Saturday, September 29, 2012

Star Wars Uncut - Landing at Bespin


I finally completed my first Star Wars Uncut: The Empire Strikes Back scene, and with only about one day to spare. I went through a few up and downs with this piece but I think in the end I came out with something I'm pretty proud of. I'd say the most challenging thing was making the ship look convincing in 2D without doing frame by frame animation. What I love about doing a reproduction like this is that it really makes you appreciate the little things that go into the scene. Things people probably won't even notice in my scene. A plane in the distance, a shadow falling across the ship, etc. I'd say the other thing I had fun doing was trying to push the color of the scene to make it a bit more dramatic.

Here is the original scene I was working from.


 I've added a few pictures of the backgrounds I used. For the fly by shots I overlayed images in sequence to make the entire pan in one shot.




Friday, September 28, 2012

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 349


Scene 349 from Joshua Lightle on Vimeo.

End of ze World

This is one of the first flash animations I saw. I've always wanted to try my hand at it. If I do it will look elementary like this one!

Grizzly Bear "Yet Again"

A very well composed music video for Grizzly Bear's new song "Yet Again" by Emily Kai Bock. After watching a music video of what I thought looked like a series of photographs, it did not surprise me in the least to find that Emily also has a wide range of wonderful photography on her website that is definitely worth checking out.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

TSA Agent caught with stolen iPad

The joys of traveling.

The Lion City


Sometimes someone really pushes a familiar technique to the next level.

From the creator:
After developing the tilt shift / timelapse combo as my main style, I’ve been working on a series of experimental focus and light transition techniques that build on many of the same principles.
For ‘The Lion City’, the idea behind the use of the technique is for focus and distance to be something the viewer can experience. It also doubles to communicate the constant heat and humidity that hits you whenever you leave the comfort of air conditioning in Singapore.
Because its the first time I’ve released in this style, the film is hard hitting, and full of effects… more so than if I were releasing a story based concept. Many of the scenes are not really tilt shift.. they’re what I call ‘clean shocks’, or ’tilt shocks’, depending on whether I choose to keep the tilt shift effect, and these are the focus of most of my experiments now going forward.
The film is all digital stills, shot on Nikon D3s and D4 bodies. I also use the Canon 5D MKII / Little Bramper combination for some day to night work. The tracking shots use an extremely large scale dolly that can be transported, so I can control both camera and subject speed independently. For focus effects I make efforts to use lenses where possible (large format bellows and classic Rodogon & Nikon lenses), or modified enlarger lenses. If I’m shooting without effects I use a range of 80′s – 90′s Nikon lenses I’ve had modified (crippled) for timelapse work. Edited in FC Pro, Post effects in After effects.
I haven’t fully made the transition from optical to post processed effects yet, as I find the lenses often survive the color grade better.



The Lion City from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Through the eyes...

JTiell sent me this link and I thought it was pretty cool. The entire event was captured from the point of view of designers and stylists wearing Google Glass or aka a pair of glasses. I found this link that has more information around what Google Glass is. It sounds like it's meant to be a replacement to a smartphone and includes texting, calling and map capabilities.

Maybe for the next "through the eyes of the customer..." pitch, we can try getting a hold of Google to see if they'd let us borrow a pair of their glasses! :)

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Gallagher in Slow Motion


In response to Dave's awesome and artful piece, a video about old Gallagher... in Slow Motion.

The flames are pretty sick...

Gallagher in Slow Motion from FCTN on Vimeo.

Chris Koelsch: Ray of Sunshine


No Church in the Wild

While trying to find a song like this for Pulte I actually watched the music video and it was MUCH better than i expected.

Jay Z & Kanye West "No church in the wild" from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Technical: The blacks never hit total black. The grain is minimal, there is some light use of sound in the beginning but its kept to a clean minimal usage to allow the song to the the rest of the talking. And talk it does. Esthetic: Every shot is iconic. No frame is wasted. Green Lasers are cool. Fire is cooler.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Proof That Cats Are Better Than Dogs

Suck it cat haters.

Robot Swagger

Seeing as how Chad is always fearful of the next creepy robot to come out, I decided to lighten the mood with some Robot Swagger.

Little Kaiju.

I really like the minimalistic approach to this, particularly the sound design and soundtrack choices. There is a quietness to it, the soundtrack never hits hard, and there is is nothing that jumps out and jostles the audience out of the world it creates. The sound design and soundtrack become the perfect partner to the visual by showing control and poise.


Little Kaiju. from a TWiN thing. on Vimeo.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Aisley Vs Dog - SNES version


Aisley Vs Dog - SNES version from Micah Sawyer on Vimeo.
Took some random footage of Aisley playing with her favorite toy and thought it would be fun to cut it into a fight sequence.
All sound effects and music are from SNES version of the classic fighting game "Killer Instinct".
Might go back and do character selection screens sometime.

It's REALLY hard to keep focus on a toddler.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

BAMF Compilation

Just in case sitting at your desk all day didn't make you feel bad enough. There are people doing things like this, and some of them get paid.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Beards - Got Me a Beard

Do you ever feel like your posting something for a specific person when you put something on the Stew? Well I do, and I think somewhere deep in my brain I though of Dave for this piece. I wonder why.
Well with the colder months slowly rolling in and Movember right around the corner, this music video seems rather appropriate. Animated by Chris Edser, Bill Northcott, and Jarrod Prince.

Willow - Sweater

I love when someone takes a concept that's been pretty well explored and takes it to the next level. That was definitely the case for this music video by Willow for his new song 'Sweater". Directed by Flip Sterckx. Here is the making of. Not much on the technical side of things, more or less just shows how many times the guy messed up trying to time with the projections.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Spike Lee's dolly shots

I think Spike Lee is one of the most brilliant filmmakers of our generation. Thinking about the shot we're preparing to do at the end of the Pulte film made me remember Spike's awesome, endless dolly shots. They create a crazy sensation of dizziness that I love. It makes you focus right on the subject. My favorite of all time is the one from Clockers.


Thursday, September 6, 2012