''Flags and Waves'' is a short

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

test clip which was created by animator

Bill Reeves William Reeves (22 June 1875 – 22 March 1944) was an English cricketer, who at the conclusion of his playing career became an umpire, officiating in five Test Matches. According to Dudley Carew he was "the Sam Weller of umpires, quick of re ...

and

Alain Fournier Alain Fournier (1943–2000) was a computer graphics researcher. Biography Alain Fournier was born on November 5, 1943, in Lyon, France. He was married twice, first to Beverly Bickle (married 1968, divorced 1984) and later to Adrienne Drobnies ...

for

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

sometime in 1986. 2009

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Hous ...

edition: , p. 91
Excerpt available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. The clip included waves reflecting a sunset and lapping against the shore. Reeves and Fournier made the project with the feedback of

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...

to work out details of rendering water and waves realistically, including lighting, motion, and shading. It was first exhibited at

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in August 1986, along with Lasseter’s landmark computer animated short ''

Luxo Jr. ''Luxo Jr.'' is a 1986 American computer-animated short film produced and released by Pixar. Written and directed by John Lasseter, the two-minute short film revolves around one larger and one smaller desk lamp. The larger lamp, named Luxo Sr. ...

'' and another test project ''

Beach Chair Beach chair means "chair on the beach" and can refer to: * Deckchair, a portable folding chair used at deck or on the beach. * Strandkorb, a special hooded windbreak seating furniture used at vacation and seaside resort A seaside resort is a resor ...

'', by

Eben Ostby Eben Fiske Ostby (born February 24, 1955) is a pioneer computer graphics software developer, animator, and technical director for motion pictures. Ostby was born in Hampton, Connecticut, United States. He graduated from Pomfret School and Vassar ...

. The methods developed during the creation of this project were the basis of the water in ''

Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was writ ...

''. It is based on an

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

model of ocean waves which Fournier dug out of the literature from the nineteenth century. ''Flags and Waves'' can also be found as an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

in the '' Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume 1'' which was released in November 2007.

Content

The fourteen-second short begins with the title ''Flags and Waves'' and under it the title in French, ''Drapeaux et Vagues'', superimposed on the

SMPTE The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

color bars while a high-pitch frequency sound is made. The bars are revealed to be a flag that is flapping in the wind, as the noise shifts to the sound of a calm beachside. The camera then pans up to show three more flags flapping in front of a beach as the bright sun appears to be setting.

References

External links

''Flags and Waves''
on YouTube 1986 films Pixar short films 1986 short films 1980s American animated films 1986 computer-animated films American animated short films Animated films without speech {{short-animation-film-stub