2010 Winter Olympics Inuit Animation

YouTube – BBC Sport – 2010 Winter Olympics Inuit Animation.

Stunning animation for the upcoming Winter Olympics commissioned by the BBC and a collaboration with Marc Craste.

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Yin

Yin is an absolutely lovely animation that a friend of a friend created a few years back. The animator is Costa Avgoustinos and his friend provided the score. It was entered for the Australian short film festival Tropfest and went on to win 3rd Prize, People’s Choice and the Young Talent Award in 2004. It was later remixed into a dance track for Ministry of Sound. A rising star?

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j-star 09 : One Dot Zero – Adventures in Motion

I was kicking myself yesterday as I arrived at the BFI and truly understood what an incredible event One Dot Zero had really been. I of course was arriving on the last day and after an hour or so of playing with light graffiti, arduino toys and the Microsoft surface table I realised I’d already missed the film I wanted to see on the art of hand crafted looking media. I settled instead on seeing J-Star which is a showcase of the best in Japanese animation and motion graphic talent. I wasn’t sure what to expect other than a stereotypical notion of cutesy or gaudy characters. I was pleasantly disappointed being treated to some incredibly beautiful, surreal, bizzare, funny and downright disturbing creations. It was well worth the visit and coupled with an incredible fireworks display and circus events for the Thames carnival it ended being a great day out. Here are two of my favourites from the event.

The first is Mood Magic by Hinotori which is a sublime adventure through a dream-scape as a golden bird takes flight through a magical land. It’s hypnotic and surreal. And a beautiful meld of 3D and 2D animation.

The second is With Rain by Takafumi Tsuchiya which is a study of dark and light matter as drops of liquid disperse. It’s described as black poison leaking from a clinical surface. As the doves take flight they invigorate the dark gloomy mass. Gorgeous and sublime.

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8 bit trip

LEGO Stop-Motion Video [VIDEO].

My head hurts thinking about how long this must’ve taken (1500 hours) to make. Some serious dedication and planning went into this piece and the results are well worth it.

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YouTube – Simon’s Cat ‘TV Dinner’

YouTube – Simon’s Cat ‘TV Dinner’.

Happy Monday. Here’s something to cheer you up if you’re sitting at your desk reading this first thing on a Monday morning. Grab your coffee and pastry and pretend that you are opening your emails. This is an animation treat. If you’ve ever had or looked after a cat you’ll relate to this video. It’s genius. Comically timed to perfection…

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Move Your Feet – Junior Senior

A very tongue in cheek music video here for Junior Senior for their song ‘Move Your Feet’. I thought it was worth revisiting this just simply because it reminds me of a simpler Atari fueled time. I actually remember making computer graphics back in the day, things like animated birthday/christmas cards and the like. It was painfully difficult to build these things and an understanding of what a pixel was and what the hell cyan was certainly helped. In the early days you had to build pictures in much the same way as you would build a lego set, slowly and from the ground up. But it sure was fun. And this video harps back to those days. Although I’m sure they used newer tech than the machines I used to use. Removing some of the more modern trappings and setting yourself restrictions in this way can lead to some lovely effects. Look out for the really great dancing robot who’s stuck in a spot light (looks like the youtube thumbnail is set to this image anyway so you’ll easily track him down).

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Crappy cat

Oh I absolutely LOVE this: part flash animation, part game. Check out Crappy Cat using the ‘experience’ section. If you have time, play it until the end as you will be suitably rewarded. Some brilliant character animation really brings this game to life. Its a really fun idea having an interactive story like this. I’ve got to say, something I haven’t seen done before.

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Harvey Milk

There is a lot going on in California at the moment regarding gay rights, as the population is set to vote on Proposition 8 which (if successful) would eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry. It is sad to see what one thinks of as a forward thinking state potentially take such a step back in their civil rights. Many people are opposed to ‘prop 8′ most notably Apple who has recently publicly denounced the measure which is great news. But you have to wonder what a person like Harvey Milk would have to say on all this. A man who was one of the first publicly gay men to be elected to office in the United States and ultimately was assassinated based on his sexual orientation. I’ve included the video below because not only is it a great piece of animated typography but it also serves to remind us of the man he was and the very real need for civil equality in our time.

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Waltz with Bashir

I’m so excited by this movie. Last year we had Persepolis this year it’s Waltz with Bashir. The animated film genre is coming into its own. Blending reportage and rotoscoping techniques this gorgeous feature looks set to be devastating in impact with a seriously deadly soundtrack. A contender for Best Animated Film or Best Foreign Film no doubt. But could this be up there for Best Picture? Alongside Wall-e? It could happen. People are really taking the animated film so much more seriously these days.

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there’s something in the water

Thanks to Jo at work for sending this cool animation round for V Water. I guess this product is new to the UK but I’m definitely used to it from my travels to the US. It is a nice product in itself but the way this is being marketed in the UK is quite interesting. They are going for that low-res hand drawn approach that is so popular these days. The cartoon style is playful, almost child-like. The story is fun. It is a good way to present V water as the product itself is basically water with a few extras thrown in. Tapping into the energy drink market would have been the easiest option but they are aiming towards a market who wants to try something new and different.

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