Optix: Bontrust “Geldvermehrung”

This is a fantastic advert that I am very jealous of! When I was researching for my adverts for Barclays I had the idea of producing an animation using money and pound notes, but I fairly quickly dismissed it thinking it would be too hard to produce.
Optix however didnt and have created this magnificent origami world of money, the idea is to show the increase of money on the international market in connection with some kind of sexual relation! It works really well, especially with the change of music, the idea is great and well executed with the dollar bills, english sterling and chinese yen(?) representing the 3 figures. I'm just gutted I didnt think of it first!!!

http://motionographer.com/theater/optix-bontrust/

Bloc Party - One Month Off

This is a great music video that inspired me to use fairy tales in my final major project, it is by a studio called Team DADDY and according to their site it only took two weeks to make! the idea is great and they have very cleverly comped over the top of Ray Harryhausens footage, creating a whole new feel and meaning to the cartoons. This video also reminded how cool the old fashioned Mother Goose cartoons were, all of which were painstakingly stop motioned by the master Harryhausen! I love old fashioned grainy look of the video too even though it has been modified in 2008.

Mcdonalds Chicken Legend with Bacon

Chicken Legend with ..
Watch the ad...

I have added this video to my blog because of the brilliant way in which it creates a simple bike ride scene in the most amazingly complicated way, it uses a cyclist that is static and the scenery moves around him to create the illusion of movement, it is a method that is usually used digitally in '2.5d' to fake the illusion of perspective, and as I have actually used this technique in my 'wolf' scene, this just shows me how much work I would have had to have done if I chose to do it for real! Although I would love to do a project like this for real in the near future definately!

Saw this and thought of Jordan!

Just found this animation on Nizmlab.com, it is french and has subtitles but you can make out what it is going on about without them. It shows a day in the life of an ordinary man going through his daily routine whilst encorporating his favourite drink into everything he does. I think it is really funny, especially at the end when he starts to lose it! The animation style is nice and I like the way it uses coffee stains to make up the textures towards the end.

Midea Effects

Came across this company on vimeo, from Brazil they have a great selection of work, and there information on the profile says (Translated from portuguese!):
"The MidiaEffects is a studio of digital convergence that initiated its activities in year 2000. We are specialized in Web, Video, Finishing, New Medias, In - He measured and what plus you he can imagine. By the way imagination is what better it defines the MidiaEffects."

Continuidade (Continuity) from midia effects on Vimeo.

This is one piece they have produced called Continuity, from what i gather it is a promotional piece, I really like the pace and flow of the animation and really matches well with the music.

Lar Emanuel Carreteiro Beneficente from midia effects on Vimeo.

Here is another piece they have done that strangely I dont think works that well! I am not sure what it is advertising because its in portuguese but I believe that just from the visuals and sound effects of an advert you should be able to get an idea of what it is advertising, with this I have no idea! also I dont think that the mixture of styles works either, the 3d sections work well but then suddenly they have decided to use a 2d crayon drawn style sky that I think looks really out of place. I think this is somehing to watch out for in my own work because I always like to see if there are ways of using multiple media methods in one piece but after seeing this I will definately try and be more aware of what works and what doesnt.

Notebook by Evelien Lohbeck

Noteboek from Evelien Lohbeck on Vimeo.

Came across this on Motionographer today, I have seen this sort of technique alot recently as it seems to be very popular using paper/drawn elements and using stop motion to make it look like shes manipulating it. This piece works perfectly and uses so many ingenious ways of using a notebook, my favourite is the mirror page, I presume must have been rotoscoped over a real mirror. It is a similar process to what I used for my Tomorrows world advert, and I am gutted I hadnt come across this earlier as I think it would have given me a bit more inspiration to really think out of the box with the paper/reality crossover.

Al Balad Newspaper Spots

Came across these spots for a Newspaper called Al Balad based in Lebanon. It is directed by renowned director Carlos Lascano and they use the main slogan 'Size doesnt matter!' promoting that the paper now has a new smaller size, and uses famously short historical figures to create 3 very funny adverts. I really like the 2.5d style of it as well as the illustrative style using characature like faces, I also think that the style maybe takes references from Terry Gilliams animations done for Monty Python. I also like the clever fact that because these main chatacters are so small you never actually see there faces because they are always of screen, this adds to the visual idea behind the brief.



