This smouldering short from Spain's PrimerFrame Academy has just picked up one of that country's national awards, known as Goyas. It's one of several awards to go to the 3D animation - and for good reason.
The short, created in 3ds Max, centres around a travelling "smoke seller" (the English meaning of the film’s title) who entrances local residents with his magical smoke where he transform objects at will. However as you would expect not all is as it seems…
This is not the first time PrimerFrame has impressed with its professional 3D work - previous short Friendsheep (about a wolf trying to work in an office full of sheep) also won numerous awards for its entertaining and humorous story.
Student/teacher relationship
These shorts are created in quite an unusual way: Jamie Maestro - who is an industry veteran and now a 3D animation professor - directs while his whole class collaborates on producing the film. It's a great way to balance the enthusiasm and fresh ideas of the young with the technical skill and experience overview of the veteran.
Other credits go to Aitor Blacksmith as art director, Eduardo Oilden as animation supervisor, Raul Colomer as FX supervisor, and the captivating music from Twelve Dolls (Alex Ferrer, Alex Visiedo and Pau Paredes).
Words: Alex Williamson
Alex Williamson is an art and design student in London, who blogs about design, art and illustration. Follow him on Twitter.
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