PETA is sending an Innovation in Film Award to students Zak Boxall and Chris Turner from the University of Hertfordshire for Bertie the Elephant.
Bertie the Elephant
This is a short film made as part of their final year project and shows just what CGI can do to highlight the movement and personalities of creatures without having to use real animals at all.
Boxall and Turner are both 23 and wanted to capture "the beauty and innocence of a living elephant … without the use of a real elephant". And they have done just that.
"Truly creative, forward-thinking directors like these young men know that the future of film lies in technical wizardry and not in beating animals into performing", says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. "PETA is calling on directors and producers throughout the entertainment industry to follow in their progressive footsteps."
Animals who are involved in film and TV production can suffer stress and weakened immune systems from the travel and lack of normality.
They often end up in dirty roadside zoos once their time is over in the entertainment business.
PETA - whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to use for entertainment" -
say that now technology is so sophisticated and there is a greater awareness of what animals have to endure- digital creations are more popular than ever before.
PETA US previously recognised the stunning CGI used in such films as Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes as well as The Jungle Book.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.
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