24fps: An Animation Blog

     For the most part, video game animation has been frowned upon by film and television animation. It was always viewed as a lower-tier in quality. And for the most part, they were right. Video game animation has always been lacking in some crucial ways that ultimately make it look stiff, blocky and sometimes creepy. Unlike film, video games had to make make the jump to the third dimension, it was a forced move. Most consumers saw what was capable in film and television with Toy Story and Reboot, but why weren't they seeing those kind of graphics in their flat, 2D games? Gamers wanted a change, whether the industry was ready for it or not.      When the first mainstream video games came out the audience was floored. Titles like Super Mario 64, Tomb Raider, and Crash Bandicoot exploded into living rooms and the consumer couldn't have been happier. They were finally having the 3D experience they had been waiting for, and the graphics were amazing! Ok, maybe...

     When The Matrix premiered in 1999, no one thought it was going to be a huge hit, least of which, the directors. The Wachowskis believed in their film, and they had some big studio backing, but no one knew what the Matrix was going to blow up to be. So when it was finally released, and changed the filmmaking landscape, the studios wanted a sequel, immediately. Unfortunately, a big-budget film takes a lot of time to produce, and they hadn't really started yet, but they still had some stories up their sleeves, a bunch of little stories actually. They decided to give the fans a little something while waiting for the Matrix sequels, and they thought animation was the perfect way to do it.     The Animatrix is a collection of nine short films that take place in the world of The Matrix. It's not meant to be a sequel, maybe more of a 1.5. It's a deeper dive into the Matrix as it affects others living in it, some aware, others not, and everyone in between. A nd, sin...