Awesome Stew - A Year In Review 2013

Awesome Stew - A Year In Review 2013 from Joshua Lightle on Vimeo.

Apple Happy Holidays

I beat Jackie to the punch. Apple does it again. They took something we see all the time...the kids that are on their phones the whole time. Enjoy.

History

This is a great informational animation.  I haven't looked at the rest of their portfolio, but I think the simplicity here really interesting, and a great example of how a simple mechanism works really well with a great story.

Kite Perspectives

Click to explore images that were taken by a camera suspended by a kite. Just reminds me that if you looking at things differently something interesting is bound to emerge.

Pre and Post FX - Gatsby

Who makes those fireplace videos on Netflix...

Portfolio - BGSU Class Project

These photos are from my final project for my Photography II class. The assignment was to make a portfolio of 10 new images. They had to be somewhat similar. I chose shooting all portraits to connect them together. Your feedback is invaluable.

THE BOXTROLLS Trailer # 2 (2014)

To continue the hand-made, stop-motion inspiration from The Maker, here is the trailer to Boxtrolls, including some amazing behind-the-scenes action.  Hold onto your socks...

12 Days of Elves

Enjoy a collection of shorts and check back daily for new, slightly obscene elf shenanigans.  Merry X-mas.

12 Days of Elves

Saturday School

I took pictures for my final project assignment for my Photography II class on Saturday, December 14. While previewing my photos in Lightroom I noticed that my fast-paced shooting made my models walk and move again. This brought me back to my first love, video -- the moving image.

Training Video - BGSU Class Project

This is my final class project for Video II. We had to make a training video at least 3 minutes in length... and a bunch of other dumb cookie cutter requirements.



Equipment I used:

• 7D
• 24 - 105 mm
• Zacuto rig
• Zacuto Z-finder
• Our new broken tripod
• H4n for VO

Things I liked/worked:

• The tone of the video. Cold. Turkish.
• Forcing the audience to understand the video through action.
• Subtitles came out nicely.
• No unnatural lighting. I had minimal equipment on this shoot.
• The quick turnaround caused my edits and graphics to be quick, simple, and to the point. I particularly liked this style. Some cuts jump, but it gets the message across.

Things I didn't like/didn't work:

• It was f*ucking freezing when I shot this. 14 degrees. I shot Monday for 2 hours, then Tuesday morning for 3 hours. Half the time was spent warming up in the car in between scenes.
• As always, I wish I had more time.
• This story was my second option, because I couldn't find appropriate talent for my first story.
• The color correction might be a little weird. I used the cinestyle profile, which made everything nice and flat, but I might have messed it up in post.
• I edited the piece straight through for 10 hours. I wish I could've walked away for a day and come back to see it in a different way.
• The audio design definitely needs more work.

Radiolab Live - Apocalyptical FULL SHOW

Radiolab is one of my favorite radio programs. And every once in a while they take the show on the road and do a live broadcast. Typically when I think of a live radio broadcast, I think of a panel of people behind microphones. But Radiolab's live shows are known to be pretty unique; there are giant puppets, live music and great visuals.

It's 2 hours long... sorry Chad.

Ultimate Story Checklist

From what I understand The Ultimate Story Checklist has been a work in progress for a while; it's currently on version 4. I heard about it on The Narrative Breakdown. It's longer than I thought it'd be but I can see why people are finding it useful. It also doesn't help that his blog looks like the computer game Zork.

Reuters Photos of the Year 2013

Every year Reuters releases Photos of the year. These images are terrifying, beautiful, and real. All tell a story in a very succinct fashion.

Nooice!

Intruducing 'Mr. T'

Mr. T pitties the fool who can't rig an improvised grip head.

The Maker

Photography Critique - Portrait Photography

My next photography assignment is due Tuesday December, 3rd. The only criteria is portrait photography. I took photos of two models, but I can only chose one photo. Please help me determine which one to chose, or if you know any Photoshop tricks to somehow enhance a photo. Thanks!

