Archive for the ‘Animation’ Category

13/11/2010

The fantastic OK Go do it again!

The kings of music video’s, OK Go have done it again! Their new single “Last Leaf” came out only this week and its a true masterpiece!

The video starts up with a note telling you that 2,430 pieces of toast were used to make this video. Intriguing I through to my self as I first watched the video in the
Top Left Design office. The text fades and you are introduced to an array of little characters, trees made from guitars and much more which are all animating on the surface of toast!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw it. I studied Illustration and Animation and I know that it takes a fair few frames to make a simple character walk across a piece of paper, let alone toast!

Not only do the characters walk and interact with one another but there’re  also some super close up shots, falling and growing scenes. It must have taken them some time to compose this 1 and a half minute piece of animation gold!

Take a look at the video here.

(Video by OK Go embedded from You Tube)

Posted by Tina Webster 13/11/2010

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08/08/2010

Pulp Fiction in typography

I was lucky enough to have this great You Tube clip sent to me last week by the lovely Amy at Top Left Design. It shows a cool typographic animation of a scene from the film Pulp Fiction.

Take a look at the clip above and some stills from the animation below:

Posted by Tina Webster 08/08/2010

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24/07/2010

Day & Night by Pixar

As soon as I heard there was going to be a 3rd Toy Story I new I had to see it! So me and Rob went along to the cinema (which was packed BTW) on Wednesday to check it out.

It’s a great film with lots of laughter, some tears, a fantastic cast and great animation.

However I’m not going to blog about Toy Story 3 today, I really want to tell you about Pixar’s short animation at the start of the film, called “Day & Night“.

As soon as we’d watched it we fell in love with the simple tale and concept!

The short story is about 2 characters created in 2D. The background for the whole animation is in black and the characters are “cut out” of this. Inside their bodies is a wonderful 3D word showing the same scene in day and night.

The sunny character is a happy chappie while night is more grumpy and slow to react. When the 2 meet it becomes a battle of “mine’s better that yours” and each character competes to show the best of their time of day.

The concept seems simple when you watch it but is difficult to explain properly so here is a clip of the directors trying to tell us what the tale is about:

In short, if you’re going to see Toy Story 3 then you’re going to see Day & Night! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

(First image taken from the Slash Film website)

Posted by Tina Webster 24/07/2010

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27/06/2010

Ok Go and their new single “End Love”

Last week I was introduced to the band Ok Go and their delightful music videos!

Robert, my boyfriend has been telling me about them for a while now and this week we huddled around my laptop and watched their videos on YouTube.

We started with their newest single “End Love” and I was blown away by the time, effort and sheer skill it took to produce. It’s a simple idea executed perfectly to music. The video uses stop motion animation (I think!) and films the band over time gliding and dancing around a park in America. I fell in love with the video and the song instantly and I can’t stop singing and thinking about it. It’s one of the those video’s you want to tell your mates about hence the reason why I am writing this blog!

The video for “This too shall pass” show the amount of planning that goes into their videos. It shows a chain reaction effect, similar to a Rube Goldberg machine. The chain reaction is constructed from everyday objects such as teleivisions, sledge hammers, a car, paint cans etc. It reminds me of Honda’s “The Cog” advert back in 2003 but this is much quirkier. It is one of the those videos you can’t take your eyes off!

And finally, before I leave you to have a gander at the video’s, here’s another great one for their single “Here it goes again”. In this one the band perform dance routines on treadmills, amazing!

Posted by Tina Webster 27/06/2010

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03/05/2010

The boys and girls at Treat Studios

If you haven’t already, everyone should check out the busy bunch of creatives at Treat Studios.

Treat are a collective of talented illustrators and animators who collaborate on projects jointly and also individually.

The team is made up of Danny Boyle, Robin Bushel, William Crook, Matt Layzell, Julia Pott and Alex Robinson. They also work with visiting designers too.

Some of their recent work includes E4 Skins, E4 Slakers Club, Dig Africa and the band The Decemberists.

The group studied at Kingston University on the Illustration and Animation course and once graduated they came together under the name Treat.

Have a gander at their website for the teams showreel and current work.

Your in for a real treat!

(All images taken from the Treat website)

Posted by Tina Webster 03/05/2010

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11/04/2010

Fantastic Mr. Fox

If anyone hasn’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet I say you read this and then watch the trailer straight away! It’s that good!

Fantasitc Mr. Fox is the lastest film by Wes Anderson and boasts a host of stars such as George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Michael Gambon, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson to name but a few.

The film is based on Roald Dahl’s original novel and the entire film has been created using
stop motion animation. This process is a rather laborious way to animate but the results are truly “fantastic”.

The use of colour and lighting creates the feeling of warmth and familiarity and the attention to deatil is everywhere in the film from Mr.Fox’s study (based on Roald Dahl’s very own) to the patterns on soft furnishing, wall paper and clothing.

The sound track to the film is also pretty good ranging from The Beach Boys to the “Boggis, Bunce And Bean” song by Alexandre Desplat. There is also a track by our very own Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) which you can have a little jig to!

The film inspired me so much that I created the above illustration after watching it!

Posted by Tina Webster 11/04/2010

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