LAAF Competition Heats Up With First Day Screenings

Los Angeles Animation Festival screened two rounds of selected animated shorts this Saturday, ahead of the third round and awards show this Sunday. 30 films of various animated media from around the world were shown, and fifteen more are slated. Check out the featured animated shorts of Day 1 at LAAF 2018:

& Black & White, by Darko Bakliza

Playing with space and negative space, this short is actually an anthology of several smaller episodes.

Animal Behaviour, by Alison Snowden & David Fine

Several animals attend group therapy, headed by a canine therapist.

Daisy, by Yu Yu

A robot cares for a young girl, but must search for her when she disappears after a bomb drops nearby.

The Elephant’s Song, by Lynn Tomlinson

Telling the true story of Old Bet, the first circus elephant in America, this short is created frame by frame with impressive clay-on-glass animation.

All the Way Down, by Chun Chun Chang

A unique short that was included in the women’s voices section of the Tacoma Film Festival, this film follows a skier’s first experience.

Barry, by Anchi Shen

Check out the trailer for this short, about an unusual Harvard graduate and the prejudice he faces.

Little Bandits, by Alex Avagimian

A boy believes he will become a man if he can find and shoot a bird.

The Mud, by Brandon Lake

Thoughtful and thought-provoking, this short features detailed claymation and intriguing usage of sound and light.

A Priori, by Maïté Schmitt

An adorable short featuring a librarian who must set aside prejudice to preserve his books.

Diving In A Sea Of Light, by Micah Buzan

A psychedelic music video featuring gelatinous liquidity reminiscent of Studio Ghibli.

Happy Foot vs. Sad Foot, by Mike Hollingsworth

Originally inspired by the Happy Foot/Sad Foot sign in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, this animated music video plays with lucky vs unlucky, color vs non-color, and how there’s always that dude who just gets everything.

Emulate – Okay Kaya, by Daniel Zvereff

Also a music video, this short plays with 2D stop-motion.

Equipoise, by Simo Liu

Playing with color blocks, this short explores the ideas of yin and yang, and finding balance.

The Lineman, by Jay Shipman

A colorfully animated short.

A Logo Creation, by Adolfo Ruiz

An exploration of creating a logo and the various ideas flowing.

Celebrating Mister Rogers, by Melissa Crowton, Olivia Huynh & Drew Hodges

A Google Doodle stop-motion film celebrating everyone’s favorite neighbor, Mr. Rogers.

Telling People You’re Native, by Joey Clift

The full title of this short is Telling People You’re Native American When You’re Not Native Is A Lot Like Telling A Bear You’re A Bear When You’re Not A Bear, and that tells you plenty about this amusing film.

Lullaby Theories: A Secret Message, by Jonathan Lacocque

Part of a series, this short looks at the inner workings of the mind in a colorful and simple way.

The Backward Astronomer, by Jake Nelson

With a gorgeously simplistic animation style, this short explores a love story and how one man finds something different.

Tectonic, by Ed Skudder

Another music video but with a different style and tone; Skudder’s film is intensely animated for arm’s-distance realism.

Carlotta’s Face, Fabian Driehorst

Simple and striking, this short explores what it’s like being face-blind.

The Soul of a Circle, by Jonathan Lacocque

The second from Lacocque, this is a music video that uses color and minimalism.

Limbo, by Jennifer Stachovic

This short follows the adventures of a girl caught in limbo.

Concatenate, by Simone Northey

Northey’s film explores textile mechanics using paper, string, and fabric stop-motion.

Signal, by Hwang Ji Lee

A little gem of a short with intense animation.

Final_Final, by Matt Greenwood

Started as a mere exploration of character design that rolled itself along into a full short film.

Floreana, by Louis Morton

The people of the future have a secret mission, and it’s a bit odd.

Relation Ship, by Zoey Lin, Kun Xia

A beautifully odd little film about a creature selling her belongings.

Voicing CSA: The Mouse, by Aaron Wood

From Aaron Wood, and Voicing CSA (Childhood Sexual Abuse), comes this intriguing little animation.

Spider vs. the Living Dead, by Scott DaRos

Also begun as an exploratory work, this short plays with character design of the more horrific variety, though slightly amusing.

That rounds up the LAAF so far! The third round of short films screens today, Dec 3rd, and the awards show is tonight. Following along here on our website, on our Instagram, and our Twitter for festival and awards updates.