SODA / POP / COKE

For those who claim to have a midwestern (General American) accent...

SODA / POP / COKE from Atlantic Video on Vimeo.

SOFLES | LIMITLESS

Two Kids Who Love Metal

The Future is Blue

On one of the podcasts that I listen to regularly, they were talking about the user interfaces in science fiction films and discovered that the future is mostly blue. One of the reasons blue could be a dominant color in the future is because it does not occur in nature very often; it's an "unnatural" color.

This is their empirical data taken from screenshots of user interfaces in sci-fi films over the last four decades. The red 1991 sample is thanks to Terminator.

Cinemetrics

On the topic data visualization, this could have been an example during our last Creative Session...

cinemetrics from fb on Vimeo.

More Super Cuts

This is one of my favorites. The music is killer and the editing tells a great little story...

Percussive Maintenance from Duncan Robson on Vimeo.

An oldie but a goodie ( by the way, now it's "enhanced in HD).

Let's Enhance (HD) from Duncan Robson on Vimeo.

CONAN Season 3 Supercut

Amazing use of clips in this CONAN Season 3 supercut. I can only imagine the drugs this guy was on while he made this.

NECRONOMICA

A great "you can't judge a book by it's cover" story. Turns out metal guys are just like you and me. The writing is great and the performances are fun. This is the most "evil" short I've seen in a while...

I love all the little things (the upside down cross in their apartment, the way they drink from straws so they don't mess up their black metal make up).

NECRONOMICA from Kyle Bogart on Vimeo.

Epic Split

JCVD has not had it easy. This is pretty common knowledge... Jackie Jean Claude Van Damme is a karate guy who was big on the early 90s starring in a movie called blood sport, and other movies of similar ilk. So when I saw this spot this was my thought process.

Time 1: "Wow, that was really funny and that music timing hit perfectly, damn those trucks are going backwards"

Time 2: "This is strangely poetic and JCVD has been through a lot, I feel for him, this is ridiculous and awesome"

Time 3: "There is something so powerful about a single shot. We never do this, and should"

Rob Ford on SNL

I am the one who knocks

In regards to Chad being $15 dollars away from taking my Movember lead.

Sleeping On Strangers On The Subway

Music/Movie Documentary

We've all done it. But what about the people that were in deep SH*T? Radiohead releasing a name-your-price album, Metallica first suing Napster. If you haven't seen RiP: A Remixing Manifesto, I highly recommend it. It's in the Fun Folder, or watch it on YouTube. Here's the trailer. Micky Mouse makes an appearance, too.

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Mike Mitchel - Iconic Gif

No other reason to post this other than I think its cool. No application I can think of. Enjoy.

GM Actor Dazzles

I saw this commercial on the television last night and apparently we're in the business of making stars. The little blonde-hair dude in :04 and again at :07 played our CEO's son in the Satire Trailer we made for GM.

Heroes of the Storm

In typical Blizzard fashion, Blizzard talked about releasing a Blizzard Dota about 3 years ago and it seems like they are finally getting closer to the finish line. As a fan of all things Blizzard, I'm getting pretty excited about this game.

This video also really shows off Blizzard video capabilties and I enjoy how 'metal' all their stuff is beginning to look. I really can't get enough of this trailer for Heroes of the Storm.

Enjoy!

Really Cool First Person Shooter Music Video

This is what they do in Russia with GoPros...Here's the link: http://vimeo.com/62092214

Save for home or on the road. Only because of blood and gore, despite the poster frame.

Prudential Retirement Ad

I thought this was a cool way to do a live visualization of data.

...

Brief History of GoPro

Did you know that GoPro was created so that amateur surfers could capture photos of themselves that would make them look like professional surfers? Buy it, and you could "Go Pro".

Commercial - BGSU Class Project

This is a video I made for my Video II class. We had to make a 30-60 second commercial advertising a product. Thank you to Josh and Big Dave for their early critiques. Please leave your feedback below!!