AL BALAD - Napoleon from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.



AL BALAD - Ghandi from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

Toshiba Timesculpture

This advert interests me because of the technique it uses to shoot it. It is the same technique used to shoot the 'Neo bullets' scene in the Matrix, and uses a room full of cameras creating a 360 degree view on a rig of scaffolding. The advert works really well with the white crisp room and the colourful people moving around in the middle, there slogan is redefining the way you watch tv because the content we watch is changing all the time. I think the idea works for this advert very well.

I found this interesting article whilst researching for my Issues and practices text, it is quite light hearted and funny in places but it does also have some good advice of what to look out for when pitching to clients, after reading this I think I would be slightly more savvy to clients trying to rip you off:

Top 10 Lies Told to Naive Artists & Designers

Mark W. Lewis © 2005

1 "Do this one cheap (or free) and we'll make it up on the next one."

No reputable business person would first give away their work and time or merchandise on the hope of making it up later. Can you imagine what a plumber would say if you said "come in, provide and install the sink for free and next time we'll make it up when we need a sink." You would be laughed at! Also the likelyhood is that if something important came along, they wouldn't use you.

2 "We never pay a cent until we see the final product."

This is a croc, unless the person is leaving the door open to cheat you out of your pay. Virtually every profession requres a deposit or incremental payment during anything but the smallest project. Once you have a working relationship, you may work out another arrangement with a client. But a new client should not ask you to go beyond an initial meeting and, perhaps some preliminary sketches without pay on the job!

3 "Do this for us and you'll get great exposure! The jobs will just pour in!"

Baloney. Tell a plumber "Install this sink and my friend will see and you'll get lots of business!" Our plumber friend would say "You mean even if I do a good job I have to give my work away to get noticed? Then it isn't worth the notice." Also the guy would likely brag to everyone he knows about how this would normally cost (X) dollars, but brilliant businessman that he is he got if for free! If anyone calls, they'll expect the same or better deal.

4 On looking at sketches or concepts: "Well, we aren't sure if we want to use you yet, but leave your material here so I can talk to my partner/investor/wife/clergy."

You can be sure that 15 minutes after you leave he will be on the phone to other designers, now with concepts in hand, asking for price quotes. When you call back you will be informed that your prices were too high and Joe Blow Design/Illustration will be doing the job. Why shouldn't they be cheaper? You just gave them hours of free consulting work! Until you have a deal, LEAVE NOTHING CREATIVE at the clients office.

5 "Well, the job isn't CANCELLED, just delayed. Keep the account open and we'll continue in a month or two."

Ummm, probably not. If something is hot, then not, it could be dead. It would be a mistake to *not* bill for work performed at this point and then let the chips fall where they may! Call in two months and someone else may be in that job. And guess what? They don't know you at all.....

6 "Contract? We don't need no stinking contact! Aren't we friends?"

Yes, we are, until something goes wrong or is misunderstood, then you are the jerk in the suit and I am that idiot designer, then the contract is essential. That is, unless one doesn't care about being paid. Any reputable business uses paperwork to define relationships and you should too.

7 "Send me a bill after the work goes to press."

Why wait for an irrelevant deadline to send an invoice? You stand behind your work, right? You are honest, right? Why would you feel bound to this deadline? Once you deliver the work and it is accepted, BILL IT. This point may just be a delaying tactic so the job goes through the printer prior to any question of your being paid. If the guy waits for the job to be printed, and you do changes as necessary, then he can stiff you and not take a chance that he'll have to pay someone else for changes.

8 "The last guy did it for XXX dollars."

That is irrelevant. If the last guy was so good they wouldn't be talking to you, now would they? And what that guy charged means nothing to you, really. People who charge too little for their time go out of business (or self-destruct financially, or change occupations) and then someone else has to step in. Set a fair price and stick to it.

9 "Our budget is XXX dollars, firm."

Amazing, isn't it? This guy goes out to buy a car, and what, knows exactly what he is going to spend before even looking or researching? Not likely. A certain amount of work costs a certain amount of money. If they have less money (and you *can*) do less work and still take the job. But make sure they understand that you are doing less work if you take less money that you originally estimated. Give fewer comps, simplify, let them go elsewhere for services (like films) etc.

