FLAG METAMORPHOSES - all Flash animations so far
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| Myriam Thyes DE / CH, 2008 |
Armament at Lake Constance (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic) This animation explores the cult of death in Catholic ideology as manifested in numerous images in churches and monasteries around Lake Constance – and the association of this cult with warfare, a link represented locally in the armaments industry at Friedrichshafen. more |
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| Deanna Morse + animation 1 class USA, 2007 | Grand Rapids Sister Cities
This animation celebrates the connection between Grand Rapids (in Michigan, USA), and its five sister cities: Ga District (Ghana), Omihachiman (Japan), Perugia (Italy), Bielsko-Biala (Poland) and Zapopan (Mexico). This piece was created as the first exercise in Animation 1 class at Grand Valley State University, Deanna Morse, instructor, and Kari Smith, Teaching Assistant. Animators: Ghana: Chuck Kovalik, Steve Cain, Jacob Kubon; Japan: Jonathon Havens, Adam Cook, Jolene Flohe; Italy: Kevin Page, Geno Mallo, Elena Sobolic, Cody Flynn; Poland: Andrea Rulewicz, Tricia Kannegieter, Rob Piotrowski, and Jacob Pierzchala; Mexico: Heather McDonough, Mike Harthen, Tim Dailey, and Eric Taylor. Sound design by Deanna Morse (using GarageBand). |
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| Joanna Priestley
USA, 2007 |
Harmonic Convergence (Bulgaria - Mongolia)
This piece was inspired by sound. The traditional choral music of Bulgaria and Mongolia are related through harmonics and musical structure. Bulgaria is represented by a silhouette of the Balkan Mountains, the Queen’s Standard, the Bulgarian Coat of Arms, a country map and the rose, the national symbol. Mongolia is represented by a mandala, the treasured steed from the Coat of Arms, a country map and the elements of the soyombo (national symbol): flame (prosperity), sun, moon, yin yang fish (male and female, reason and wisdom), triangles (death to enemies), horizontal rectangles (honesty and fairness between rulers and the people), vertical rectangles (fortress, strength of friendship). Snowflakes link the two countries. |
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| Myriam Thyes DE / CH, 2006-2007 |
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Caribbean Carnivals (Ghana - Puerto Rico - Congo (Kinshasa) - Antigua & Barbuda - Togo - Trinidad & Tobago - Gambia - Dominica - Gabun - Haiti - Benin - Dominican Rep. - Cape Verde - Barbados - Mali - Saint Vincent & Grenadines - Senegal - Grenada - Cameroon) Caribbean Carnivals and their African roots - flags from west and central Africa, flags from the Caribbean islands, and images with carnival figures. The transition from an African to a Caribbean flag shows pale colours, because white is often the colour for death and mourning in Africa - so was the way for people who were brought as slaves to the Caribbean. The transition from a Caribbean to an African flag shows carnival figures and masks that remind the ritual cultures of Africa. |
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| Irena Paskali
MK, 2007 |
Ex-Yugoslavia
It was a country with different cultures, religions, a lot of symbols and with beautiful, nice songs - mosaics of beauty. One day the symbols started to mix, to become crazy. It falls into a chaos, which is continuing until today. And now we are many countries, many crazy countries - and they call us banana republics. |
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| Amir Scheulen + Frank Köhnen DE, 2007, |
The History of the German Flag
The development of the German flag, from the Burschenschaft (liberal nationalist student fraternity - see 1848) to the flag of the modern Federal Republic of Germany, with historical background: the black-red-and-gold Burschenschaft tunic, the spiked helmet, the Iron Cross, the swastika, the Imperial Eagle, the flags of the Allies / victorious powers of World War II, and the two German flags prior to Reunification - all these stand for their times and symbolise specific periods of Germany's history. |  |
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| Christoph Frei
CH, 2006 |
Bolivia - Japan
Bolivia and Japan are situated on opposite sides of planet earth. On one side: the organic country Bolivia, full of forests, steppes and mountains, with little industry, living mainly from its agriculture and natural gasoline hoard. O the other side: Japan, highly industrialised and automated, on shaky, insecure geological territory. Two countries, antithetic in culture and geography, but partners in symmetry. |
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| Slobodan Tomiæ HR, 2007 |
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Croatia - USA
The ideas of freedom and independence are transformed into a caricature-like mixture of populist ideologies, cheap consumerism and all-pervasive globalization: The Croatian flag is being gradually supplemented by characters from history. They have become interwoven thus creating a game throughout which different ideology types have been in conflict. However, after a revolutionary emerging of the new independent state Croatia, the ideals and traditional values are gradually weakening against a much stronger enemy – the international conformism. |
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| Ajdin Pajevic BiH / DE, 2006 |
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Serbia - Croatia - Bosnia & Herzegovina