Equipment I used:

• c100
• 105mm lens
• 50 mm lens for the CU of the product
• Tripod in all shots
• New HD monitor
• Boom for VO narration and on-screen audio

Things I liked/worked:

• Freedom of content (within reason)
• I shot a total of 3 hours over 2 days. Preproduction took about 12-15 hours. Being able to walk on set, set up your equipment, and know exactly what you're shooting is so much better than being unsure with a bunch of people standing around. It's my most efficient shoot yet.
• I used existing light and no reflector. This made filming easy and quick.
• Our actor was cooperative.
• We shot to be 1 minute, but it extended to about 1:15. I cut the fat, and just bad performances. In the future I will overshoot, or add more scenes, in order to have something extra just in case my guess is wrong in the other direction.

Things I didn't like/didn't work:

• Since I wasn't working with real talent, I had to stop telling the actor to repeat the scene, because it just was never going to happen. Luckily I had more footage than I needed, so really bad scenes could be cut.
• Even though I planned a lot, there were still some production aspects put to chance. Such as the girlfriend. When it was time to film that scene, we pulled the first decent looking girl we saw on location.
• WB was off on some shots.
• My role was DP and my class partner was Director. I had to pull Directing duty when my partner wasn't sure of a scene's message, or had to hold the boom. I wish we had more people helping behind the camera so we could concentrate on our own roles.

History of Video Game Title Design

This is a pretty fun short piece.  A lot has changed.

A Brief History of Video Game Title Design from Art of the Title on Vimeo.

Animated Fine Art

This goes out to anyone who's ever taken an art history class... and lovers of a good fart joke.

Slow Motion Booth

This would be way better than the Photo Booth at Root's Christmas Party

Dutch Movie on TV

Patateje Oorlog was a film that popped up on my hotel TV. The animations were the immediate draw , then the cinematography. It seems to be the story of a girl who's father goes off to be a field doctor. Her imagination keeps her company while her dad is gone.

late for a meeting

The LEGO® Movie - Official Main Trailer [HD]

Another Blast From The Past - No Faces

I was a grip on a senior film my second year at BGSU. This is a trailer for the short film. It was shot on Super 16 and the script was from a screenwriting class the semester before. It has all the hallmearks of a student film; guns, mobsters, drugs and melodrama...

The Art of Editing in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A very interesting analysis of the editing in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Max Tohline. It's always intriguing to me when people are capable of breaking down scenes to their core components. Normally I'm just enjoying the film, but it's always fun to see exactly why I'm enjoying one film more than another. That and Clint Eastwood is just a badass.

OK Go - I'm Not Through

Everyone that knows OK Go knows how over the top and crazy their music videos tend to be.  They've made it their business to create viral music videos with every hit, but this time, in another brilliant tactic, they looked the fans for their inspiration.  OK Go held the Saatchi & Saatchi Music Video Competition and the winning video can be seen below.  It's a really fun idea with a very OK Go feel to it.



The video below was the viewer's favorite. This one went a totally different angle. More story driven, very well shot, and some really nice effects. I must say, after seeing this one, I think the only reason the other video won was because it felt more "OK Go". While both are amazing, I think I like the viewer's choice better as a music video. I mean honestly, who doesn't want to see some little kid traveling through time to make it right with a girl.

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.

really unique

I love that the line weight is almost the same throughout, and that hierarchy is created by complexity in the areas where lines converge and then diverge.

New Horror Trailer - SNL

Ex-Men: Gambit

Practicing this for the next Nick and Jimmy's visit

Pitch Videos

"Pitch videos are a part of every directors job. More often than not the footage is never seen beyond "the pitch". Here are some clips from a pitch video that was unfortunately never awarded..."

-Tony Benna

pitch videos from tony benna on Vimeo.

Future of Storytelling

I'm going to ride Jackie's coat tails on this one. It started with her last post on "Authentic Storytelling + Connecting the Physical & Digital Worlds" (which has no tags... Jackie). There's a whole channel of videos like this.

