Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back - Uncut

It's baaaaaaaaaack. You heard it here folks, they are finally doing another uncut version on Star Wars and this time it's for The Empire Strikes Back.  For those of you who aren't familiar, this is a user generated version of the Star Wars movies. You go to their site, Star Wars Uncut, pick your 15 second scene, and then you have 30 days to recreate it in any fashion that you like.  Then when all is said and done the pieces are stitched together to create a completely original and often hilarious masterpiece.  For inspiration check out how A New Hope came out when they did this the first time. Now that so many more people are aware of the project I expect The Empire Strikes Back version to be even better.

Photo of the Moment - Relics of a by-gone era

Relics of a by-gone era, a photo by the robots revenge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Lopud Island, Croatia, August 2012.

Oil Wars

A very powerful and well designed piece from Alexander Perry and Michael Wilson about the inevitability of depleting oil resources. I really respect an animation that can keep the majority of its content at the center of the screen. I've tried to design like this before and it can be extremely difficult, so props to Perry and Wilson. Find out much more here.

Digital Kitchen's Creative Soul

"It's not about the hours you put in, it's that you are seeking out experiences that will come back to your work." Such a great quote from Mark Bashore, Head of Creative at Digital Kitchen. Really love this as a piece that serves as essentially a promotional tool for Digital Kitchen. It doesn't even really talk about what they do specifically at all. You see some computers, and if your watching it I guess we can assume you know a little about who they are and what they do, but what I love is that they truly stuck to talking about creativity.



Also, while perusing Digital Kitchen's website I came across their reel. Another job well done here. I love the risks they take and how they aren't afraid to put it out there. I also love how they call out their different core strengths throughout the video using clever text placement and audio ques.

Flabongo Nation - Live at Mr. Ed's

Last weekend I again had the privilege of filming Flabongo Nation at Mr. Ed's in Port Clinton. There were condoms, super heroes, and fat ballerinas. So a pretty typical show for them.

UNOMORALEZ

An original group of looping .gifs from UNOMORALEZ. There is an uneasy vibe I get from these works that is accentuated by the old computer graphic renderings. It brings me back to the mystery and wonder that computers first had for me as a child. They were so new and different, people didn't know what to expect.

Horfe - Death is Home

This piece is the spawn of collaboration between I Love Dust and Parisian graffiti arsits Horfe. I really love the music and traditional animation style this piece has to it. Reminds me of the cartoons I would watch when I was really young.

Photo of the Moment - 洗衣藍

洗衣藍, a photo by JHIH-明 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
平凡的你，寧靜的你，付出的你，謝謝你。
Brinica S2 - Kodak pro 160

Post-it Gang

post-it gang scan 1, a photo by derek m ballard on Flickr.

Oxfam 'Swap It'

Great characters and sound design are the winning factors in this animation by Agile Films. This piece has a very old school vibe that I am definitely digging on.

LOVE SPORT: LOVE BIG GAME HUNTING

The last of the LOVE SPORT animations, but I had to post this one because I found it exceptional. The backgrounds are a little different in this one in particular. They have a much more painterly, realistic feel that reminds me of old Looney Toons plates. Enjoy!

NEW SHIRT - Jive Turkey

Hadn't made a shirt in a long while and this just randomly popped into my head while driving to work one day. That's usually when I get my best ideas as you can see.  Anyway I submitted this to Threadless just for fun and they didn't even put it up for scoring. Said I needed to get critiqued using their fancy online critique system (where undoubtedly their community would tell me to add more zombies and ninjas) and it wasn't up to their standards. So being both lazy and not lazy at the same time I decided to just print it myself, because I like it just the way it is.

According to Urban Dictionary, a Jive turkey is:
A) One who speaks as though they know what they're talking about...though they do not.
B) a bullshitter.

So if you know someone like that, why not buy them this shirt to passive aggressively let them know? Just visit my store here if you'd like to buy.

IHOP - The Lorax

I know no one is surprised by this but here is the latest and greatest from BUCK. An animation promoting IHOP's Lorax sweepstakes. Basically IHOP is giving out more than just pancakes these days. Entry requires the participant to visit an IHOP and pick up their own tree seeds. Pretty cool initiative, and I must say if the seeds IHOP gave actually transformed me into a tree I'd be even more inclined to participate.

Grey Scale Gorilla 5 Second Project - Command-Z

Yes, once again Grey Scale Gorilla's 5 Second Project is here. They come so rarely that you really have to take the opportunity when they come around. This project's theme is Command-Z, and anyone who has ever worked on anything has used this function before. What would the world be like if we couldn't undo?

Savage Chickens

Came across a brilliant little comic series from Doug Savage. The series is done completely on sticky notes.  I find I do most of my thinking on sticky notes as well, it's just simple. What's great about this comic is that the sticky note only allows for so much, so it lends itself to quick to the point humor, which I appreciate.

Dance

Just a fun little loop from Anne Lou. Really like the characters and colors of this piece.

Micromachines (2012)

Love the style of this animation from Nicolas Ménard, the opening segment reminds me of things I used to draw on text books in grade school.

House of the Rising Sun

Slick little animation from Fernando Asenjo set to the song House of the Rising Sun.

Photo of the Moment - We swam in the Northern Atlantic Ocean

We swam in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a photo by david barclay on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The water circulates the entire bay, slowly warming, making a swim possible by the time it reaches the north-western shore.

Hugo Moreno

Hugo Moreno has some seriously inspiring work, and what I love most is that he gives us a behind the scenes look at his process. I always love when you get a chance to see the behind the scenes of someone's work. You can really learn a lot just by watching sometimes. This first piece, Grand Central, is a beautifully rendered story abdout a trip across a megacity's streets. I love the style and subtle actions of the people in the city. The whole piece feels very alive.





Hugo is also working on another short called ECLIPSE that should be on Youtube within the next month. I have a huge affinity for space stuff so this looks like it will be right up my alley.

Olly Knights: If not now when

A wonderful little teaser from Philip Bloom for the upcoming documentary about musician Olly Knights and his attempt to break his writer's block through various means.  What I've found synonymous with people's individual success was their ability to put their whole self into their work.  When you create something for yourself it makes things more personal and relatable for everyone involved and naturally makes the work that much more interesting.

Photo of the Moment - Untitled

Untitled, a photo by Phil Kneen(www.philkneen.com) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Fuji Instax 200

See more images here - philkneen.wordpress.com/

Alternative Rugby Commentary: 2012 Tour

I love the retro gaming style of this piece from Fraser Davidson, the same man who brought you Bill Maher's - Irritable Bowl Syndrome. One of my favorite parts in this piece is the bounce his rugby characters have. Each guy seems to have his own individual stance and personality.


Alternative Rugby Commentary: 2012 Tour from Fraser Davidson on Vimeo.

I ♥ Camping App / Promo

Some good ol' fashioned feel good animation from monologue for the I ♥ Camping App. Illustration was provided by George Zestanakis. It can be hard to keep things simple sometimes but I'm glad they managed to for this piece.

Vh1 FILLER / SEPARADOR "KARATE KID"

I'd love to try and make one of these one day, I always think they are pretty interesting. This one has the added bonus of being Karate Kid themed.