QUEST

Table of content

Story: A journey in Quest of Water

In the animation film QUEST, a sand figure leaves the desert in search of water. It wanders through other worlds made of paper, stone and iron, following the sound of dripping water. After overcoming obstacles and dangers the sand puppet manages to reach the water … in a very tragic way.

 

This puppet animation film was made by Tyron Montgomery and me during studies at the Animation Department of the Kassel College of Art.

 

The 11:30 minutes film got the Academy Award (OSCAR©) in 1997 for the Best Short Animation Film of 1996.

 

Watch excerpt of the award ceremony.

Production Process: 15 Frames per Day

The animation was shot frame by frame with an own 35mm ARRI II BV camera and a self-constructed single frame motor.

 

The position of the character, the flying paper, the falling stones and the rotating machines were manipulated and photographed 19.000 times and reviewed by video control.

 

The 12m² sets had to be rebuilt and altered 30 times, the 20m² background was replaced five times by various air brush designs. It took the mostly two-man crew 3/4 of a year to build the “metal” scenery.

 

The production lasted from 1992 to 1996, one year for the story development, two years for set building and shooting and one year for the sound design.

 

The sound was recorded edited and mixed in surround by ourselves with a hard disk recording system on PC, synchronised with a 35mm editing table.

 

 

A “making of”- interview is part of Olivier Cotte’s book: “Secrets of Oscar-winning Animation”. It is available in French, English, Spanish and Japanese.

Recommendations

Certificate: “especially commendable”, German Film Quality Assessment Board (FBW), Germany

www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/quest

Suitable for ages 6+

Voluntary Self-Regulation Organization of the Film Industry (FSK)

The film is offered by various institutions for educational use.

Awards

QUEST was shown at 180 international film festivals and received over 40 awards.

 

“The Award for the Best European Short went to the outstanding German animation film “QUEST”. This film presented a philosophical statement about mankind and its goals, the striving and searching of the human spirit for a personal answer; and it made this topic most accessible to a wide audience by its exceptionally artistic production design, photography, model animation and editing.”

International Film Festival Cork 1996, Irland

OSCAR© – Best Short Animation Film 1996 awarded 1997 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Los Angeles

www.oscars.org 

 

CARTOON D’OR 96, best film of the European Animated Prize Winner Films, awarded by the European Association of Animation Film, Brussels, Belgium

 

Grand Prix for best school film 1997, European First Film Festival of Angers, France

 

GRAND PRIX of the European Short Film Competition 1997, Brussels, Belgium

 

Best Debut Film 1997, World Animation Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA

 

Special Jury Prize 1997, Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, France

 

ALVES COSTA PRIZE, Special Award of the Journalists, International Animation Film Festival Espinho, CINANIMA 96, Portugal

For the intensity, symbolism, for the suspense kept up to the end, for being a different film, for the original idea, and sound effects.

www.cinanima.pt

 

Golden Damby award International Animation EXPO Seoul 1997, Korea

 

Bronze Worldmedal 1997, New York Festival, USA

 

Best European Short Film, International Film Festival Cork 1996, Irland

www.corkfilmfest.org

 

Best Animation 1996, Albany International Short Film Festival, USA

 

Best Animation 1997, MEDIAWAVE, International Festival of Media Arts, Gyor, Hungary

 

Best Animation 1996, Molodist – Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine

 

DON QUIJOTE – Prize of the critics FICC International Short Film Festival of Krakow, Poland

 

CITY OF MELBOURNE AWARD for Best Animation Film 1996, International Film Festival of Melbourne, Australia

www.miff.com.au

 

Grand Prix for Best School Film 1997, International Film Festival Huy, Belgium

 

GOLD HUGO, 1996, Student Animation Category, International Film Festival Chicago, USA

 

Grand Prix 1997, International Film Festival of Environment, “Green Vision“, St. Petersburg

The opinion of the jury was unanimous. They all agreed that it is another level much higher than other films. Though it is a short animated film it poses all features of the big one. The history of a small man pushes us to think about the state of our environment and the responsibility of people to save their environment.