Here are some of my favorite so far. The first one will look very familiar to both Micah and Brian...

This one is great because I'm always interested in the way that pop culture and entertainment have an influence on science and vise versa...

SHAKE

First time I've ever seen a dog with dreads before...

Something funny of almost no artistic value

A Relationship in 5 Minutes

Brilliantly written and acted piece from the folks at Restless Short Films.

Authentic Storytelling + Connecting the Physical & Digital Worlds

This is pretty incredible...

Apparently she's leaving Burberry to head up Apple's online and retail stores.

Ideas Are Everywhere

Gravity

The new season of SNL is in its 3rd week. After the popularity of Gravity, SNL decided to work it into their cold open this past weekend. Also, with the revitalized cast, Beck Bennet and Kyle Mooney from Good Neighbor now make shorts for the show.

The Sound of Gravity

I've been annoying people about Gravity ever since I saw in last week. My sometimes over-exciting advocacy for the perfect cinema experience combined with Dave's acoustic romance yields Alfonso Cuarón's words. This featurette might tempt you to go see it!
SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Gravity from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

The Paper Kites: Young

This struck me as something we could do with Hampton or any of our clients with a conference.


The Paper Kites: Young from Oh Yeah Wow on Vimeo.

Someone got in Micah's Brain

Boats from Justin Dec on Vimeo.

I Made a Video this Past Weekend!

Here's a video I made over the weekend. A student at BGSU wanted to bring CHAARG, a women's fitness/health organization, to BGSU. Watch it first, then read my notes below. Comment your comments!!



I  was given 1 day to concept, script, and storyboard, 2 days to shoot, and half a day to edit.

• I used a 7D
• Almost entirely shot with the 28-135mm. Landscape, especially towards the end and shots of the different buildings were shot with the 16-35mm.
• No lighting. It was overcast the entire shoot. Had to work around the rain.
• VO was done in Studio A.

Things I liked/worked

• The animation. Short and simple.
• The story is okay. Could've used more work, though.
• Close ups of the runner were filmed with her running in place. I tried to get my hands on a steady-rig, but this worked out much better. I had a lot more control.
• Battery died right after the first take on the last shot. WINNING.
• I filmed more than I needed. I had a lot of footage to work with. I didn't feel like I was stretching clips thin.

Things I didn't like/didn't work

• The first quarter of the shoot I was on Aperture Priority. Dumbass!
• I wanted to foreshadow later clips (country road, gravel, corn)  in the beginning, but I couldn't get the edit right to make it feel natural or cool.
• Virtually no color correction. I took one pass, I'm so used to SpeedGrade's controls now. I didn't have time to fix a lot of the over exposure and flatness.
• I wish I was given more time to work on all areas of the video.

Best of G.I. Joe PSAs

As per our discussion this morning.

HTML Parallax Story Book

Ran across a link on Twitter that sent me to this neat site. It is a story that uses some crazy parallax techniques. It sort of makes me think of a pop up story book. Check it out on their site: http://hobolobo.net/

Coca-Cola "Happiness Is Movement"

This little piece from Antfood for Coca-Cola oozes happiness.  There were definitely a few moment that made me smile, that's for sure.

The Digital Creativity Guidebook by Google

I shared this with Chris, but wanted to capture it here as well.  Another "what does google do" animation, this time with a fun animated pop-up-book.  This could be an interesting way to take a slick 2-D animated style like the one Chris continues to perfect, and add another dimension to it.



The Digital Creativity Guidebook on Creative Sandbox by Google from Shotopop on Vimeo.

Need more Lens Flare!

We've all done it. You learn a new technique and want to use it as much as possible. Read - J.J. Abrams talks/apologizes about his use of lens flares. What techniques have you overused? For me, it was using 'text-shadow' in CSS. Now when I see it in my work, I just think 'why?'.

