check it out. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

[UPDATE: Thanks to Xiao Du for pointing out that Coraline is available in full-length format on Youku, link here or watch below. However, it's of course much better on a big screen or in HD.]

:: a slideshow of sketches by Neocha.com-user Kim227. Kim is also the artist behind the superb I Wanna Be animation short posted on Fifty 5 a couple months ago.  // AjS

[full disclosure: Fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: I came across this music video for Minilogue’s song Animals done by Varelsen Animation Studio – it’s excellent. This is one of those videos that you bookmark and come come back to when you need a does of happy. The Twitter Fail Whale even makes an appearance! Link here for more of Varelsen’s work.  // AjS

:: a fun animation short / MV titled Road from Chinese photo-blogger Wang Chengzhi (王承之, A.K.A. Photobluer) about an upset child running away from his bickering parents and an overbearing teacher. The clip ends with “我们一直奔跑, 但找不到尽头,” meaning: “We are always running, but we can’t escape.” Background music by Beijing-based band The Gar (嘎调), a song titled Quan (圈). The Gar is also on Douban.  // AjS

:: I just came across Chinese multimedia designer Ray Lei (雪磊)’s latest work, titled City Mobilization, via his blog. The piece was done as a promo for the 2009 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, and, as with anything Ray produces, it’s superb. For more fifty 5 posts about Ray Lei‘s work, link here. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: I recently featured the work of Neocha.com-user Raindrops (a Chinese illustrator / animator), but what didn’t make it into that slideshow was the below illustration. I ran across it on her profile here. Is this a vagina?

I consulted a female friend. 55: “Is this a vagina or am I perverted?” Female Friend: “Wow, nope, that’s a vag. A new age Georgia O’Keefe if I’ve ever seen one. Ha, I approve, though I’m getting flashbacks of this disturbing Pedro Almodóvar film called Talk to Her where people walked inside a vagina.”

Your thoughts?  // AjS

[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]

:: an excellent animated film titled The Face (面) by Chinese multimedia designers Ray Lei (雪磊) and Chai Mi (柴觅), AKA Ray and Penny. The film was apparently awarded the Best Art Design in Animation at an International Animation Festival (still looking for details / link) and was Ray and Penny’s graduation project for the Academy of Art & Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2007. They both have degrees in animation from the prestigious university. The below video is also on Tudou for faster loading in China. I’ve written about Ray’s work before on 56minus1, link here for more. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: a great 2D animation short titled 胡同的梦 (Hutong Dream) by Li Chao (李超), an undergraduate student at China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Li made this video as part of a Digital Media Workshop. Through a series of interrupted dreams, the animation shows a lonely old man’s blurred perception of reality as his monotonous life hurdles toward its end – death. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: anyone who reads 56minus1 regularly knows I love sneakers and that I’m a Ray Lei (雪磊) fanboy. So, there was no way I wasn’t going to like this collaboration. I’m just surprised it took me so long to find these. See below for two excellent productions by Ray, an extraordinarily talented multimedia designer based in Beijing.

The first one was for Nike’s Innov8 (创意沙龙) campaign and, I think, in support of the brand’s 706 interactive / multimedia exhibit last year in Beijing’s 798 art district. The 706 exhibit showcased – in a way only Nike can shamelessly pull off – 100 of the company’s most innovative accomplishments in footwear and apparel design. Pretty cool actually.

The second one, titled Moon Landing Plan, was shown at the Nike Dunk art exhibition in Shanghai last March. See Ray’s blog for some photos from the event, link here. Ou Ning, who also showed work at the exhibition, did a post on it too, link here.

Both works are great, and further examples of brands successfully engaging China’s creative community. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

:: Ray Lei (雷磊) is one of my favorite Chinese animators – but truthfully, he is probably more aptly described as a multimedia designer. I wrote about him once before on 56minus1 here. See below for an animated short he did for Cotton USA’s “Natural World, Hope for Future” marketing campaign in China titled (I think incorrectly in English) The Universe Marshmallow. In Chinese it’s titled 宇宙棉花糖, which is best translated as Cotton Candy Universe or Universe of Cotton Candy. Either way, it’s his work and he can call it whatever he wants in any language, the point is, it’s suburb. It also shows another solid example of brands successfully engaging Chinese creatives for branded / marketing content. Bravo. Enjoy. Oh, and btw, my head is made of cotton candy.  // AjS

:: I recently re-discovered the work of Hutoo (北京互象动画, blog), a Beijing-based company that, among other things, creates superb 2D animations. Hutoo’s cartoons are humorous, full of post-1980 China nostalgia, and horrifically violent at every turn in the trials and tribulations of their bloody-nosed main character Kuang Kuang (哐哐). If you haven’t had a chance to enjoy any of Hutoo’s work before, I’ve shared an episode below titled Bombing Schools (炸学校, probably better translated as School Bombing). It’s hard not to love. Enjoy.  // AjS

:: does anyone know what to make of this short? Is that supposed to be Hu Jintao? I tried to find more information about the video, its creator, etc., but nothing. It seems to be some sort of an advertisement for the animation company Genseisha. I’m confused and curious. Thoughts?  // AjS