The formation of Bosnia & Herzegovina after wars with Serbia and Croatia. First, the breakup of Tito´s Yugoslavia is symbolised by a bleeding Red Star (Petokraka). Then the animation shows the destruction of the old symbols of unity between the different nations living in Bosnia & Herzegovina – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. The terrain of Bosnia serves as a chess board / battlefield for the bloody fightings... |
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| Rona Innes
UK, 2006 |
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India - Scotland
Jute has been grown in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. In 1793, the Bengal Board of Trade sent a jute fibre sample to Great Britain. Starting 1833, jute fibre was spun mechanically in Dundee, Scotland. Dundee had the advantage of locally supplied whale oil to make the jute fibres flexible and a workforce of women experienced in the spinning and weaving of linen. Scotland's jute prosperity was to last for over 100 years, until India developed the capacity to manufacture and process the raw material. Bangladesh is still the largest exporter of raw jute in the world. |
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| Barry L. Roshto
USA / DE, 2006 |
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Cuba - USA: Missile Crisis
The relationship between Cuba and the United States has always been complicated. During the Missile Crisis of 1962, when the Soviet Union began stationing nuclear warheads in Cuba capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, the world came close to nuclear war. Eventually Khrushchev, the soviet prime minister, conceded to withdrawing the warheads in exchange for the promise that the U.S. would not invade Cuba. Unknown at the time, Kennedy also agreed to the removal of U.S. nuclear missiles from Turkey. Both leaders were criticized for showing weakness in this confrontation and suffered political damage for their decision to de-escalate. But, their prudent and level-headed handling of this crisis prevented a world war. |
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| Myriam Thyes
DE / CH, 2006 |
| Brazil - China
Since 1995, the Amazon rain forest has shrunk by 1,7m hectares a year and has been turned into farmland. During the same period, China has lost more than 6m hectares of arable land to cities, factories, roads and deserts. Brazil produces millions of tonnes of soya beans for China: Since 1995, soya bean imports from Brazil to China have increased ten thousand %. The pulses are now by far the most important item on the bilateral balance sheet, 2004 worth more than a third of Brazil's sales volume to Beijing. |
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| Nicola Tauscher
DE / KR, 2006 |
| Korea - Japan
This animation features the beauty of Korea and Korean women - and how especially the women suffered during the Japanese occupation. |
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| Babel
CA, 2006 |
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UK - Barbados
An animation about sugar cane fields and the fight against slavery: Barbados became independent peacefully in 1966 after many centuries of solely British rule; its main crop has been sugar cane for most of this time, and the relationship between the plantation owners and the workers / slaves was a key issue in the island's history. The artist´s mother is from Barbados, and his grandfather worked in plantations to bring his family from Barbados to the UK in the 1960s. |
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| Anke Landschreiber
DE, 2006 |
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Congo - Uganda
I have chosen to work with the flags of Uganda and the Congo (DRC), because both countries hardly know any tourism, and for me they are the heart of the so called "unknown continent". Because I cannot live and verify the reality of these countries, I quote my first big cinema experience – the film featured the gorilla who lives in that region of Africa: King Kong, and the white woman. (A.L.) |
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| Myriam Thyes
DE / CH, 2005 |
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Congo - Belgium
The huge Congo is naturally very rich with rain forest and minerals (copper, diamonds, cobalt, uranium, gold and more). For more than hundred years, this wealth has been exploited (and stolen) by European, North-American and African companies and states (and buyers often pay with weapons). Since the time the Congo was a colony of Belgium, and up to now, the minerals are often brought to the big commerce port of Antwerp. |
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| Barry L. Roshto
USA / DE, 2005 |
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Red and Yellow -
a Historical Review of
the Vietnamese Flag (North and South Vietnam, China, France, USA) The last war in Vietnam with all of its traumatic effect is only a brief episode in the ancient and ongoing struggle of the Vietnamese people. This struggle is evident in the evolution of the Vietnamese flag. Although it has taken on diverse form, borrowed symbolic content from colonial powers and remains a subject of heated debate even today, there is a central thematic thread: red blood and yellow skin. |
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| Myriam Thyes
CH / DE, 2005 |
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Korea - Japan
In this scene I feature the philosphical / religious symbols on the flags: South Korea's flag pictures a red and blue Yin-Yang symbol, surrounded by 4 kwae trigrams from the I Ching. They represent heaven, the earth, water and fire. Japan's flag is white with a red sun disk which symbolizes the Shinto sun-goddess Amaterasu. Japan´s religious culture with its native Shinto beliefs and rituals, includes influences from China and Korea, mainly Buddhism. |