Brent's Reviews - Don Jon

We Are Brothers

Two brothers were asked to be the best men at their older brother's wedding. Instead, they made this video. Its well shot, well planned, minimal, 80s and delightfully strange.

School of Motion

There are some good tutorials here that cover the basics and principles of animation in AE and C4D.  Check out the School of Motion to up your game.

Aspect Ratio Calculator

4x3? 16x9? 2.35:1? What the hell? Here's a handy aspect ratio calculator you can use to make sure your web videos can fit anywhere.

And here's a little bit o' history...

The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

Mega Plush

Following Josh's post with the AT-AT, here's another 'toy' coming to life in fantastic form using a completely different approach.  The story may not be all that original, but there were some nicely composed shots in this piece, as well as some pretty well-used short camera moves/focus pulls which make all the difference in pulling the viewer into a 3-D animation.  Look out for Greyscale Gorilla's City Kit!



The Mega Plush from Matt Burniston on Vimeo.

The Lazy Phone

Let's start things off right with something about Android ;) Motorola has recently attached "a Google company" to their logo and with that comes a Google budget.

To showcase the powers of their new flagship, Motorola has come up with "The Lazy Phone" ad campaign. Being a Google lover in general, I think they are pretty great.

This is my favorite


You can find the rest on their youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/motorola?feature=watch

A New Member Of The Stew Approaches!!!

Let's give him an aromatic, chunky, slow cooking Awesome Stew welcome. Justin Tiell everyone.

Steven Spielberg grabbin a handful

PSA - BGSU Class Project

My classmate and I filmed this PSA this past weekend for my Video II class. I want to thank Dave and Micah for their critique, and Dave for his golden voice.

Coin

This is one of the best things I've seen in a while.  So much good stuff going on here from an animation standpoint.  It also prompted nostalgic feelings - making me miss old video games, and their crazy story-arcs. 

Coin from EXIT 73 studios on Vimeo.

History of Film Part III

1927 - Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, is released. This film was made in the time of German Expressionism. Lang, half Jewish, fled Germany after the German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (depicted in Tarentino's Inglorious Basterds) asks him to lead the German propaganda studio UFA. His career greatly contributed to the history of cinema by creating conventions that led to film-nior. Consequently, Metropolis was Hitler's favorite film.

German Expressionism Narrative Elements:

• žStories centered around dreams, the supernatural or the fantastic 
• Large number of plots involve selling or losing soul, giving in to darker nature (personified by doppelganger figure), or making deal with the devil
• žEmphasis on psychological horror 
• Preoccupation with loss of sanity and/or loss of self

German Expressionism Stylistic Elements:

• Highly stylized mise-en-scène used to reflect characters’ inner mental states as well as to create mood
• Use of chiaroscuro lighting; emphasis on contrast between light and shadow for expressive purposes
• Use of framing and optical effects for expressive purposes

    

AT-AT Day Afternoon

This made my Friday that much better. And this guy's got some skills.

AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

And the making of..

Making of AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

Computational Design of Mechanical Characters

How Long Can a Fake Smile Last?

Considering how many times we've tried to pull this off, this something to keep in mind for future work. It's kind of more fun to watch by skipping around...

How long can a fake smile last? from Christiano Abrahao on Vimeo.

Honest Trailers - World War Z

Seems like something Brent would post. But I found it first haha!

Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling

Another gem from Justin "Internet Navigator" Tiell. It's too good not to post. Perhaps Just should become an author on The Stew? Which rule do you think you'll find most useful?

1.You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
2.You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3.Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
4.Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
5.Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6.What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
7.Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
8.Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9.When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10.Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
11.Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
12.Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13.Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
14.Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
15.If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16.What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
17.No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
18.You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19.Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20.Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
21.You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
22.What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

How to Report the News

Don't Fear Death

Dave, Chris and I were reflecting on the cartoons of our child/teen hood. Specifically, Rocko's modern life. It was grotesque, sardonic and hysterical. I think that's why we may be able to really appreciate something this dark.

