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PROVO — A short film produced by BYU animation students that won a student Emmy has gone viral after being re-released online, nearly a year after it first won the award.
DreamGiver, a six-minute film directed by Brigham Young University student Tyler Carter, tells the story of a creature, winged and spindly legged, that delivers dreams to children in an orphanage. When one dream morphs into a nightmare, the creature tries to fix its mistake.
The movie's mix of 3D and 2D animation was groundbreaking, according to Carter.
"I wanted to create two different worlds in the film and I wanted there to be a distinct difference," he said in a release. "It was extremely difficult to do it but ended up looking really nice."
The film, a collaboration between BYU animation, illustration and computer science students and illustration and theater and media arts faculty, won the student Emmy at the College Television Awards in April 2011. It was re- released on Vimeo last week and quickly went viral, reaching more than 72,500 views in seven days.
It even reached international audiences, being reblogged on Spanish and Italian websites, where commenters offered their compliments
Commenters on Vimeo described the film as "magical," "gorgeous" and "wonderful."
"I felt like I was watching something Dream Works had produced," one commenter said.
"A truthfully wonderful blend of 2D and 3D animation," another said. "Great work. Simply amazing!"
Carter, who is now working as a visual development artist at Blue Sky Studios, said he is not surprised the short has gone viral.
"People appreciate quality work and recognize DreamGiver's level of draftmanship," he said Thursday. "There was so much heart put into that film that it's tough for someone to not feel some of that fire when watching. When you feel that, you want to share it with your friends."
Carter said most rewarding about the experience was seeing his team recognized for the work they put into the film.
"That's the best part for me," he said. "There is nothing like seeing your team succeed; they're moving on to bigger and better things."
As is the film itself; it was recently nominated for a Vimeo film award. The award festival will be held June 7-9 in New York City.
