Fight!

There are so many things to love about this animation from Marc James Roels. The music, the composition, and the style of the characters. But above all else I love how they made such a light and soft material look as though it carries massive weight. The shot of the two characters falling through air makes my eyes light up.

Adventure Time Title in LEGO

Enough said. Created by Screen Novelties.

Handymartian's Illustrated Aliens

Happened upon this brilliant project from Andy Martin called 'Handymartian's Illustrated Aliens'. You can follow the progress of his project here.  He uploads a new alien illustration every day, building up to a monthly illustration of their planet.  I love how each world he creates is unique and explores a different topic.  He's up to 6 unique planets at this point,  I love them all but I'd have to say my favorite is the Planet 4.

Gap Kids - Shine On Saturdays

Fun and colorful stop motion advertisement from Hattie Newman for Gap Kids new event, Shine On Saturdays.

Micro Mayhem!

Probably one of the best stop motion pieces I have seen and this one comes from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.  I love how inventive they were in the process.  The dust kick ups, the sparks flying, the cop car that hangs in the air for just a few extra moments.  Kept me entertained the whole way through, and I'm sure you'll love the process shots at the end.

"HOW TO TIE A BOW TIE" by The Hill-Side

After watching this amazing stop motion tutorial from The Hill-Side I still don't think I could tie my own bow tie....but that's more my fault than their's. However, I'm truly convinced all step-by-step instructions should be done through stop motion now.

McDonalds 'McBites' - Little World

Blink brings us an awesome little ad for McDonalds and their new menu item, McBites. I guarantee it won't be too long before I find myself on a late night making a pilgrimage to McE Dee's for some of these tiny morsels. I really love how they made the art look like real pen marks. Normally you would just make the stroke blue or black to match the ink, but these guys went the extra mile and made it look like the ink is actually pressed into the paper, much like a real pen line would be. Bravo!

Live Action Toy Story

I thought I would share something a little more lighthearted and fun for a dreary Monday post.  The original Toy Story is and probably always will be my favorite Pixar film.  I don't know if it was the magic brimming from Pixar's first full length film or if it was the age that I saw it, but this film will always hold a place in the "childhood memories" section of my heart.  Similar to Star Wars Uncut, Toy Story has been recreated by fans using stop motion animation and real toys from the movie.  What I love about projects like this is that it's almost exactly opposite of what the original creators were going for in terms of production - it's not perfect by any means.  Yet, at the same time it's almost exactly what Pixar was going for in terms of emotion - something people can watch that will make them smile and laugh. So without further adieu, here is Live Action Toy Story.

The Shins : The Rifle's Spiral

A stunning compositional masterpiece from Jamie Caliri and his team for The Shins new track, The Rifle's Spiral. They shot this with a Canon 7D, 5D, and 60D and used Dragonframe to help with the animation. For moving shots they used a rig called the Volo by ARC Motion Control.