10 "We are having financial problems. Give us the work, we'll make some money and we'll pay you. Simple."

Yeah, except when the money comes, you can expect that you will be pretty low on the list to be paid. If someone reaches the point where they admit that the company is in trouble, then they are probably much worse off than they are admitting to. Even then, are you a bank? Are you qualified to check out their financials? If the company is strapped to the point where credit is a problem through credit agencies, banks etc. what business would you have extending credit to them. You have exactly ZERO pull once they have the work. Noble intentions or not, this is probably a losing bet. But if you are going to roll the dice, AT LEAST you should be getting additional money for waiting. The bank gets interest and so should you. That is probably why the person is approaching you; to get six months worth of free interest instead of paying bank rates for credit and then paying you with that money. Don't give away money.

Now, this list wasn't meant to make anyone crazy or paranoid, but is designed to inject some reality into the fantasy.

You are GOING to be dealing with people who are unlike yourself. Their motivations are their own and their attitudes are probably different than yours. There are going to be demands, problems, issues and all the hassles that go with practically ANY work/job/money situation. Too many times I see the sad example of someone walking in to a situation with noble intentions and then getting royally screwed, because what they see as an opportunity and a labor of love, the other party sees as something else entirely, not at all romantic or idealized, but raw and simple.

How can you deal with this stuff and still do good creative work? Good question. THIS is why an education is important. You learn, out of the line of fire, how to deal with the art at it's own level and also how to deal with the crap that surrounds it. You may have tough teachers and think that it can't be worse, but wait until a business person has a hundred grand riding on your art! Then you will know what "demanding" means. You will then thank all those tough teachers for building up the calluses that enable you to enjoy the job rather than just feeling like it is all a big waste of time!

In the end, working commercially, being a terrific artist is about 25% of the task. If that is the only part of the task that you are interested in, do yourself a favor. Don't turn "pro."

E4 E'stings Competition

As some of you are probably aware, or if not you will no doubt have seen them on tv, E4 had an E stings competition, where people could create there own versions of the e4 idents based around the logo, alot of the entries are then played on tv and you can vote for them online. Anyway the competition has ended and you can view the winners here. What I really like about the competition is the huge range of ideas people send in, the wackier the better! here are a few of my favourites:




The Shadow puppet one is my favourite at 1:16!!

Bupa advert

I saw this set of adverts a while back and after our trip to London, and Studio AKA, I found out that they produced them, I really like the way that they have very cleverly brought the simplest shapes to life through the slick animation and soundtrack they chose, This really interests me as a motion graphics designer as lots of the work I have done requires bringing an object or character to life, for example my Dave ident that used letters, using the same principle movements as the Bupa advert. I think this set of adverts shows exactly what it takes to be a top animater/designer, being able to bring absolutley any object to life and make it enjoyable to watch. It also reminds me of the lost tribes of new york video I posted earlier as that uses the same concept.

AndWhyNot Photography

I discovered this guy when I was working on my competition brief when i was looking into lightwriting. He is a proffessional photographer who makes a living shooting weddings and other special events but his passion lies in shooting night photos, especially using cars and lights. He prides himself on the fact that almost all of his pictures he takes now are straight out of the camera and not messed with in photoshop or iphoto etc. which personally I think is very impressive because it is easy enough to take an ok photo and make it look great by manipulating it but it is a real skill to produce straight from the camera, I know this from trying to attempt the same results as his night photos, myself using torches, led lights, glow sticks etc! I think he has a similar style to Andrew Brookes who I wrote about earlier on in this blog, here are some of his photos, I love the use of light in this first photo as he points a torch at the floor whilst shooting on long exposure, and walked round the car to make the ground glow, this really brings the focus point to the middle of the bonnet, and the cars driving past have added to the composition to keep it balanced. This has really influenced my work as I love taking photos and trying to capture the flourescent colours 'AndWhyNot' seems to manage. Now I like to take photos that look out of the ordinary or have a different point of view.

CGart

Someone in class told me about this website ages ago and I think it is a great source of talent and inspiration, it has a very easy format of just having thumbnails of peoples work that is regurlarly updated, After Andy Lyster told me you could submit your own videos for entry I recently submitted my Tomorrows World advert to the Administrators to see if they thought it was good enough to be added, and a week later I was very pleased to see that it had, since then my advert has had over 550 hits on my vimeo page and also lots of contact requests and 'likes', and I would recomend anyone to do the same with their videos.

