Blender Workflow for Feature Films - Jama Jurabaev

This amazing concept artist explains why Blender is his go-to tool for thrashing out ideas.

VISITING -Episode 1

This ongoing project by Louis du Mont on which I've posted before has finally produced it's first episode. Virtually a one man operation, although all credit to the few others who have helped make this thing look so good and professional (I particularly loved the sound production), we can now see the potential of this scenario in context of a narrative.


Visiting Episode 1 from Louis du Mont on Vimeo.

A great start, but keep them coming, I want more.

'Visiting'. A Work in Progress

This short film project has been in development for a while now, and the creator has just put up a website to properly document it. The subject is a small alien astronaut and his adventures on Earth, that's all we know at this stage.

As you can see, the shot design is fairly high end, it's all the work of Louis Dumont, a young London designer who works primarily in Lightwave for his 3D animation, and who has been exploring the avenues of film production with SLR cameras and custom built rigs.

Camera Rig Test from Louis du Mont on Vimeo.

Penn & Jenison - A new type of film making.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Tim's Vermeer. This interview is fascinating for the insight it provides, plus it's entertaining to just watch intelligent people talk.



Having not seen the finished result I'm left wondering if this might be one of those films such as "The Blair Witch Project" or Greengrass's "United 93" that incorporates the technology of film making into an event, taking it along for the ride.

Tarantino vs Lynch on Film vs Digital

Two modern masters of cinema, and two views on the biggest change to cinema  in my lifetime. First the entertaining, deeply held, glib sounding but fully considered views of Quentin Tarantino.



Next a deeply enigmatic yet compelling view from David Lynch.



I agree with both artists, but Lynch is the innovator here with Tarantino as the traditionalist. Technology has always been the main driver of culture, but that doesn't mean we must drop everything old for the new. We are at that interesting stage of the process where we're seeing a lot of mistakes being made with the new technology, some of those mistakes will actually stick and become the new standard. Lynch's 'Lighter, smaller, less crew' pragmatism can't really be argued with, yet Tarantino's 'illusion of movement' is still the very core of the cinematic experience. Currently both these two ideas can work together but with less considered minds at the helm of the digital vanguard we could easily lose the latter. By that I'm talking about the revolutionary aspect of this technology, the fact that more people can get their hands on it, spend less time learning it, and pump out product in large enough volumes to swamp the culture and become the new normal. We need to watch that.

BOBO by Mike Scott

Lovely dream ambiance in this masterful doodle-like short. All penned by the animator Mike Scott with his brother David doing an incredible job with the soundtrack. Watch in full HD for the best effect.



It's another small scale yet big seeming production, the vista-vision frame aspect does some of the work but notice the visual shot construction, there is a strong sense of where things are in relation to everything as a whole. The audio mix is high quality as well and brings it's own dimension to the story.

The animator is using Anime Studio Pro (my latest software obsession) and Photoshop. Check out Mike Scott's blog.

Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

Best use of a cat in an opening and closing credit sequence, ever. I've been on a bit of a Brook Benton kick of late and that's how I happened upon this classic Saul Bass title sequence. Brook is heard over the closing credits.



I marvel at the execution of the feline stroll sequence, the silky smooth linear moves and even the attitude of the cat who has genuine presence. The video has a minute or so of hold at the tail and nothing happens after the two title sequences, just warning you. I wonder how a modern production would approach this? I doubt it could be bettered.

Old School

Here's a tiny gem of full bodied 100% film making genius. Micro Mayhem was produced by the same studio that makes Robot Chicken. This huge action setting was constructed small but treated big.



The links take you to the League Of Buddies studio website where you find all the handcrafted inspiration. That should keep you occupied for a bit.

The Pixel Painter

Just found this by total accident. it's so inspirational and well made I had to put it up here. Hal Lasko, a retired ex-typographer went digital and started producing amazing pixel art. The credits are also juxtaposed against some of his art and it all looks quite wonderful.



Directed by Josh Bogdan and Ryan Lasko
Photography by Topaz Adizes
Music by Jarod Pedone and Tyler Brown

SCALE by Anna Celarek

This is a brilliant piece of work by Anna Celarek. It purports to be about scale, but what is the scale?




She totally avoids the slick smooth motion of CGI and uses a handcrafted stop motion technique. More information can be found here.

Another little self made film document

Well, I thought I'd post up a second little film experiment using Adobe Premier, not because it's exceptional but simply because it's part of my slow progression into actual film making using the new tools of the digital age. It amazes me that a single person can shoot stuff and then wrap up post production so quick and easy, that used to be the killer for short film making back in the day, most of my own projects fell apart at the editing stage. Thank god I can do it all myself now.



This latest effort is just to document something my brother is up to at the moment, I could go back and shoot more material to make it more rounded, but I left it short and rough, no color grading, no dissolves and just camera sound. Good enough for what it is

Sydney VIVID 2013 - The Last Hour

Well we tried to get to the VIVID festivus for the rest of us, but traffic was a three hour crawl around the city and all I saw was cars and people, and the people seemed to be all shoulder to shoulder like sardines. However on the very last night on the last hour before they shut everything down, we went in and traffic and parking was easy, so here is a short compilation of what we saw.



This is the first thing I've ever edited on Premier, I found that I could more or less guess my way through using it and now I really want to get into shooting and editing stuff. It's so quick and immediate compared to animation.

ADAM SHARP - Animator - Filmmaker

I just love this, the character designs are completely lovable and the whole piece has an authentic 50's Sci-Fi vibe.


More about the creator here.
I should probably mention that his latest short has made it into the Melbourne International Animation Festival.
"...the biggest problem with making shorts on your own is the time it takes before anyone gets to see them. My "latest" short has taken about 4 years, then it has to do the festivals before I can put it online. So its old work by the time anyone see's it. Think my next one will be a lot shorter." Adam Sharp

SYMBIOSIS a short film by Mitchell Counsell

Well you know the rules, I like it, so it goes up here. An awesome student film done by a Maya virgin who obviously took his classes seriously, most veterans would be happy to have something this well realized in there body of work.



And since I'm just randomly posting cool stuff there is also this similar but different animation that also successfully transports us into alien reality. Both films have wonderful glitchy soundtracks as well.


Animation by Yannik Puig Music by David Lascombe and Sebastien Lecocq

Institute for Centrifugal Research documentary

Do you enjoy amusement rides? What about bemusement rides?



Part of what makes this so effective is the authentic nature of the background sound mix for the fairground shots. The script is also very clever, by the end you almost agree with the professor's thoughts. The actual website for the Institute for Centrifugal Research is where it's all explained. Do also click on the 'FrameBox' tab while you're there for further illumination.