An Unreal Start to Annecy Festival

By Ellison Girod

Starting off the first day in Annecy, we adventured over to the Salle de Création where we got to experience some VR simulations. The ‘VR Works in Competition’ section featured eight different VR experiences. From horror, to reality manipulation, to being kidnapped by a group of Russian scientists, each simulation had its own unique story and visuals to share in quite the immersive way. We personally participated in the story ‘Glimpse’, directed by Benjamin Cleary and Michael O’Conner; “A highly emotive, visual feast set in the imaginative mind of a heartbroken panda called Herbie, who has recently broken up with his deer girlfriend Rice.”

Managing each of the stations were volunteers; kind, helpful, and great for conversation during your wait in case you didn’t have a reservation. They shared their experiences at the festival, the culture of the event, the excitement, and the opportunity that comes with attending. Needless to say, we are thrilled to find out what awaits us in the upcoming week.

“Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse” a preview filled with surprises

By Valentina Toscanelli

It’s the first day of the Annecy Animation Film Festival, and students, professionals and enthusiasts from all around the world can be heard chatting in front of the Bonlieu theater. A long queue stretches at the entrance of the big hall. For hours, people have been standing in line for one of the most sought after events of the festival: Sony Animation’s presentation of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The long awaited sequel to the oscar winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will premier in Summer 2023, as the second installment of a three part series.

In the hall, the excitement is hard to contain. When the three directors, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson take the stage, the crowd erupts in cheers.

Piece by piece, we get to see sneak peaks of the upcoming movie. We are introduced to new characters such as Miguel O’Hara, voiced by Oscar Isaac. An incredibly intimidating version of Spider-Man, Miguel was described by the directors as a “super badass spider” and “Property Damage Spider-Man”. Another character we will see next summer is Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, voiced by Issa Rae. Together with Miguel, she will presumably be chasing villains through the multiverse, all while acting as a mentor to Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and being five months pregnant.

Although her character design deviates from that of the comics, the overall feel of her look is still contained.

As the trio of directors explain, each universe we will visit will have a distinctive visual style, mainly pulling inspiration from the comics. For Gwen’s home dimension, the team tried to emulate the aesthetics of her comic book covers, using color to show her shifting emotions. For this they developed a simulator for watercolor, making New York look like a painting in 3D as well.

The peak of the presentation, however, was being shown two scenes from the film. In one we got to see Gwen’s relationship with her father George and her skills as Spider-Woman, fighting alongside Miguel and Jessica. Meanwhile in the second one, we got a fun scene with Miles and his parents, trying to figure out how to write a good college application.

Overall it is safe to say that we are in for another treat with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. We have great characters, stunning visuals and riveting action to look forward to.

More informations about this subject: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/spider-verse-the-spot-sony-annecy-1235292383/