As if animation wasn’t tough enough, DreamWorks Animation, along with HP, and AMD, dreamed up and sponsored FJORG! (pronounced FORGE) at the 2007 Siggraph conference, in which sixteen pre-qualified three-member teams were challenged to create a character-driven animated sequence (of at least 15 seconds in length) based on a specific theme provided by the judges, during a 32-hour competition held before a live audience, as they compete for the coveted title of “FJORG! Champion, SIGGRAPH 2007”. The teams were not only tested on their animation skills, but must also had to withstand multiple staged distractions in a test of skill, talent, creativity, and passion for the art form. With support from a variety of vendors, the animatiors had Wacom tablets, the entire Adobe CS3 suite, and Autodesk Maya to work with. In this interview with Patricia Beckman of Dreamworks, we discuss how she came up with the idea, and what riches and glory await the winners of FJORG! Recorded at the Siggraph/ACM Conference in San Diego, California, in August 2007 by Harris Fogel. Posted 12/22/2007 (9:10)
 
For more information on Dreamworks visit: www.dreamworksanimation.com

For more information on FJORD! visit: www.fjord.org

For more information FJORD! at Siggraph visit: www.siggraph.org

Photographs by Harris Fogel 2007