Chris Landreth
Encyclopedia
Chris Landreth is an American animator working in Canada, best known for his work on the 2004 film, Ryan
. He has made many CGI
animated films since the mid-90s, including The End, Bingo, The Listener, Caustic Sky: A Portrait of Regional Acid Deposition, and Data Driven The Story Of Franz K.
. Three years following, he experimented in fluid mechanics research, until he made baby steps into the world of computer animation. Afterwards in 1994, he was hired to define, test, and sometimes even abuse computer graphics software products. Such products include "movie Grade" software, not limited to but including programs, such as Maya
, from the Toronto
-based animation firm, Alias
(formerly Alias|wavefront, now owned by Autodesk
).
This resulted in the productions of The End and Bingo
. The End was nominated in 1996 for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Afterward, he met Ryan Larkin
, a renowned animator in the 60s and 70s, who had recently fallen in a spiral of excessive drinking, cocaine abuse, and homelessness. This resulted in the 2004 production of Ryan, which won an Oscar the same year.
Landreth's 2009 film The Spine
won the Best of the Festival award at the Melbourne International Animation Festival
. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
in association with Copperheart Animation and C.O.R.E.
, The Spine depicts a man who's physically and figuratively spineless and the breakdown of his marriage.
Landreth is currently working on a feature length adaptation of Hans Rodionoff
, Enrique Breccia and Keith Giffen’s graphic-novel biography of H.P. Lovecraft.
His films: Ryan and The Spine were included in the Animation Show of Shows
.
animation in his work, with the added element of what Chris calls Psychorealism. This often puts a surrealist styling into his work, notably The End, Bingo, and Ryan. For instance, in Ryan, as people get distraught, their faces distort. At one time in the interview Ryan gets so upset he literally flies apart.
Psychorealism is a style first put to words by Chris Landreth to refer to what Karan Singh described as, "the glorious complexity of the human psyche depicted through the visual medium of art
and animation
." http://www.mitacs.ca/main.php?mid=10000133&pid=184#sec2
Ryan (film)
Ryan is a 2004 animated documentary by Chris Landreth about the Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who in later years lived on skid row in Montreal following a history of drug and alcohol abuse....
. He has made many CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animated films since the mid-90s, including The End, Bingo, The Listener, Caustic Sky: A Portrait of Regional Acid Deposition, and Data Driven The Story Of Franz K.
Biography
After being an engineer for years, Chris quit and began a second career as an animator. He received a BS(1984) in General Engineering and a MS(1986) degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of IllinoisUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. Three years following, he experimented in fluid mechanics research, until he made baby steps into the world of computer animation. Afterwards in 1994, he was hired to define, test, and sometimes even abuse computer graphics software products. Such products include "movie Grade" software, not limited to but including programs, such as Maya
Maya (software)
Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...
, from the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based animation firm, Alias
Alias Systems Corporation
Alias Systems Corporation , headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a software company that produced high-end 3D graphics software. The company was formed in 1995 when Silicon Graphics bought Alias Research, which was founded in 1983, and Wavefront Technologies, founded in 1984, then merged...
(formerly Alias|wavefront, now owned by Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
).
This resulted in the productions of The End and Bingo
Bingo (short film)
Bingo is a 1998 computer-animated short film directed by Chris Landreth. The short is based on the stage play Disregard This Play by the theater troupe The Neo Futurists. It uses surrealistic imagery and dialogue to tell the story of an ordinary man who is surrounded by characters who insist that...
. The End was nominated in 1996 for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Afterward, he met Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 Oscar-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique . He was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Ryan.-Home life and education:Ryan Larkin's father was an airline mechanic...
, a renowned animator in the 60s and 70s, who had recently fallen in a spiral of excessive drinking, cocaine abuse, and homelessness. This resulted in the 2004 production of Ryan, which won an Oscar the same year.
Landreth's 2009 film The Spine
The Spine (film)
The Spine is a 2009 animated short by Chris Landreth about a married dysfunctional couple, created in Landreth's "psycho realist" style, in which characters' mental states are reflected in their physical appearance...
won the Best of the Festival award at the Melbourne International Animation Festival
Melbourne International Animation Festival
The Melbourne International Animation Festival or MIAF is an annual animation festival held in Melbourne. Supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Commission and the Melbourne City Council, it is Australia's largest animation event. Over the course of the...
. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
in association with Copperheart Animation and C.O.R.E.
C.O.R.E.
C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures was a film and television computer animation special effects studio, which has branched out into fully animated television series and feature films. On March 15, 2010 the company announced it was suspending operations and shut down....
, The Spine depicts a man who's physically and figuratively spineless and the breakdown of his marriage.
Landreth is currently working on a feature length adaptation of Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff is an author of comics and screenplays. Rodionoff has adapted comic books for the screen, such as Marvel's Man-Thing and had his screenplay Lovecraft turned into a graphic novel published by Vertigo adapted by Keith Giffen, with art by Enrique Breccia. In Lovecraft the Elder Gods are...
, Enrique Breccia and Keith Giffen’s graphic-novel biography of H.P. Lovecraft.
His films: Ryan and The Spine were included in the Animation Show of Shows
Animation show of shows
The Animation Show of Shows is a traveling selection of the year's best animated short films, curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder, Ron Diamond. It began in 1998 with the aim of showing the most original, funny, intelligent short animated films from all over the world and presenting them...
.
"Psychorealism"
Chris Landreth uses standard CGIComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animation in his work, with the added element of what Chris calls Psychorealism. This often puts a surrealist styling into his work, notably The End, Bingo, and Ryan. For instance, in Ryan, as people get distraught, their faces distort. At one time in the interview Ryan gets so upset he literally flies apart.
Psychorealism is a style first put to words by Chris Landreth to refer to what Karan Singh described as, "the glorious complexity of the human psyche depicted through the visual medium of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
." http://www.mitacs.ca/main.php?mid=10000133&pid=184#sec2
Sources
External links
- Watch Ryan at NFB.ca
- Psychorealism (Computer Graphics World, July 2004)