Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 4, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The animated short film “67 Degrees North” by students at Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg won first prize at the SIGMAD Animation Festival Madrid 2009. The winners—Ildikó Dietrich, Benjamin Haagen, Thomas Schienagel, Mariya Hristova and Marco Ringler—study Design with a focus on “Film & Animation.”
With sensitive images and a distinctive, almost surreal poetry, their 13-minute animated film approaches the subject of loneliness—and the hope of escaping it. Film composer and sound designer Stefan J. Wühr also creates extraordinary intensity with remarkable sensitivity for the characters and atmosphere. The film tells the story of Jouris, an old and frail lighthouse keeper who lives in complete isolation far out at sea and longs for a ship. Only an old crow sometimes stops there. And so the days, months and years pass: Jouris gazes from his old lighthouse out to sea until the sun touches the horizon and night falls. But suddenly a violent storm changes his life.
According to the university, considerable time was spent developing the screenplay for “67 Degrees North,” while work proceeded in parallel on the design of the two virtual characters and the lighthouse set. The simulation of the water surface and, above all, the distinctive painterly lighting mood repeatedly presented the animation team with new challenges.
Actor Thomas Witte was ultimately secured for the university production. His expressive gestures were recorded using motion-capture technology from Gotoxy AV Media and transferred to the CG character of the lighthouse keeper. Supervising professors Burkard Vetter (Design) and Jürgen Schopper (Film & Animation) are delighted by their students’ award and by the successful harmonious combination of their two modules, the university says.
Further links:
- “67 Degrees North”—the film’s website
