The ILM creative director also reflects on the importance of his past SIGGRAPH experiences.
This year, Industrial Light & Magic creative director Rob Coleman is one of the co-chairs of the SIGGRAPH Asia Sydney Computer Animation Festival (a role he shares with Griffith Film School director Herman Van Eyken).
The Computer Animation Festival (CAF) winners have now been announced, and SIGGRAPH Asia Sydney is only a week away (it’s taken place 12-15 December 2023), so I thought I’d ask Coleman about his own memories of past SIGGRAPH CAFs and what attendees can expect from the Festival this year, including a character animation panel he is part of.
Here’s a quick list of the winners below:
Best in Show: Moirai – Thread of Life
Jury’s Special Award: Hair Universe
Best Student Project: Thaba Ye
Honorable Mention: Quem Salva
Honorable Mention: Loup y es-tu ?
The CAF is also debuting a Junior Competition, held in collaboration with BESydney, and the NSW Department of Education’s STEM Industry School Partnerships (SISP) program.
A great resource to check out is this CAF booklet, available as a PDF here. You’ll be able to watch the CAF and the Electronic Theater on multiple days of the conference.
Our chat with Rob Coleman
b&a: Projects you’ve worked on have been featured many times at SIGGRAPH events. What has it been like this year for you to be overseeing other contributions to the CAF?
Rob Coleman: I have been attending SIGGRAPH conferences for years. Each time I went, I looked forward to seeing the latest computer-animated shorts featured in the Electronic Theater; seeing the new innovations and developing techniques was inspiring. Projects I have worked on have been featured, which was a thrill and an honour. This year, as Co-Chair of SIGGRAPH Asia’s Computer Animation Festival and Electronic Theatre, it has been an exciting opportunity to review the submissions and help curate this year’s selection of shorts. I hope the attendees find inspiration in the works included.
b&a: Do you remember the first CAF or Electronic Theater you might have attended/seen at a SIGGRAPH event? What was that experience like back then?
Rob Coleman: The first Electronic Theater I attended was at SIGGRAPH 1992 in Chicago; the experience was mind blowing. I had been working in computer graphics since 1987, but one needs to remember we did not have the internet back then; we were not exposed to what everyone else was creating with this developing technology. Sitting in that theatre and seeing what was possible with computer software was so inspiring! I remember seeing clips from Pixar, PDI, Rhythm & Hues and some fantastic footage from The Lawnmower Man there. By the following year, I had applied and was interviewed by ILM at SIGGRAPH 1993 in Anaheim.
b&a: Can you describe what it was like to review the CAF and EF entries this year for SIGGRAPH Asia, and not really have to give any ‘notes’ on them like you normally might in production?
Rob Coleman: I love animation; after years of supervising, I can “turn off” my critical eye and simply enjoy the shorts from an audience member’s perspective. Judging the entries for the CAF and EF this year was a pleasure; each short presents its creative vision and story, some with exciting uses of computer technology. We ended up with an interesting selection of shorts.
b&a: Briefly, what can people expect to hear about at the ‘Character Animation Panel’ you’re part of?
Rob Coleman: I imagine the panel will be an engaging discussion about how one creates an animated performance using current computer technology, whether for an animated feature, a big visual effects extravaganza, a short, or a streaming series.
befores & afters is a media supporter at SIGGRAPH Asia Sydney. You can register for the conference here.
