Virtual Barber Shop
I love this binaural recording of a Virtual Barber Shop. You need headphones for this to work but the effect is incredibly spooky.
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Sehsucht – Mercedes ‘Words’
Loving this work by Sehsucht who is now being managed by Rokkit – a stunning car journey through a soundscape of words in magnificent monochrome. It’s well worth a watch in higher quality so go to the Rokkit site for a better version than the dodgy youtube quality one I found here.
in Bb 2.0
A virtual symphony of youtube clips all in Bb
in Bb 2.0 is a project I saw demo-ing at One Dot Zero where youtube is used as a base for sourcing clips that play instruments in Bb major. The creator made some clips himself followed by recruiting others to create more. The collaborative effort is presented here in mosaic form and you are able to play any clip you fancy thus being in control of a virtual symphony. Great idea.
David Braben talk at BAFTA
Elite
Had the opportunity (thanks Paul) to go to BAFTA last night to watch a talk by David Braben the author of the classic space trading game Elite. It was fascinating to watch this man who at the age of 18 had broken the mold of traditional home computing games that up to that point had very much followed the three minute coin drop mentality where you needed three lives and got an extra at 10,000 points. Watching this animated fellow talk you can see the passion he has for games as he talked about creating such a time defining game as Elite. It was unique in many ways. It was the first proper 3D game for a home machine. It allowed you to explore a vast universe. It allowed you to carry out missions in whatever manner you preferred with no particular narrative dictating your moves.
Braben went on from this to create his own gaming company called Frontier Developments that now employs over 200 people and creates games for many platforms.
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.
Derren Brown Zombie Video Arcade Game Hypnotism
In preparation of tonight’s Derren Brown lottery prediction reveal here is a classic from the Brown vault. Classic stuff.
DIX
**SHAME VIDEO HAS JUST BEEN TAKEN DOWN**
Really enjoyed watching this short today.DIX. A film about obsessive compulsive disorders and their treatment with a lovely bit of CG work from The Mill. Weirdly I can remember being about ten years old and having a similar compulsion although mine involved an imaginary piece of string extending from my back and it was my mission to never let the string entangle itself. Glad I grew out of that one. Would’ve been quite exhausting I reckon.
iPod nano – now with video
The biggest news of the day is the launch of a slew of new Apple music related releases. Most notable for me is the launch of the iPod nano with video. It is great to see this entry level device come with a relatively decent video camera, although it is worth noting that the device can only take video and not stills. Their website shows some decent efforts of short video clips taken with the nano and it will be great to have this ability in such a small device. It is actually quite attractive being so ultra portable and with the built in pedometer and smart radio tuner. What is sad is that Apple, in their infinite wisdom, has failed to add a camera to their iPod touch range. This will come as a blow for those who want an internet enabled device capable of accessing the app store but with the ability to shoot stills and video clips. I’m sure this comes down to a want not to cannibalize their other markets but really as the products are so different this isn’t a great excuse.
“Flickermood”
A sumptuous exploration of type set to a wonky track by Forss. This is some serious After Effects dedication and I’m loving all the detail that has gone into it including the scratchy, flickery film look. Timed to absolute perfection this goes a long way to prove that it is always better to have your audio track before you start animating. Love the way the type flicks out to a negative on certain beats.
My new look blog
Well here is my lovely new blog look. I was swayed by a theme and I thought I’d give the new 2.8.4 wordpress install a go. Sorry to say that the theme needs a bit of work my end to prettify it so bare with me while I get things sorted. I hope it will all be looking great again soon.
