FILM REVIEW : ‘Theatre’ Shows Good, Bad of Computer Animation

ANAHEIM —  “Electronic Theatre,” a two-hour program that’s being shown at the Anaheim Convention Center for the SIGGRAPH computer animation trade show, showcases the strengths and, inadvertently, the weaknesses of this newest entertainment technology.

Happily, the flying metallic TV network logos that defined computer graphics for most viewers during the ‘80s have given way to more interesting effects--smoke, flames, water, light and intricately textured and patterned surfaces. The often astonishingly realistic results can be striking when used to support an interesting idea.

Three disparate films reveal the power of computer-generated imagery as a teaching tool. In “Project MATHEMATICS!” (U.S.), James Blinn uses simple, two-dimensional figures to illustrate geometric relationships that seldom seem clear in high school math classes. “Air on the Dirac Strings” (U.S.) from the University of Illinois at Chicago demonstrates an arcane principle of quantum mechanics that anyone but a physicist would have trouble grasping.

“Young Indiana Jones and the Scandals of 1920” (U.S.) uses footage from the Lucasfilm TV series to show how technology can turn a few dancers into a complex Busby Berkeley routine.

In the striking “Legacy” (U.S.), Darrin Butts brings motion to a horse copied from the Cro-Magnon cave paintings at Altamira and Lescaux. Unfortunately, most of the films that strive for this degree of artistic purity fall short. Taiyo Kikaku explores a minimalist aesthetic in “Stripe Box” (Japan), but the results suggest an OpArt piece about 20 years out of date.

The flashiest films often juxtapose technical legerdemain with an intellectual void. This eye candy can be fun in small doses, but it soon cloys, leaving the viewer wondering why such sophisticated technology is being wasted on video games and simulated roller coaster rides. (Wayne Little pokes fun at this syndrome in “The Dangers of Glitziness and Other Visualization Faux Pas” (U.S.), a droll inside joke.)

Of the works in “Electronic Theater,” many of them excerpts of longer works, only “Gas Planet” (U.S.), a comedy from Pacific Data Images, works as a film, with recognizable characters and a beginning, middle and end.

* “Electronic Theater,” tonight at 7:30 at Anaheim Convention Center; a limited number of tickets available. Call (714) 490-2132 for information and prices.