James Cunningham
An end of days comedy animation about an amorous cricket and a starving hedgehog who wants to eat the last cricket left in the world.
In an ancient world a warrior and his son are on a quest get a wish from a magic dragon, to fix the son’s stammer but the forest conspires the stop the father. The boy decides to go on alone to face the unknown creatures that await. On his journey he discovers his own inner strength and convinces his father to accept him as he is.
A precocious kitten wants to be a witch's familiar and must pass a test or she will forever be just simple cat, but the witch sees something in the kitten she does not expect.
A father possum reads his kids a story that's an alphabet of the most dangerous animal of all: humans! Inspired by the Edward Gorey classic, a black-comedy for kids and parents alike.
It is not easy to find love, especially if you are falling apart, stinky and a little bloody around the edges. Welcome to Rotting Hill, where the extinction of humanity has led to the rise of a new species - ZOMBIES. Directed by James Cunningham and made by a team of seven Advanced 3D students from Media Design School. The short film took 12 weeks to produce, complete with 22 CGI visual effects shots. Rotting Hill is the collision of two film genres to make a zombie-romcom. It's a love story, with a bit of a twist.
First Contact is a sci-fi comedy which shows why there are so few visits from aliens these days. Two aliens interrogate a sub-contractor who they sent to Earth to handle 'first contact', but things didn't quite go to plan. A hilarious discussion on the appropriate use of probes ensue.
The adage that in a long-term relationship things can get a little like clockwork is given a twist in Time for Change. A simmering spousal feud between two wooden figurines on the town clock of an Austrian village, comes to a head with unexpected results. Lederhosen, accordions, and desire for a young blonde are oiled with a keen sense of black humour.
Poppy is a Performance-Captured CGI drama set on France's western front in World War One. Two New Zealand soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines and are trying to find their way to safety. They find an orphaned baby under it's dead parents in a ditch. One of the men wants to save it, the other does not.
A digitally engineered life form struggles with a belligerant operating system. In a skewed look at human/computer relations a belligerent digital light blinds our hero into desperate measures. The only way to stop the incomprehensible blinding pain is to opt for physical disablement. Meticulously hand-made on Silicon Graphics computers and Alias-Wavefront software.
