Elephants Dream / Big Buck Bunny

As the years have gone by, open source software has become more available and the range of what you can get has increased. Elephants Dream and Big Buck Bunny were created on Blender, a free open source software for 3D creation. I myself had a go with Blender a few years ago but found the software quite confusing as I had never done any 3D modelling before and Blender doesn't really come with a guide of how to use it. Nevertheless, people who do know how to use it are able to produce really high quality pieces of animation. It goes to show that you don't need to spend thousands of pounds for a software to create something that is visually appealing.

Both pieces are short animations about 10 minutes long, yet they are able to create a compelling story for each. When watching Elephants Dream I found that the story itself drew me into it even though I didn't fully understand the whole thing. It makes you wonder about the true meaning of the short and what the actual storyline could be. Comparing it to Big Buck Bunny, the differences are quite vast. Big Buck Bunny has a clear defined storyline which you could say would be more suited towards younger audiences. Elephants Dream is a bit more complex and by ending it the way it does, it allows people to talk about their ideas of what really goes on. As I always believe, an animation, game or film needs to have a good storyline or else what is the point? It may have beautiful graphics or have used state of the art technology, however without the core story, it all seems a waste to me.

In Big Buck Bunny, the shot that I love the most is the one below. It's just the contrast between the softness of the fur yet the determination in the eyes, it's quite powerful. I like how you are able to see the individual hairs. In the space of 2 years from when Elephants Dream was created, you can already see the advancements in technology and the way they can produce life like textures.