Alma by Rodrigo Blaas

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For a limited time during the holidays, Rodrigo Blaas has made his spooky CG short Alma available for viewing online. Blaas is an animator at Pixar who took time off from the studio and returned to his native Spain to make this independent film. His brother, Alfonso Blaas, served as the film’s art director. The film’s official website is AlmaShortFilm.com.

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  • http://thedreamerskingdom.org TK

    Super creepy… but that’s exactly how I liked it! Great to see the whole short online after I missed it at Spark in Vancouver earlier this year.

  • http://sekvenskonst.blogspot.com Joakim Gunnarsson

    What a beautiful piece of storytelling and animation. They got it right in every sense. The mood, the movements, the textures, the story. Great stuff! This is probably the best piece of animation I’ve seen this year. :)

  • Hans W.

    Great short! Wonderful story and beautifully executed!

  • Hulk

    Wow. Really well done and very scary. It’s paced like a nightmare. The upbeat music makes it spookier somehow.

  • J

    Really great short, it’s really good that artists like Rodrigo Blaas can, and do take time out from their mainstream studio work to create more individual, personal stuff.

  • http://drip.de davidmaas

    Wow! The animation is fantastic, and the camera and timing is masterly. Designs, shading, FX… I can’t find anything not fantastic. Maybe that the ending was a tad bit too telegraphed?

    Congratulations to the makers!

  • http://inspectorcleuzo.blogspot.com Sandro Cleuzo

    This is beautiful and it is as good as Pixar would have made. The story is a horror story but it has so much charm.
    Congratulations to Rodrigo and the whole team who worked on it. I can see some familiar names in the credits like my good friend Sergio Pablos.
    I hope to see more films from Rodrigo.

  • Mac

    Very enjoyable. I’m not surprised it comes from a Pixar animator, the look, sound, acting and overall feel was very ‘Pixar’ to me.

  • http://arturoanimacion.blogspot.com/ Arturo Paiva

    Simply, amazing…
    ALUCINANTE¡¡¡¡¡
    A brilliant movement of cameras

  • Alan

    Fantastic! Great pacing and visuals. Plus a really creepy score…One of the best shorts i’ve seen this year.

  • http://www.taberanimation.com Taber Dunipace

    Loved it! Especially all the subtle warnings.

  • Rick Farmiloe

    I was on the review committee for the Motion Picture Academy and saw this a few weeks ago. I really loved it….but for whatever reason it didn’t make the short list, so a lot of Academy members won’t see it. I thought it was dark and very clever. Loved the character designs too! Glad you posted it so others can enjoy it.

  • Sharkmad

    Awesome. One thing… shouldn’t it be a right-handed mitt left on the shelf.

  • BobT

    I loved the double take the kid does, when he (she?) notices the doll in the window.

    I also love how it’s a horror story and actually creepy without ever trying to be dark and horrific.

    Great little film

  • creepy

    scary and perfectly creepy for the film festival crowds.

  • Sherrie

    I loved it! Very well set up, and engaging. I love that the shop window looks like a monster’s open mouth. It was so subtle I didn’t catch it until the final scene.

  • Wife of an Artist

    Rod Serling is smiling somewhere…

  • Major Pepperidge

    Beautifully done! Alma is wonderfully animated as well. Bravo!

  • Azz

    Yay! I saw this at Siggraph this year and it was my favourite out of all the shorts. I’ve been waiting for it to pop online so others can see it. I love it! Especially love the little toy on the bike trying to get out.

  • Tom D

    It feels like a Gahan Wilson story, or Edward Gorey, and that’s never a bad thing. I loved it.

  • http://www.theaftend.com Allan Turner

    LOVED it!! Animation and horror go together like blood and virgins. I’ve seen Grickle, Fears of the Dark, and now this, but I want more please!

  • http://racattackforce.wordpress.com/ RacattackForce

    Nice little short that ended on a creepy note.

  • jip

    I liked the mood and build up and things like that.
    But if you’re making something out of the studio system, please make it look like something out of the studio system.
    Pixar using pixar eyes probably is necessary for some sort of reason. An independent film using pixar eyes is just bad taste.

  • Isaac

    The message seems to be “if someone you’ve never met before has a doll that looks just like you, don’t hang around.”

  • ZigZag

    I hope Pixar takes note and pays close attention to this short. Hopefully after studying it, and comparing it with it’s heritage shorts, they’ll remember what it takes to make wonderful, unique bits of film-making again.

    Fantastic job, Mr. Blaas.

  • http://scottgillan.daportfolio.com/ Scott G

    That was really nice. More stuff like this please. :D

  • http://www.coffeeroll.com JPDJ

    Killer. Just great.

  • wgan

    very nice indeed, and the idea is creepy and solid, could extend to a full feature animation, these days it’s so hard to have such a nicely done short with good animation and good story, well done!!

  • Dock Miles

    Wonderfully done. Place must be called Venus Fly Trap Dolls. I loved the way the shop closed the door so calmly and confidently (and cruelly) as trike-boy tried to escape.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/whataboutoddd Ariel

    That was kinda creepy.

    Loved the design though. It’s not too often that I see good design in 3D(*but Pixar artists are an exception usually)

    It’d be nice to have a job in animation, then have time for a side project. Congrats to all involved in this.

  • Blasko

    Me gusta! Wow! It’s rare that a CG short blends a handmade stop motion aesthetic with a frosty gloss of computer camera movement and makes it something new and exciting. Loved it.

  • OtherDan

    Very nice. My playback sucked ass, but I liked very much what I saw.

  • http://cookiebite.blogspot.com Tali

    wonderfully creepy!

  • http://nottipigart.blogspot.com/ Philip Pignotti

    Just perfection, I loved it…. Thank you Rodrigo!!!

  • jared ciron

    wow….it’s horrifying but not to overlook….it’s full of lesson and application….looking forward for some more rodrigo…thanks a lot…..