Grzegorz Jonkajtys has already contributed as a visual effects artist for films such as Sin City, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Blade III, Iron Man 2, and Star Trek, to name few. Ark, Jonkajtys’ animation short, is an excellent representation of the level of skill and creativity that first led him inside of the Hollywood productions. Nominated for the Golden Palm for Best Short Film at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the winner of the main prize at the 2007 SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, the short takes us to the time when an unknown virus has led almost the entire human population to extinction leaving the few survivors to flee on ships in search of safe new land. Simply another classic creation.
Littly shy of 8 minutes, Ark begins with a very memorable quote from Macbeth and a short introduction to the storyline of the film:
An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land. So begins the exodus, led by one man…
And so we are introduced to the main character of the story, possibly a scientist searching for a cure, who soon finds that he himself is infected with the virus. After taking some time to come to terms with his destiny, the man decides to take his own life as a means to protect the rest of the ship’s inhabitants. He takes a gun and sets off on his last journey through the ship’s corridors in order to reach the deck. He takes one last look at the world around and places the gun to his head, but just as the he is ready to pull the trigger someone else appears beside him.
The inspiration for the movie came after Jonkajtys’ visit to Rome. It was there, where during his walk through the ancient catacombs situated beneath the Appian Way, Jonkajtys had his first impulse to think about the new screenplay. And soon the images of the immense underground tunnels filled with burial shelves and the vertical tiers of rectangular tombs became the key inspiration behind the ARK‘s interior.
The film, which took nearly two and a half years to complete, was created using hand made models photographed with Nikon D70s, Motion Control for traveling shots, and 3D software needed to add the digitally enhanced characters and other elements to the ‘photographed’ material.
Related Links:
Grzegorz Jonkajtys Website
ARK on IMDB
ARK on Vimeo