Blender Foundation Movies: A structural mission with substance

May 8, 2015

People made these animated short films with completely free software on normal computers.  “Elephants Dream” explores the pathological inner complexities of a human psyche; “Big Buck Bunny” demonstrates a warrior’s gentle spirit in the face of ruthless sociopathy; “Sintel” questions our definition of courage and justice in the face of love and loss; “Tears of Steel” (conspicuously absent from the foundation’s list) is kind of stupid; “Caminandes” humorously critiques the controlling, domesticating violence that civilization perpetrates on the wilderness without and within (see http://www.caminandes.com/ for episode 1).

Supposedly, these movies serve primarily as technology demonstrations — proof of concept that free, open-source software (such as Blender, GIMP and Inkscape, among others) and collaborative projects can compete with commoditized solutions.  Proof that we can behave better toward one-another and still make really cool art.  They accomplish this mission through the production of provocative, entertaining, thoughtful and engaging animated masterpieces.

Enjoy!