I wanted to give some time to the advancements that Director Saschka Unseld has brought to the Pixar films of the past and the future. I have made it a form of ritual to take my daughter Oates to the opening of every Disney, Pixar, and Laika film since she's been of age. I always enjoy sneaking in a two bags of Cherry Jelly-Belly's, a bag of Pirate Booty, and two cans of Classic Coke (a treat my wife allows me only at the movies); as a method of creating those small remember when memories with her and now her sister Groceries. The moments my father created with me is exactly why I first fell in love with going to the cinema. Entering into that dark room allows one to leave behind reality and engage in segmented ideals.

Saschka has since moved on from Pixar and is now Creative Director for Oculus Story Studio's VR Filmmaking efforts.

In the beginning there were moving pictures. Then came sound, color, CGI. See the beginning of a new evolution in cinema with Oculus.

Future of Storytelling Speaker: Saschka Unseld Creative Director, Oculus Story Studio In virtual reality, you are at the center of every story. Saschka Unseld, head of Oculus Story Studio, wants to keep you there, experiencing virtual worlds directly, with characters who interact with you in real time.

Which bring me to this post about The Future of Storytelling, and it's importance in pushing the medium forward. Looking back on the past five films from Pixar starting with Cars 2 to the present, I've seen significant improvements in the look of the films. With each review of a film or short there's always something new visually I notice, from the way in which the studio has used technological advancements to heighten the narrative. There's a huge amount we could discuss here, so I"ll direct readers to a 2015 SIGGRAPH Tech Paper entitled Art and Technology at Pixar, from Toy Story to today .

I first noticed Saschka's work back in 2011 on his non-removed Vimeo page, after looking at the end credits of Toy Story 3; a practice I've used in making connections( more on this in a future post). At that time he was posting tests, commercials, photography, and short films. One of those short films/tests was entitled Umbrellas; which I feel leads right into The Blue Umbrella.

An animation that I did just for fun a few years back that then, slowly, evolved into the story of The Blue Umbrella.

The reason why I'm starting this series off with Saschka is I recently re-discovered a post on the Making of the Blue Umbrella, in the form of a calendar. I find that reviewing it has fits nicely into what I'm testing out with my senior film/group project. Here are just a few gems from this innovative way of giving views a look into how the short was made. I would love everyone on the team to review this before the project begins in September.

As a bonus there's a great write up by Collider with Director Saschka Unseld. There, he talked about the short film’s photo-realistic animation, his experience working on previous animated films, writing a happy ending versus having an “arthouse film” ending, his cinematic influences, the importance of music in the piece and more. Hit the jump for the full interview.