Flags and Waves is a 13-second American short computer animation test clip which was created by animator Bill Reeves and Alain Fournier for Pixar sometime in 1986.[1][2][3] The clip included waves reflecting a sunset and lapping against the shore.[1] Reeves and Fournier made the project with the feedback of John Lasseter to work out details of rendering water and waves realistically, including lighting, motion, and shading.[1][2]
It was first exhibited at SIGGRAPHinDallas in August 1986,[4] along with Lasseter’s landmark computer-animated short Luxo Jr. and another test project Beach Chair, by Eben Ostby.[1] The methods developed during the creation of this project were the basis of the water in Finding Nemo.[1][2] It is based on an oceanographic model of ocean waves which Fournier dug out of the literature from the nineteenth century.
The thirteen-second short begins with the title Flags and Waves and under it the title in French, Drapeaux et Vagues, superimposed on the SMPTE color bars while a high-pitch frequency sound is made. The bars are revealed to be a flag that is flapping in the wind, as the noise shifts to the sound of a calm beachside. The camera then pans up to show three more flags flapping in front of a beach as the bright sun appears to be setting.