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| Monika Oechsler
UK, 2006 |
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World Cup Fever
The football jumps happily through all the flags of the nations participating in the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2006 - and moves the flag elements in blithely dancing shapes. |
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| Norbert F. Attard
MT, 2005 large file for technical reasons - please wait for loading |
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MetaWarphoses
( Malta - Turkey -
Germany - UK )
Maltese history is the inspiration of Metawarphoses. I based my scenes on two important historical events which took place in Malta during the 16th and the 20th centuries. They helped to save Europe and North Africa from prolonged wars and further destruction. These were the great siege of 1565 against the Turkish Ottoman Empire (when the Order of the Knights of St. John ruled Malta) and the second great siege of Malta that took place during World War II (when Malta was a colony of the British Empire). |
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| Myriam Thyes
DE / CH, 2005 |
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India - Bangladesh
An important historical connection between India and Bangladesh is Calcutta - the former cultural and economical centre of Bengal. - The bicycle rickshaw rides away from the possible confrontation of Hinduism (orange) and Islam (green). - The Dakhineshwar temple in Calcutta is dedicated to the goddess Kali, Calcutta´s “mother”. She transforms into a brick chopper and a rice farmer, while hindi music blends into islamic chanting and bengali folk music. |
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| Peter Chanthanakone
CA, 2005 |
| Laos - Canada
My family fled Laos because of the Communist regime back in 1976. The democratic system was flattened and there were dark times in Laos. Bloodshed brought ethnic cleansing in the eyes of the communists when our family escaped to a safer place. It was like we floated to Canada by accident. (P. Ch.) |
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| Rona Innes
UK, 2005 |
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Mozambique and Malawi (+ Portugal, UK)
Mozambique and Malawi are neighbouring countries in South East Africa. Both countries are lush with vegetation and rich in minerals but have a history of internal conflict. Western settlers arrived in the 15th and 19th century and exploited the resources and minerals. Flooding, drought, poverty and crippling World Bank debts have since made Malawi and Mozambique two of the poorest in the world. This animation aims to show the darker side of history but is only one aspect of Mozambique and Malawi, two countries rich in culture and creativity. |
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| Myriam Thyes
CH / DE, 2005 |
Spain - Mexico
Spain - with its Austrian / Habsburg kings and the help of the Catholic church - invaded Mexico and destroyed a lot of Mexico´s people and culture (leaving huge Maya pyramids among other heritage). Mexico´s native tradition "Dia de los Muertos" (with colourful sugar sculls) may have integrated that historical shock. But the golden eagle still gets the snake - an aztec symbol for the former capital Tenochtitlan (today Mexico City) and the god(esse)s of the indigenous peoples. |
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| Max Pohlenz
DE, 2005 |
| Stars'n'Stripes
Gun Crazy
The stars'n'stripes jet is rushing through the stratosphere and CRASH! - looses some stars in accident. The hunt for the lost stars begins. A journey through sixty years of war history of the United States. |
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| Myriam Thyes
CH / DE, 2005 |
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Switzerland - Germany
The river Rhein doesn´t stay so clean on its way through the countries, from Switzerland to Germany. And on the other hand: (Not only) German tourists bring (clean?) money to Switzerland ... |
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| Jorge Lara Góngora and Israel Reyna Tello
MX, 2005 0:56, stereo |
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Afghanistan and Mexico - a comparison
Afghanistan - one of the first producers of heroin poppies, the first to fight for 10 years against the Russians with stones amd sticks, a society that killed women as a public spectacle; the beauty of its land and people is destroyed by wars and taliban culture, but all of them strongly say: we are afghans. - Mexico - one of the world´s largest cities. The eclectic mixture of ways of thinking, indigeneous, foreigners and urban people all living in a huge city. Fire eaters, charros, revolutionary symbols, "la muerte" (death), popular icons, the zapatistas y Marcos. All of them singing the mexican anthem and all of them strongly saying: we are mexicans. (J.L.) |
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| Myriam Thyes
CH / DE, 2005 |
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EU 2020 ?
The flag of the European Union transforms itself into all the flags of its member countries, from west to east, and then into the flags of future and further possible members. While the EU expands eastwards, the wolves return to the west. But who can tell what the EU will look like in the year 2020? |
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