F5 RE:PLAY FILMS 03

Another week, another great batch. We have RE:PLAY films from James Copeman & Sam Renwick and Peppermelon with music/sound design from David Kamp. Two wildly different approaches to happiness, but both focusing on singular protagonists who yearn for the understanding of the world around them.

JAMES COPEMAN – “THE TELL TAIL”

“The brief was really open, all it said was “happiness”. It got me thinking about an interview I’d read with actor Christopher Walken a few weeks earlier. In it, he had mentioned his desire to have a tail. ‘It would be so great to have a tail. It would be like.. Look, get back, don’t fuck with Chris today, look at his tail, he looks pissed.’

This got me thinking, I thought how it would be to have a tail that expressed your basic emotions that were subconscious and you couldn’t control it. I pitched this idea to my good friend Sam Renwick, we then sat down and started writing funny scenarios and problems caused by having a tail.The protagonist would struggle with it, and ultimately find happiness in hacking the tail off with some DIY cosmetic surgery. I knew Sam could play the lead character. It was great to get Ed Rutherford on board to shoot it and Caroline Story was really excited about making some prosthetic dog tails. I was concerned about getting the narrative across in under 2mins but somehow it works, and people seem to get it. Sam and I are now working on our next short.”

PEPPERMELON – “fIRST”

FROM PEPPERMELON: “This is PepperMelon’s first approach to classic storytelling, but with the ol’ characteristic pink colors, tweaks and quirks of Garcia’s style…Happiness is to inspire and be inspired; it is the result of connecting with someone else. fIRST represents happiness as something that needs to be shared with someone to actually lift our hearts. True creations, true happiness cannot be achieved while being alone; it is something shared in a crowd, or in twos. Happiness is not about smiling, but about connecting. And, there’s always a first time for all of us to experience this. This is the story…of a fIRST.”

FROM DAVID KAMP: “The piece was a lot of fun to work on, especially since its quite different from my usual musical endeavours. I collaborated with a friend back from my university days. He is a trained Cellist and played the Cello parts on the piece, which i think really brought it to life. I feel like the cello really helps to connect you to the main character and his feelings. An inspiration in that regard was the Cello Theme in Wong Kar-Wai’s great Film “In the mood for Love”. Its been a while that i saw the film, but the melancholic feeling i remembered from that movie was what i wanted to express in my score. The project was a great challenge in the limited amount of time and in between other jobs, but i think the result is a nice little short.”

Posted on Motionographer

HAPPY F5 – FINAL SPEAKERS AND FULL LINE-UP/SCHEDULE

Happy F5 April 15 – 16 2011 by Hi-Sim from F5 on Vimeo.

If you’ve been patiently awaiting this post, thank you.

To clue you in on the behind-the-scenes since November, we’ve been working NON-STOP to reach out and secure the speakers who you’ve all wanted to see. There have been hundreds of recommendations – tons of outreach emails – and so many wonderful responses from artists who see F5 as the gateway to new playgrounds of creativity. This curation would’ve made for a great reality show, but we lack the tans and vocal chops to secure future syndication.

Our final group of speakers for Happy F5:

  • Mark Romanek: visionary film director behind “Never Let Me Go” and “One-Hour Photo” – as well as countless iconic music videos and commercials
  • Neil Huxley: accomplished creative director of Mothership and Digital Domain, creator of UI for Avatar, and AD on titles for Watchmen
  • Tanya Morgan: hip hop duo behind one of the genre’s most acclaimed and celebrated albums of the last two years
  • Adam Bly: founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Seed Media Group and visualizing.org with tomorrow on his mind
  • PressPausePlay: David Dworsky and Victor Köhler’s exciting new documentary on cultural creativity and the digital revolution

Closing the show on Friday night, PressPausePlay will introduce something new to the festival’s history: a screening of a yet-to-be-released film and discussion with the filmmakers. It’s a powerful work on the future of our collective artistry in the face of a democratized culture. And a thoughtful opportunity to reassess the positives and negatives behind technological innovation.

To recap and refresh the full line-up of Happy F5:

  • Kid Koala: DJ and turntablist extraordinaire
  • Scott Belsky: cutting-edge business leader of Behance
  • Wayne White: legendary art director of Pee Wee’s Playhouse and banjo star
  • Adam Sadowsky (Syyn Labs): president of the engineering whiz-kid collective behind the massive Rube Goldberg machine in OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass” music video
  • Nathan Love: top-notch animation studio and masters of character animation
  • Buck: trailblazing creative shop with pop illustration powers
  • Radical Friend: acclaimed experimental//experiential directing duo
  • Onesize: creative studio powerhouse
  • Eclectic Method: audiovisual remix masters with culture on their minds
  • Heather Knight: innovator of robotic entertainment
  • Jacob Escobedo: celebrated network exec-cum-designer behind [adult swim], Cartoon Network, and a whole slew of musical projects
  • Tool of North America: leading the new wave of interactive storytelling

The RE:PLAY film festival brings together a number of the best studios and independent directors out there to create short films on the simple topic of happiness.

And, as the icing on the cake, the RE:VISION gallery space will showcase the work of emerging and world-renowned artists and designers.

We’d be remiss to not point out the final piece to Happy F5 in 2011. Each morning before the festival begins, the first ever Motion Design Roundtable will convene to begin crafting a Code of Standards for the motion design industry. We’ve invited representatives from the different parts of our industry to the forum for two hours each morning. F5 is the perfect occasion for this gathering of minds, and we’re confident that the work the Motion Design Roundtable undertakes will help shape the industry for the better. All results will be posted on Motionographer for feedback from the industry-at-large. Wish them luck!

Whew. Inspiration, discussion, balloons, games, drinks…this year’s event has it all. Check out the speakers page for a schedule of all speaker sessions.

And, since some of your bosses are still breathing down your neck to hit that Friday deadline – we’re now offering one-day only tickets for Saturday, April 16th. Check the tickets page for more info.

//Hat tip to Hi-Sim for graciously allowing us to use their beautiful RE:PLAY short above! See it both days at F5//

 



Posted on Motionographer

2011 RE:PLAY Film Festival

Tradition ain’t something to mess with. It’s got a hungry heart and a thirsty soul.

At F5, the fun isn’t only on-stage and at the bar – the screens at Roseland give some love back too. Content created exclusively for the festival will premiere through our RE:PLAY film festival.  We invited a number of the best studios and independent directors out there to create short films ranging in length from 15 seconds to 2 minutes on the topic of happiness.

The films will be shown on the main stage at F5 between speakers, on plasmas around the event space, on Motionographer (afterwards) and on the F5 website.

Who wants to know the RE:PLAY line-up?

This super talented group is a cross-section of some of the best artists to pass through Motionographer in the last year. Be the first to see something created entirely for you. (Price and Waterhouse has it under lock and key — even we don’t see get to see the full program before it premieres)

Posted on Motionographer

Peppermelon Fresh Projects

Peppermelon updates! My favourite in this batch is the MTV ‘Los Premios 3009′ (MTV Awards 2009). It features eye-popping futuristic imagining of the 3 main cities: Bogota (top section), Mexico City (middle), and Buenos Aires (bottom). I recommend playing the HD teaser for the most satisfying viewing experience. Also, don’t miss the design rationale here.

Two other favourites of mine : Fox’s Retro Classifica (left, below) and Zilveren Kruis (right, below). Both features very well-considered character and environment designs, yet each is very different from the other.

Without a doubt, Peppermelon has sealed their reputation as one of the best and most versatile studios in the industry.

Posted on Motionographer