The writing is so spot on and the animation is so great, you'll beg for death...

Don't Fear Death from Dice Productions on Vimeo.

The Scarecrow

This guilt trip is brought to you by Justin Tiell.

All kidding aside, I'm really interested in creating a story that promotes or inspires change without words. You could argue that everything in this piece is symbolic. Why are the workers scarecrows when there a humans walking around and eating fast food? Why is "big business" personified by crows? Why the music choice?

HIstory of Film Part I & II

I'm learning a lot of interesting stuff in my History of Film class at BGSU. Every week I want to share a piece of film history and what would shape cinema today. Here are the first 2 weeks.

1895 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere patent the cinematrographe, which served as camera, printer and projector all in one. It was lighter and smaller than Edison's kinetograph. This allowed films to be shown for the first time to mass audiences. Here is one of the first films made, Arrival of a Train (1895) by the Lumiere brothers to showcase their camera.




1906 - 1908 - Multi-reel films or 'features' were experimented both in France and the U.S. It was thought that audiences had short attention spans, so only one film reel (10-15 minutes) was used to create movies. However, after features were shown to audiences, there was no turning back. Here is Cabiria (1914), an Italian film that is very important to the success of multi-reel films.

Spot the Helpless Animal

Article

Star Trek Into Darkness Title Design

Pretty ridiculous that they created this with AE and Element 3D. However, I'm fairly certain this would make any of our computers hemorrhage and die, so don't go asking me for some in depth planet fly through with fiery stars.

How to Choose a Board Game

What the inside of Micah's head looks like.

Youtube Series That Chris Likes

Hey all, at lunch today Josh, Dave, and I were talking about Youtube. I just wanted to share some of the better series and content that I've seen recently.

CARTOON HANGOVER
This group is from the same brian that brings you Adventure Time.  I haven't watched all of Bravest Warriors (that seems very similar to Adventure Time in terms of Style), but I have watched their 2 episodes of Bee and PuppyCat and I really like it.




THE ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD
Admittedly, this is a series more suited for someone who likes video games. That being said, this is the most entertaining video game review show I've seen. What I like about it is The Nerd tries to tie a story into the review, so it's not just someone making observations all the time. The quality is very DIY which I can appreciate, given that he's been around since the dawn of Youtube and has made over 100 episodes. Below is a good example of one of his better episodes.

What's Happenin' Phil

I just found out Beverly Hills Cop 4 in development, yeah!. In honor, here is a clip from the first one. *Office discretion advised

Anthony Scott Burns - MANIFOLD

These two teasers are blowing my mind. The first two establishing shots that involve cars are just incredible. And I'm very quickly looking forward to filming something "meant" for black and white. The compositions are out of control; I want to shoot like this...

However, I don't see why this person would want anyone to embed his stuff. I apologize for the hyperlinks...

MANIFOLD - Teaser 1

MANIFOLD - Teaser 2

Bob Ross on Wireless Mic

BGSU Class Project

This past Wednesday our teach told my classmate and I to, "Go out and shoot a news story. Oh and it has to be uploaded to YouTube so you can send me the link...and it has to be done in 1.5 hours. GO.", We used my partner's R&B/Rap guy as our story. It sucks, but here it is.

In Spirit of the Start of College Football this Season

Cringe Comedy

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/)

Comedy Central Roast of James Franco

Viewer discretion advised son.

Comedy Central

China Now

Client Character Hit List vol.1

My way of coping with clients "killing" off all my poor characters. This is serious business and the clients need to know the damage they are inflicting here.

R.I.P.
TD Client
8/22/13 - 8/27/13

R.I.P.
Hector the Hampton Ant
8/16/13 - 8/20/13

Happy Hump Day

Major Lazer "Scare Me"

Major Lazer "Scare Me" from Lord Danger on Vimeo.

Internet Explorer – "Things Aren't Always What They Seem"

Looks like Digital Kitchen is in the jingle writing game too.