My Vimeo Page

A few months ago I decided to join Vimeo and put a few of my videos up on it, at first I thought it was just another video hosting site like youtube but after a few days of being on it I realised that the work on there is mostly very creative and professional, this is possibly because it isnt as well known outside the design industry as youtube so there isnt videos of absolutely anything posted up. Also I found that the video quality is much superior to youtube and other similar sites although the videos I find often tend to stop half way through because of buffering (does anyone else find this? or is it just me?)
I also found that there is lots of great groups and communities of creative minded people and I have joined a great group called 'Everything Animated' that updates all the time with new videos of creative talent. Here is my Vimeo Profile: http://vimeo.com/user1349965

The Quiet Revolution

Something I feel I often overlook in my work is type, and typography design. Claire Scully of thequietrevolution.co.uk is someone who definately does not have this problem, making some great compositions solely from a few words or an interesting self designed typeface. Her type is very illustrative which I like and I think that her work has inspired me to think about type alot more in my work and believe that the writing can make a piece of design instead of just being an add on at the end.

Chris Buzelli

I discovered the work of Chris Buzelli when searching on StumbleUpon, he is an illustrator from Chicago who has produced lots of weird and wonderful images for the likes of big names like; Rolling Stone magazine, the New York Times and Playboy. I am really interested in illustration and am always looking for inspiration for my work, I really like his use of scale in his pieces as the cartoon like proportions seem to enphasise the focus point of the image. His medium also looks quite old fashioned as many illustrators these days create computer generated images I like that he still paints and draws as this is something I like to do in my work also. Below are a few examples of his work:

Subprime

subprime from beeple on Vimeo.

Subprime is a video by Mike Winkelman trying to show Americas tendency towards over-consumption, and the housing crisis. The animation is done using Cinema4d and has a similar style to Jonny Kellys stopmotion piece The Seed with its polygon style elements and plain block colours. I like the design of the piece because it isnt mega realistic like alot of 3d is these days, and I like the camera vantage point too, rotating the same spot through each transition.

Amazing Paper Creations!

A while ago I came across an artist/sculptor called Peter Callesen from Denmark who creates amazing works of art using only pieces of paper, his choice size is mainly A4, which is similar to my work as I always start an idea using A4 paper, he then crafts and cuts the pieces into beautiful works of 3 dimensional art. I love the way all his work is so clean and precise, the attention to detail is what makes these pieces so pleasing in my opinion. His work ranges in difficulty also, but always has a suitable title that brings the work to life and gives it a meaning, for example "Big wave moving towards a small castle made of sand"(2005) which is fairly simple but very effective, whereas "Fall" (2008) is alot more complex and has a double meaning, playing on the word for autumn and a man fallen.
He has also done lots of installation work, stuff outdoors, on water and even in ice! I think his work has influenced me to take more attention to detail in the pieces I create,

Jetblue

Seat Monster from JetBlue on Vimeo.

Lovely 30 second advert for the airline Jetblue, animated by AAO (Against all odds) and Blacklist, Playing on the idea of having no legroom on airoplanes and the seat in front of you being your worst enemy! I really like the smooth animation style and the transition from one scene to another falling through the luggage compartment. I want to try and use some cool/unusual transitions in my final major project and as my adverts are also going to be 30 seconds long I will try to incorporate the fast pace to get across my message.

Close up photography

Something that has always interested me is photography, especially shots that show something you would not normally see or in a different way. I always try and take photos of things I think might make interesting images and although im no proffesional I think sometimes I get some good results. I managed to capture some images of a fly on my kitchen window a few weeks ago that really show some interesting details and colours that you would never notice otherwise like the red and gold on its head, almost looks like it was wearing a roman helmet, could be a good idea for an animation showing a swarm of flies as roman soldiers????/



















Also I found a dead wasp in my conservatory so I put it on a white piece of paper and lit it from above, I think this looks very strange almost like an alien autopsy, you can see all the tiny hairs o it and the colours under the light really stand out.























Also here is photo I shot a few months back when it was still cold, it shows an icicle/snowflake hanging from my wheely bin lid. There were lots of other photos like this that I cant seem to find that looked abit like faces