 

Grand Prix International Mountain and Adventure Film Festival Graz 1997, Austria

 

Category Award (10 to 30 min), International Animation Film Festival “Krok”, Kyiv 1997, Ukraine

 

First Audience Prize of the German TV Station – SDR 1996, International Animation Film Festival of Stuttgart, Germany

 

SILVER DANZANTE for the best Animation Film 1996, International Short Film Festival of Huesca, Spain

 

Nominated for the German Short Film Award 1996, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Germany

 

First Audience Prize of the 7 nominated german short films 1996, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Germany

 

ANIMAT’T Award, Sitges International Fantasy Film Festival of Barcelona 1996, Spain

www.sitgesfilmfestival.com

 

First Audience Prize 1996, International Film Celebration of Dresden, Germany

 

Jury Special Award 1996, Festival international du film d’environnement, Rienna, France

 

SECOND PRIZE 1996, International Short Film Festival Drama, Greece

 

Best Animation Film 1996, International Short Film Festival of Hamburg, Germany

 

OEKOMEDIA Award for the Best Artistic Achievement 1996, International Ecological Film Festival of Freiburg

 

Germany Special Prize of the Federal Minister of the Enviroment for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Enviroment Education 1996, Oekomedia, International Ecological Film Festival of Freiburg

 

Special Prize of the National Park Administration “Lower Saxony Mud-flats” 1996, Maritime Film Days of Wilhelmshaven, Germany

 

Laudable Mention of the audience 1996, Maritime Film Days of Wilhelmshaven, Germany

 

Second Prize 1996, Exground on screen, Wiesbaden, Germany

 

Tour Prize of the University Kassel 1996, Germany

 

Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Prize 1996 Wiesbaden, Germany

 

Compilation Best of Ottawa 1996, International Animation Film Festival of Ottawa, Canada

www.animationfestival.ca

 

ZLATKO GRIGIC – Prize for Best Debut Film, International Animation Film Festival Zagreb 1996, Croatia

 

Best Debut Film 1997, Hiroshima – International Animation Film Festival 1996, Japan

 

Special Mention 1997, International Film Festival, Sydney, Australia

 

Certificate of Merit 1997, International Film Festival, San Francisco, USA

 

Best Animation 1997, Algarve – International Film Festival, Portugal

 

Best Animation 1997, Valencia – International Film Festival, Spain

 

Audience Award 1996, Baume & Mercier, Switzerland

Credits

direction, direction of photography, screenplay

TYRON MONTGOMERY

http://tyronmontgomery.de/

 

story, animation, producer

THOMAS STELLMACH

 

music
DER SPYRA

www.derspyra.de

 

story consultant
PROF. PAUL DRIESSEN
www.pdriessen.com

 

puppet makers
NORBERT HOBRECHT
THOMAS STELLMACH

supervising model maker
TYRON MONTGOMERY

 

2nd model maker
THOMAS STELLMACH

assistant model makers
SAID AREFI
GISA BRANDES
MONIKA STELLMACH

 

additional animation
NORBERT HOBRECHT
TYRON MONTGOMERY
MONIKA STELLMACH

 

editing and sound-recording
TYRON MONTOMERY
THOMAS STELLMACH

 

optical printing
OPTICAL EFFECTS METTMANN

 

negative cutter
IRMA K. THEIMER

 

grading
INA-MARIA RUDLOFF

 

laboratory
TAUNUS FILM

 

production, copyright, 1996
THOMAS STELLMACH ANIMATION

Funding and Sponsors

Cultural Film Fund of the Federal State of Hesse
German Federal Film Board FFA
Stadtsparkasse Straubing

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to book this film:

Duration

11:05 minutes

Director

Tyron Montgomery

Producer, Story, Animation

Thomas Stellmach

Production

Thomas Stellmach Animation, 1996

Technique

Stop motion

Film format

mp4 1080p stereo, DCP 2K stereo, 35mm Dolby SR, 16mm mono

Film excerpt

Category
for rent or licensing, Short Film
Tags
animation film, short film