Dialogue in Film

I recently watched Only God Forgives, by Nicholas Winding Refn, the director/writer of Drive. Watching Drive and Only God Forgies was a different experience for me because I'm so used to - we're so used to - hearing the story play out via dialogue, with visual elements aiding. He flips it by saying, "Okay, how can I tell a story with the camera, sound, and music and without a great deal of dialogue." Take a look at this interview at 33:20, as he starts to explain this.

this guy-

-is awesome.

anthony dickenson

Wozniak Says `Lot of Things Wrong' With Jobs Movie

This is actually pretty interesting to me and sort of why I thought the movie could be bad. I don't know why we have to portray Steve Jobs as a perfect genius. Wozniak talks about how during the time period of the film Jobs actually had a lot of flaws. It may just be me but that sounds like it makes for more interesting film and character development then just showing Jobs be awesome and create Apple because he is awesome, but I also haven't seen the film yet so I could be wrong.

The Critic

With Brent's movie reviews and the new movie club I think we all need a refresher on one of the older critics out there. Watching this it still holds up and a lot of the stuff he says is still true of movies today.

Imagine the Possibilities - C100 Edition

This is kind of an extension of a previous post of mine. I'm a recent subscriber to the Cinematic Canon C100 channel on Vimeo; I'm always interested what other people are doing with similar equipment.

I've included a few of my favorite examples below. How can we continue to push our gear and get the most out of it?

Instant from Neighborhood Sandbox on Vimeo.

Carry On Only - Short Film from Chris Loope on Vimeo.

Fear of Flying

This is an interesting approach to animation. All the character are "handheld" rather than moved incrementally like in traditional stop-motion. All human limbs were later removed and the character's pupils, arms and legs were animated in post.

It definitely has a Wes Anderson vibe to it, specifically Fantastic Mr. Fox. I'm also include a very short, obligatory making-of...

FEAR OF FLYING from conorfinnegan on Vimeo.

A glimpse into the MAKING OF "FEAR OF FLYING" from conorfinnegan on Vimeo.

Kino Flo-in'

Rainbow day at Root!

Eterna

“Eterna” is a fake trailer made ​​by Vadzim Khudabets and combining images from many action movies, from Thor to Watchmen through Avatar. Rhythmic in its editing and expertly done, Khudabets makes cutting trailers seem effortless.

ETERNA from Behind The Epic on Vimeo.

"I Can't Go For That"- Daryl Hall, Chromeo

Been meaning to the post this since Brent made that horrendous dubstep Hall & Oats mix.

Mr. Innocent Music Video and Overview/Review

The overview/review of my music video.



The music video. Performed by Izaya Burciaga in association with Glass House Records.

Secrets secrets are no fun...

This is a picture of me with Josh's phone... This is also a picture of Brent being busted.

Movies as maps by Andrew Degraff

Great web gallery courtesy of Wired.  But check out Andrew Degraff's work here.  This is an easy one, but name that movie.

I Put A Spell On You - Lip Sync

Almost as entertaining as air guitar. When are they just going to come out with Air Band competitions? Who am I kidding I'm sure that exists already...

Wonderland - Documentary on Creative Commerce

This is an interesting short documentary.  I think we have all talked about some of these same problems and feelings in our roles.  There are a lot of creative leads and directors from past posts here on the Stew.  Enjoy.

Wonderland | A Short Form Doc on Creative Commerce from Eskimo on Vimeo.

MeanMug 'n Slim: The Mug

MeanMug 'n Slim go out for a late night coffee.

Story Corps

Check out the animations at Story Corps.  A lot of the stories are pretty sad, some inspirational, but all are just good storytelling.  I'm curious how much editing to the original interviews the creators did to create such concise and powerful stories.

I think we can leverage something like this for the Hampton work, or other story-based work in the future.

