Nando Costa’s colorful career recently took another interesting turn when he joined Bent Image Lab as a director/partner. The fruit of that union can be tasted in his first project with Bent, a music video for Modest Mouse’s “Whale Song.”
Nando took time to fill us in with loads of juicy behind-the-scenes details, as well as bringing us up to speed on life after Nervo.
Anthony F. Schepperd’s “Wail To God” is a subversion of conventional animation. Suffused with an unorthodox style reminiscent of Bill Plympton, viewers are jolted by constant shifts in perspective, while the uncanny non-narrative plays out with a graceful continuity.
In “Wail To God,” there are none of the usual clichés. The darting changes in scale, color, and motion are freakishly cool, while the loose and frenetic line-work—moving with the ferocity of brush-fire—add another layer of unpolished appeal.
The style—or experimental risks—in “Wail To God” may not be for everybody, but in my opinion, they’re highly refreshing.
Sean Pecknold (aka Grandchildren) is back with a new music video inspired by Jan Švankmajer, Hospital Brut, 60’s magazines, and Tintin books. I’m loving the joyful harmonizing vocals matched with the retro color palette and signature whimsical stop-motion animation. Style frames courtesy of Pecknold after the jump.
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others
Director – Sean Pecknold
DP – Michael Ragen
AD – Tristan Seniuk
Illustrations – Toby Liebowitz
Animators – Sean Pecknold & Britta Johnson
Producer – Joy Saez
4 faced mask – Jack Strain
Record label – Warp
Special thanks – Robin, Lisa, Greg, and Aja Pecknold, Jennifer Popochock, Toby Liebowitz, Center Valley Animal Shelter
Taking a break from his day job in architectural visualization, Gabe Askew’s fan video for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” goes in an entirely different direction from the official video directed by Patrick Daughters (embedded after the jump).
Gabe’s 2.5D opus is a delightful journey through countless faux analogue dioramas inhabited by paper-mâché-like creatures and flattened illustrations dangling from the proscenium. Gabe nimbly avoids the “say cow, see cow” approach, instead opting for metaphorical devices that mix naturalistic imagery with human forms gliding, battling and embracing throughout myriad environments.
Thanks for the tips, Jostein Finnekasa and Jeffrey Zablotny!
Plaza Films’ Helen Clemens directs a curious odyssey for Eskimo Joe’s “Losing Friends Over Love” music video. The project’s gentle ambiance is shot through with streaks of tension, creating a compelling narrative arc within a claustrophobic world.
Animated by Pete Commins (Partizan), the video’s faux stop-motion feel, electro-mechanical props and use of room-based vignettes remind me a little of the classic Super Furry Animals “It’s Not the End of the World” video (created by David and Laurent Nicolas), but “Losing Friends” has a look-and-feel all its own, driven as it is by the innocent exploration of the lead character.
Following up on his poetic short film “Seeking You,” director Jean-Julien Pous recently released a new music video for Gedda Headz’ (MySpace) first single, “Spaced Out.”
Like the track, the visuals are a wild blend of analogue and digital. Shot in Hong Kong, because, says Pous, “it’s futuristic and intense, like an Asian Neverland,” the video is a tripped out journey through pop culture and video games shot beautifully by cinematographer Keidrych Wasley.
The video bites off a lot—aside from directing a dozen or so actors and coordinating their stunts with George Jackson, Pous packed his project to the gills with ambitious camera work, including a helicopter shoot. But the production never feels overwrought or Michael Baysian. It just feels fun.
With excellent character design like this, it looks as though Gedda Heads might be following in the footsteps of Gorillaz, channeling their music through their new alter egos. That’d be fine with me. It’d give them a good excuse to hire Jean-Julien Pous again.
Although some of the compositing doesn’t quite hold up throughout, there are still some great moments. I see a pretty wide viral appeal in the life of this piece with definite YouTube responses in the very near future. Keep your eyes out for the first agency to repeat this one as well…
Emilio Gomariz, a Madrid-based art director, created and colored 22,655 empty folders in OS X to create an engaging type-based animation.
This video adds to the tradition of using the OS and/or software applications as media for animation. For other works in the same spirit, continue past the jump.
Warning: This video contains strong language, simulated sex and violence. Might not be suitable for some environments.
For the NASA (North America South America) Project’s “A Volta,” Santa Monica-based Logan built a dim lit nightmarish world of isometric madness and ultraviolence inspired by the artwork of The Date Farmers.
It wasn’t meant to be a great “story” but just another structural device to keep the viewer occupied. It’s a music track with a “plot” thinly stretched over it. I thought it might be clever to turn this video into a mini-film with a semblance of a plot. A plot that has the same level of strategically naive incompetence and misdirected energy that is implied in the work of Date Farmers.
If you’ve been following Motionographer for a while, you’re no stranger to Logan’s work. While they’re capable of producing consistently slick commercials for clients like Apple and Lexus, they refuse to be easily pigeonholed.
Projects like Toyota “Meet” and their Metal Gear Solid 4 interstitials defy categorization and challenge rational thinking. Skewing towards post-modern modes of presentation that leverage dissonance, juxtaposition and suspension of resolution, these works show that Logan is as interested in exploring formal qualities of storytelling as they are in straightforward narrative.
Case in point: The “making of” featurette Logan created for “A Volta” does little to reveal technical details, opting instead for an obtusely entertaining mockumentary:
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A. during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
