文/石昌杰
近年來，個人以動畫導演與教育學者的身分，參加了幾場大陸舉辦的獨立動畫論壇和動畫高教論壇；從其中幾場創作者登台的發表會上，個人親自目睹了大陸地區蓬勃發展的動畫創作風氣及其傑出成果!心中不免驚嘆，台灣從一九八○年代起逐漸發芽茁壯的動畫獨立創作風潮，目前正面臨著尷尬的瓶頸，大陸卻彷彿旭日東升，整軍待發!
於是，今年初接受台北數位藝術中心的邀請，擔任2012台北數位藝術節的執行委員時，個人立即與歷年來為本活動「魔幻動畫展」策展的陳怡菁取得共識，決定將往年「台灣動畫精選」單元，擴大節目內容為「華人動畫短片精選」，試圖創造兩岸之間及海外華人動畫觀摩交流的平台!
從大環境來看，個人認為兩岸動畫短片創作者的共同背景，可以說是受恵於全球化之下的訊息交流與兩岸動畫教育的普及；本屆放映片單的創作者，許多身分都是畢業製作的學生，分別來自於台灣的台藝大、南藝大、北藝大、實踐等學校，或者大陸的中國傳媒大學、中國美院等學校，具體展現了動畫教育的成果。
很多人會認為學生作品，大都是著重創意，技術不成熟，又或者不夠商業化；從台灣的《殺人犯》與大陸的《紀念日快樂》等作品來看，這樣的成見應該休已!或許，大家應該發問的是，為什麼兩岸皆有媲美業界的動畫人才，卻尚未出現令人眼睛一亮的動畫長片成績？
本單元除了呈現年輕動畫創作者的活力與才華之外，另外想介紹給大眾的是，近年來，已脫離學生身分，卻依然堅持以獨立製片精神、小製作團隊、低預算方式進行創作的動畫導演；台灣的史明輝、謝文明，大陸的皮三、劉健、雷磊等人，皆是值得期待的動畫導演。其中，史明輝與劉健正各自在進行動畫長片的製作；從他們的參展短片，可以一窺作者風格!
《馬拉自在》、《On the Water》、《冬至》、《孟姜女》、《貴妃醉酒》等作品在美術風格表現上，都相當搶眼優異!《鄉蟲》、《無常》、《佛洛伊德，蝴蝶，魚》、《迷途》等作品，則以不同於流俗的美學風格與敘事手法，呈現了動畫藝術創作上的另一種可能，並展現了創作上的真誠與勇氣!
此外，少數幾部來自海外華人與旅外華人的作品，由加拿大國家電影局(NFB)及法國瘋影動畫工作室(Folimage)出資製作，更展示了不同於兩岸之間的創作思惟!《Requiem for Romance》以音畫分離的創意手法，處理了男女之間對於愛情的歧見；《Jaime lo small and shy》 則描繪了Jaime lo對於遠赴香港工作的父親，一片童稚純真的思念，兩部短片罕見地碰觸了當代人的心情寫照，可以說是華人動畫可以碰觸卻鮮少碰觸的題材內容!
整體而言，華人動畫短片正以獨立之姿，展現驚人的創作技藝與情感!令人期待與欣喜!
In recent years, as an animation director and educator, I participated several independent animation forum and college level animation seminars in mainland China. Among the launch receptions with animation artists standing on stages, I have personally witnessed the thriving development of animation works and the achievements they have made. I could not stop gasping that the independent animation trend once was sprouting in 1980s is currently facing an awkward bottleneck, and mainland China on the other hand is on its rising, ready to go.
Therefore, at the beginning of this year, I accepted the invitation from the Taipei Digital Art Center to be the in the committee of the Digital Art Festival Taipei 2012. Immediately, the curator of the animation exhibition, “AnimA” since its start in the the festival Yi-ching Chen (陳怡菁) and I came to an agreement to expand the exhibition of the “Taiwan Animation Highlights” held in the past into “Chinese Animation Film Collection.” This could serve as a platform for Chinese from China and Taiwan, and from other overseas places to share their thoughts.
Looking from a bigger picture, I believe that there is a common background for the animation artists from both Taiwan and mainland China, which is that they were all benefited from the information flow under the globalization and the availability of animation education across the Taiwan straight. The artists of this year’s roaster, many of them put out their graduation productions from colleges in Taiwan including National Taiwan University of Arts, Tainan National University of the Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Shih Chien University, etc, or from China including Communication University of China, China Academy of Arts and others to demonstrate the ripped fruits of animation education.
Many would have the perception that students’ works were mostly overly creative but amateur in techniques, or not commercial enough. By watching “Murderer” (殺人犯) from Taiwan, and “Happy Anniversary” (紀念日快樂) from China and other works, this prejudice is at rest. Perhaps, the question should be why both Taiwan and mainland China have world class animation artists, but have not yet produced a list of mesmerizing feature animation films?
This section provides not only the energy and talent of young animation artists, but it also attempts to introduce those who shed student identity for a while, and still devote themselves as animation filmmaker who maintain the independent filming spirit, small production team and low budget. Jack Shih (史明輝) and Joe Hsieh (謝文明) from Taiwan, and Skin 3 (皮三), Liu Jian (劉健), Lei Lei (雷磊) from mainland China are animation filmmakers who are expected highly. Among them, Jack Shih and Liu Jian are working on their own feature animation films separately. From what they submitted for this section, we can have a taste of their styles.
“Family Reunion” (馬拉自在), “On the Water,” “the Winter Solstice” (冬至), “Weeping over the Great Wall” (孟姜女) and “The Banquet of the Concubine” (貴妃醉酒) are very strong on visual impact. “The Metamorphosis” (鄉蟲), “Life is Unpredictable” (無常), “Freud, Fish and Butterfly” (佛洛伊德，蝴蝶，魚) and “Cold Heart” (迷途) present something above ordinary aesthetic tastes and narratives, and demonstrate another possibility in animation art. The honesty and courage of art creating also are shown from them.
Further more, few films came from overseas Chinese and traveling Chinese artists sponsored by National Film Board of Canada and Le studio d'animation Folimage of France. They show a different creative perspective aside from artists from Taiwan and mainland China. “Requiem for Romance” has sound and picture separated to deal with the different ideas on love between men and women. “Jaime Lo, Small and Shy” portrays Jaime Lo whose father went away to work in Hong Kong misses his father greatly with his tender age mind. Two short films both touched the contemporary family longing feelings, which is rarely depicted in Chinese animation today although it is a widely acceptable subject. Overall, Chinese animation shorts still heavily depend on the independent spirit, and exhibit shocking technical abilities and emotions. A exciting future is to be expected for sure.