Breaking Bad - An In Depth Look at the First Three Seasons SPOILER ALERT

I don't know how many of you are Breaking Bad fans, but with the final season approaching in just 18 days, I've been biding my time rewatching old episodes and reflecting.  I really love Breaking Bad for how much care and attention they put into each and every shot. It truly is a joy to watch, almost harkening back to the way Film Noir constantly played with light and shadow to hint at a broader picture.  The video below is an in depth look into some of Breaking Bad's visual cues from the first 3 seasons.  Most of which I regrettably don't notice at the time, but still interesting none the less.  If you have not seen the show and do not want any spoilers, DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Root Films Movie Club

Introducing the Root Films Movie Club: Like a book club but without the reading. Every two weeks, we'll choose a film that everyone will watch. Then we'll take about an hour and half during lunch to discuss the film. When you watch the film, remember to jot down your favorite scenes so we can cue them up during the meeting.

The Idea is to create a common vocabulary amongst the team and improve collaboration. Watch your email for an invitation and start thinking about what film you want to share.

New Blog New Formatting

After implementing the new blog it's apparent that I need to teach you guys some simple formatting to keep the blog looking nice and clean. I'm using Brent's most recent post as an example because it's typical of what we normally post; a video with some text.

As you can see here (in HTML mode), Brent put his body text below the video code.

We want to copy this body text

And move it above the video code

Now all we need to do is add 2 break lines.  The code for that is <br />
It's as simple as that! I use 2 break lines because it gives a line of cushion between the video and text so it's easier to read.

Upcoming: A Film by Brent L Howard

Hey guys, and girls. I've set a hard deadline for a film that I am producing, it's not called Untitled Film by the way. I'm posting this because I might need some of your help making this possible. Stay tuned.

Awesome Stew Updates

Hey All! I've made some minor updates to the blog. I took away that pre-made template, hopefully we won't have trouble with seeing the comments now, but you'll have to let me know. All of our insane tags can now be viewed on the right hand side of the blog. Also, you can search this blog specifically in the top right search bar, I think this will help for those situations where we didn't tag very well. Also we have a new logo! Happy blogging.

Puttin' the 'SEX' in sextuplet

100 Animators for 1 Typeface

Cool animation made from the work of over 100 animators each given a glyph and no more than 4 colors to work with. Nice little treasure trove of clever reveals.

The best part you ask?  You can see who all contributed and download the project file here.

Franchise Animated - Promo from Animography on Vimeo.

THIS IS HOW YOU DIE.

Dave's Murdah post reminded me of this.

Murdaaah! Ep01

Client/Root Relationship Momento...you know?

Monday = Plaid Day

Paper Tear Tutorial using C4D and After Effects

Always good to have something like this in our back pocket.

For Dave Ayling

In a World...

Sunday Geekout

Sometimes I like to spend my copious bachelor time looking up stuff that satisfies my analytical brain. Now, this might be right up there with the hardcore science learning thing posted earlier, but in a few minutes I was able to understand a whole system through a simple relatable situation guided by an even keeled patient walk through. When I felt lost the speaker knew it. By the end it all made sense. Say what you wil about the esthetic, but I'm curious if through this style of explanation if you were able to understand this. Also, do you feel that this line of explanation has a place for us? Possibly adding validity to an RSA example. Really just curious - please comment. And of course I cant embed this.... follow the links if you please :) Part 1 Part II

Watch This and Help Me Out

I took video of the Toledo Zoo's Zoo-To-Do event last month. I deliver to the client this Monday or Tuesday. I just wanted your guys' expert criticisms. There isn't any criteria from the client that needs to be fulfilled since he doesn't know I was secretly taking video with the 7D. Thanks!

Chad beer for Chad

Liquid Planet

These worldly beers reminded me of you guys

Game night

There is something creepy/dirty about these pictures. 

2.2M & Beyond Celebration!

Pink Enigma - the Champions!

Group shot! Missing Micah. :(

And things start to get a little crazy... !

Thanks for all the great work you guys do!!