Curt.org.uk Showreel

An intensely inspiring show real from Berlin studio Curt. Sound track by the always great Soulwax as well. Bonus

Watch it at:
http://www.curt.org.uk/

Process Enacted

Nothing but pure stop motion and very very very cool.

Shitdisco - "OK"

Just realised that its over a week since I last made a blog entry. Doh, been enjoying the sun too much. Anyways loving this gem. Thanks to tummy-ache for bringing this to my attention.

For all things Chuck

There so much stuff on the internet about Chuck Norris. Heres something you might not of been aware of about Chuck.

Simpsons Movie

Simpsons is on general release next week I think, but in the mean time the Simpsons movie website captures the essence greatly and theres the ability to put your self into the 2D world of the Simpsons.

http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/

This Film is Not Yet Rated

I watched a really good documentary on the film rating system in the USA. The doco, This Film is Not Yet Rated included some really nice animation interludes to explain points and highlight quotes and statistics. For anyone who is remotely interested in how movies are rated/censored as the doco argues it is well worth a watch if not for the quirky and engaging animations. The above is a screen grab from one animation to show the style but as the doco features mainly on why films are given NC17 (No Children under the age of 17 - sort of an 18 in the UK) the majority of content is perhaps not best for impressionable minors.

Watch a section of animation at (NC17 and 18+ suggested):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDqxuGlxbWc

Sound like no other

I really like the look and feel and the design of the characters in this short animation for Sonys new walkman campaign. I think its a real shame they had to introduce real footage/photographs towards the end - really detracts from the whole animation.

Have a look at it:
http://www.santamaria.tv/sony/0625_SM_red_sony_LO2.mov

Typographics

Typographics is a very cool animation explaining some of the details and termonology behind typography. Very sweet.

Science of Sleep

I finally got round to watching Science of Sleep about a month ago. Its a great movie by Gondry (one of my favourite music video directors and the best in the Work of Director DVD series) it didn't deliver as much as I'd hoped, but I think Eternal Sunshine was too a good a movie to top. Its still a great story and has some great shots in it. What I like most about Gondry's work are the surrealist pieces that take form in hands on crafts and really distinctive animation style. The above images are just some of the amazing creations featured in the move. I really like the typewriter that is typed on by a spiders legs when dictated to by the movies main character. Genius!

Animated Type

I've been looking at quite a bit of motion/animated type this afternoon. Some great pieces some not so great. The above is one of the better. I really like the fluidity of the individual letters and the transitions between white and black type of the different shots.

MK12 - Show reel summer 2006

I feel a bit over stimulated by how amazing this show reel for previously mentioned MK12 is. They have to rate pretty high, personally for me, working in motion graphics.

Stranger Than Fiction

Just read a post over on tummy-ache that reminded me I recently watched Stranger Than Fiction and had forgotten to mention how amazing and inspiring it was.

A great concept for a movie and well delivered but most importantly the motion graphics that were applied on top of the live action were amazing and extremely well executed. I've been told they were done by MK12 - there is some interesting footage on there for pitching stages as well.

If you haven't seen the film, then buy or rent a copy as its well worth it. There are a few samples in the attached video above but there is a nice documentary on the DVD. I'll see if I can find it on YouTube. Enjoy!

Mr. Citymen

I saw this a few weeks ago whilst at work experience. Saw an article on motion tracking that I might give ago at in a couple of weeks which reminded me about it. Seeing the videos on http://www.ericlerner.com/ are far better than on YouTube - they seem to look less realistic than when shown on his website. The animation and character designs are great but I can't help feel that the last 3 of the 5 in the collection lack the pace and vibrancy that the first two do. Not sure if this is because they are a little shorter or they lack as a good soundtrack but still a lot of work has gone into this from someone with talent.

I was having problems with the Mr. Citymen website so here is a list of the five videos on Youtube though they are tagged in a foreign language.

Mr. Citymen (1 of 5)

Mr. Citymen (2 of 5)

Mr. Citymen (3 of 5)

Mr. Citymen (4 of 5)

Mr. Citymen (5 of 5)

Wow

Forget the ghastly song rendition and enjoy the visuals.

Whale boy

Interesting site, insight and discussion on the process behind the work.

Big Yellow

It's nice to see the trend of animation is starting to spill over into mainstream advertising. Saw this on TV last night.

Pixar Zoetrope

This is a great piece of work from Pixar. Not particularly shown to its best ability on this video (I guess it must of been filmed very cautiously). In case you don't get whats happening, a set of models spins very fast and LEDs are flashed to give the impression that the characters are animating - its amazing to see but one that you need to see in person.

There are are few days left to still catch the Pixar exhibition on at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh - its well worth it in my opinion.

There is another video/view of the zoetrope on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x00I5A3A3dA

Logos?

An interesting little animation of their history of Urban Outfitters. Shame this wasn't taken further as it feels like it could of been so much more.
Watch It

The Last Glass

Eat PES

I'm really liking stop frame animation at the mo and came across a piece of work by PES from a while ago. Theres some really good work over at PES and its definatly worth checking out.

http://www.eatpes.com/