HBO's Funny Or Die Presents Season II

This one comes to us from VisualCreatures. A montage of retro title screens for HBO's Funny or Die. I love the color, animation, and sound that went into these clips. It can be hard to get that retro feeling to look just right and VisualCreatures captured it well.

Free Music Archive

I think we all know that music plays an integral role in a video.  It creates emotion and drama while setting the mood and pace.  However, if one doesn't have a good composer buddy, and I don't, then we need to find our music elsewhere.  One place I tend to frequent is Free Music Archive.  This site has a lot of independent artists with music to download.  Usage rights differ depending on the artist but it is still a great place to get inspired and find some new tunes for your videos.  One particular artist I came across recently is Cosmic Analog Ensemble.  Their album Navigations Nocturnes has some really wonderful tracks to sync video too. I especially love "Mutatis Mutandis." Check it out!

Miss Cupcake

My girlfriend recently asked me to create a "lady cupcake." This was the result.  Created in Adobe Illustrator.

Photo of the Day - Untitled

Untitled, a photo by darkshapes on Flickr.

Day at the Races

Follow That Blimp                                                                                     fig. 1

Lisa at the Race                                                                                         fig. 2

Drag Race                                                                                                   fig. 3

Elbows to the Fence                                                                                   fig. 4

ICEE Stand                                                                                                 fig. 5

Lisa in the Pit                                                                                             fig. 6

The Crowd                                                                                                  fig. 7

Well I broke my drag racing cherry (see fig. 3), and I must admit I feel like more of a man because of it.  I had a lot of fun this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio drinking beer, smelling gas, and hearing engines all while having my shirt off.  Granted Lisa (see fig. 2, 6) and I never would have made it had it not been for my brilliant idea to follow the Goodyear blimp (see fig. 1) when we got lost.  I may not have a great sense of direction but I can always find my way.

Photo of the Day - NY Streetscapes 374

NY Streetscapes 374, a photo by stevensiegel260 on Flickr.

Photo of the Day - gyros

gyros, a photo by Lisa Stang on Flickr.

This photo was taken of me at the drag races in Norwalk, OH by my girlfriend Lisa Stang. Check out more of her Polaroid work here.

Protest Zapping

A simple idea executed in a fun way. Check out this little animation from Max Moertl and feel free to browse more of his work here.

Bela: L'Homme Chat

This is a wonderful shot film from Paul Trillo that follows the day in the life of a street performer named Bela Erdei or "the cat man." I love the shots, I love the story, I love the color, I love the typography and design (the use of text over close-ups of fabric was an ingenious idea), but above all I love cats.

Team Coco on Final Cut X

So I am sure you have all been hearing about the new Final Cut Pro and how "awesome" it is. Well here are the editors from Conan to tell us a little bit more. Enjoy.

Photo of the Day - Eleonora

Eleonora, a photo by °Giulietta° on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Model: Eleonora Agostini

© Giulia Torra

Terminator 2 Stop Motion

I don't know if there is any way better to celebrate one of the greatest action movie's 20th birthday than an unbelievable stop motion animation.  For the fans of T2, sit back and enjoy this masterpiece by Rymdreglage on Youtube. Also check out some of their other amazing work here.

Recent Photography

 Lisa on beach at East Harbor State Park                                                    fig. 1

Trunk at Wildwood Park Red Trail                                                           fig. 2

Lisa's Back at Wildwood Park Red Trail                                                 fig. 3

Shrubs at Wildwood Park                                                                      fig. 4

Beach at East Harbor State Park                                                                fig. 5

Just developed a roll. Some of the stuff on the beach (see fig. 1, 5) came out a bit over exposed but I like the effect. Also played around with using text and photo (see fig. 4). This is an aesthetic I really enjoy when done well. All photos were taken with a Pentax K1000. Check out more on my flickr here.

Photo of the Day - Nothing is One

Nothing is One, a photo by William's Wish Wellingtons on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Lily (Mamiya RZ67 pro ii) avec Ektar 100

User Submitted

I love seeing new work and searching for great things online. I love even more when great work comes to me.



This is a teaser film from Shaun Pitz for his new animated short film Espresso Manifesto.



This abstract beauty about artistic creation comes to us from The sons of Stan Brakhage.

Keep up the great work guys!

Spike Solutions #2

A really creative and abstract technique from Jacob Niedzwiecki. Check out more of his work here.

"Spike Solutions is an ongoing series of screen tests based on generative compositing techniques.

In this screen test, the video in any zone of the left half is sampled (from that same zone) from the video in the same location on the right half. All the videos start almost in sync, with a slight offset, so you can see movements 'ripple' from the bottom right to the top left in the grid.

As they play, a stochastic (fancy word for 'random') process gradually jumps individual clips forward in time."

Camp Swish

Just a little video I made for the Vimeo Weekend Project while I was camping up at East Harbor with my friends and family. The requirements for this weekend's project were very simple, create a "swish blog". To do this all you have to do is begin and end every clip by moving the camera in an upward motion, pretty fun right? I brought my HD GoPro along which I have been trying to use more. I took the footage into Color to work more on getting that antique look I talked about in a previous post. Hope you enjoy.

Smears, Multiples and Other Animation Gimmicks

Check out this tumblr for examples of smears and multiples. Not only are they a good tool for making your animations have more life, but I think they just look interesting in their own right.

WIM-BLE-DON

All you tennis lovers out there check this out. Great design from Bryancu on Vimeo, I think the elegant approach really compliments the sport of tennis. The lack of visual makes the audience reactions that much more thrilling as well. Check out more of Bryanku's work at his site.

Makoto Shinkai - Neko no Shuukai

I must admit, although it does blow my cover, my affinity for cats and anime is quite great. This little piece just happens to mix the two so I couldn't deprive you of that.

And here is the making of for those who want to dive a little deeper into the technical aspects of animating cats.