Toasted

Exactly how I feel on a Friday afternoon.

Two Great Music Videos - One Animated and One Filmed

I must say that a good music video has always been something I appreciate.  It probably dates back to when I first saw Thriller, or any of Michael Jackson videos for that matter: Bad, Smooth Criminal, etc. Throughout my childhood I continued to watch and treasure good music videos.  I spent my weekdays after school watching MTV's top 10 countdown.  In college I began falling in love with Michel Gondry's work.  Now, in this day and age, finding a good music video, for me personally, is a lot harder.  MTV rarely plays music anymore, and most big name artists do big budget videos that don't really seem to have any rhyme or reason to them.  However, with the internet and Youtube booming, indie bands have gotten a stronger voice. Thus the dawn of a whole new age of amazing indie music videos is upon us.

Below are two very different examples I came across recently that I enjoy.  The first video for C2C's song Delta was created by the masterful animators at CRCR.  The second is for Hanni El Khatib's song Penny and was created by Simon Cahn and Isaac Bauman.

I'm Late...

Sometimes you just need something simple. From Ronda.

IBM Datagrams Showcase

Just a slew of interesting and colorful infographic animations from the lovely people at BUCK. Created for IBM.

Photo of the Moment - Untitled

Untitled, a photo by programmed to rust on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
new gripp

Coin

This animation from EXIT 73 Studios is not only an amazing display of talent and humor, but it's also a wonderful homage to video game history in general. Everything I love all rolled into one.

THE DOODLE PROJECT

Yet another amazing collaboration project. This one comes from the creative people over at podoboo.  These works always seem like so much fun to be apart of.  I hope that one day I can be called in to add something to a project like this.

The Idioms Challenge

I'm not going to spoil this one for you. Just take the challenge for yourself. Animation by Flavor.

Benjamin Phillips

It's been a while since I've posted some illustrations on here.  I've been particularly struck by the crude and strange works of Benjamin Phillips.  There is something interesting about the line work in his morphing piece. Well, that and it kind of reminds me of an Animorphs book cover.

Drink Up - Energy

I'm always amazed at the things BUCK can do with a simple design.  The design of this piece is rather simple; however, the transitions are something else.  I absolutely love when the character dives into the water and it creates a kaleidoscope effect.

The Final Episode of MeanMug 'n Slim

If you had told me I would be making this 2 months ago I wouldn't have believed you. I spent the better part of a 3 year relationship with my ex girlfriend taking inspirations from various things we did and talked about and making a goofy cartoon about it.  I never thought it would have to end.  Much like in my real life, it's very hard to imagine continuing on alone. So much so it almost prevented me from creating the final episode at all. I like to make things that are goofy and funny, so to create something so personal and sad didn't feel right at the time. Initially I went through a phase where I wanted the final episode to be heavy hitting and almost hurtful. Thankfully I got over that phase and moved on to just make something that was funny at my own expense; hitting on the humor surrounding a newly single guy. But as I started developing around that idea, the funny parts slowly became less important and almost seemed like a cheap laugh that was covering the real story behind the whole thing. So I made something that pretty much summed up exactly how I felt being newly alone and dealing with it. I just hope that maybe if someone else is going through the same thing at some point, they can watch this and know they aren't alone in feeling that way, and that there is always a tomorrow.

Nothing too crazy here, just an awesome retro style animation inspiration from Charles Beckman for a new NBC ID.

Inappropriate Flash Mob

This is your basic PSA on Flash Mobs in today's society. I really like the tiny style Yankee Peddler has going here. Just enough of the scene to get the point across.

Robin Davey

Really loving the style and amount of personality Robin Davey has been able to get out of these looping animations he made in partnership with Wired Italia.

Photo of the Moment - Bubble Grandmother

Bubble　Grandmother, a photo by Kazuyuki Kawahara on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Camera:Hasselblad 500C/M
Lens:Carl Zeiss Planar 80/2.8T*
Film:Fuji PRO400

Late Night Work Club presents GHOST STORIES

11 inspiring works from some very amazing animators. I can't say enough how I've been waiting all year for this. And Late Night Work Club delivered. For those that don't know Late Night Work Club is a loose, rotating collective of indie animators. Over the past year they have been working diligently between their day jobs to create short films based on the theme "Ghost Stories." It's great to see 11 very different works of art come out of this theme. At the same time it was also interesting to see how some of them incorporated the idea of technology into their stories. I'll be curious to see how that will come up more and more in horror films in the future.

Enjoy the show.

Films:
00:45 - I Will Miss You by Dave Prosser - (daveprosser.co.uk)
04:46 - The Jump by Charles Huettner - (charleshuettner.tumblr.com/)
07:22 - The American Dream by Sean Buckelew - (seanbuckelew.com/)
09:53 - Mountain Ash by Jake Armstrong & Erin Kilkenny - (jakedraws.tumblr.com/) & (erinkilkenny.com/)
14:29 - Rat Trap by Caleb Wood - (vimeo.com/calebwood)
16:23 - Loose Ends by Louise Bagnall - (elbooga.blogspot.com/)
18:47 - Phantom Limb by Alex Grigg - (alexgrigg.com/)
23:02 - Asshole by Conor Finnegan - (conorfinneganan.tumblr.com/)
25:22 - Ombilda by Ciaran Duffy - (hellociaran.com/)
29:39 - Post Personal by Eamonn O'Neill - (eamonnoneill.ie/)
32:31 - Last Lives by Scott Benson - (bombsfall.com/)