Ohana :: The Bear and the Hare

December 20, 2013April 5, 2016Leave a comment

The John Lewis Christmas Ad is one of the most anticipated of ads in the UK every holiday season. It’s kind of like the much awaited window displays in the larger department stores down Regent Street. The best part is that you can now watch these ads anywhere in the world.

John Lewis

Admittedly, John Lewis is encouraging the public to buy the greatest gifts of the season but their message is always a good one- do something special for those you love this Christmas. We could probably take a lesson from that other times of the year too. I think my favorite part of this video is that it doesn’t seem to matter what species the characters are- they all come together to celebrate. And of course don’t forget that they do what they can to include those who wouldn’t usually be able to be there.

I couldn’t help but post this as well- the making of The Bear and the Hare. I am always in awe of animation production, but this takes it a whole new level.

Blink

So there you are, two videos in one post and hopefully they made you smile even during this stressful time of year.

Classroom :: Geology

November 22, 2013April 5, 2016Leave a comment

Al Boardman

I never took a geology class per se, but I did take oceanography and we examined a lot of rocks and sand particles our Thursday afternoon labs. I know the ocean is a far cry from our highest mountains, but really it’s not as far as you many think. They are remarkable linked due to the rock cycle.

I like this video for many reasons- one is that I happen to live in the Pacific Northwest where there are mountains on either side of where I’m currently living. As anyone who’s been reading my blog for a while will know, I love going up into the mountains and hiking as much as possible in the summer. Another reason I love this video is the animation and the presence of Mt. Kilimanjaro- a mountain that I have actually summited, and Ojos del Salado in Chile, which I’ve looked at from a distance. It all boils down to the fact that mountains make me feel at home and I love that someone has created an ode to these magnificent natural monuments.

Classroom :: History of Film

November 19, 2013October 25, 2013Leave a comment

I took a brief film class in high school and we spent a lot of time watching Alfred Hitchcock movies. I say brief because it ended early due to our teacher getting ill. That aside, I still remember watching Vertigo in class.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/67871488 w=640&h=350]

Jean-Babtiste Lefournier

Hitchcock has been one of my favorite directors for years- long before I ever took a film class and as the nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but post this video.

How many of these movies have you seen?

Classroom :: Math

November 8, 2013October 25, 2013Leave a comment

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/77330591 w=640&h=190]

Parachutes.tv

Math was never my strong suit in school. Recently I have had to use it beyond balancing my bank account for the first time in a long time and I actually found myself enjoying it- not that I really got what I was doing. Math was always too theoretical for me. Too bad I didn’t have this video to make it more relevant.

Originality :: Life & Death

October 29, 2013September 29, 2013Leave a comment

“The Boundaries which divide life from death

Are at best shadowy and vague.

Who Shall say where the one ends,

And where the other begins?”

Edgar Allan Poe

Saskia Kretzschmann

The topics of death seems to be a theme this time of year. The garden annuals are dying away, the days are getting darker and we celebrate holidays surrounding death- All-Hallows-Eve, Dia de los Muertos… you get the idea.

So did Edgar Allen Poe. Perhaps this is not the most morbid interpretation of some of Poe’s work (because as anyone that knows anything about Poe, knows he wasn’t the most uplifting poet) yet I think this conveys this time of year perfectly.

Despite the depressing quality of his work, Poe seems to have described the gray line that separates us from life and death. Though many have tried, there is no way of really knowing what separates us from the other side and what happens after we take our last breaths. At the very least this short animation makes the grayness seem a little less daunting and actually makes it seem beautiful.

Originality :: Submarine

October 15, 2013July 19, 2013Leave a comment

Virgilio Villoresi

This might not be documentary, but I had to share this.

There are some amazing things that you can do with film now a days, especially now that everything is digitized. But you have to admit, there is something about the use of simple pencil and paper, a few cuts here and there and a straw or two that can make something incredible.

Harvest :: One drop of water

September 10, 2013July 19, 2013Leave a comment

Chris TUrner

So perhaps its cliche to talk about water while talking about food, but we wouldn’t exist without it, so may as well acknowledge it. We’ve had quite the year of forest fires and it’s times like these when we appreciated the water cycle more than ever.

I’m so glad that someone made the water cycle into a three dimensional story. I’m sure you remember the water cycle posters at school and although informative, they never seemed all that eye catching. Although this is still made out of paper, it’s far more interesting to the eye.

Michele Guieu

And as this is on the verge of getting preachy (I do apologize although I like the artistic qualities of the videos) I’ll leave it at that. Two important points… and two videos for the price of one.

Culture :: Mexican-U.S.Border

July 16, 2013August 28, 2013Leave a comment

Often we turn a blind eye to the things that we don’t wish to see. Sometimes it’s outside our window and sometimes it’s a hundreds of miles away. If we don’t see it, it doesn’t exist, right?

Viewer discretion advised

Visually

Although this short animation doesn’t actually show the violence of the Mexican drug cartels, it conveys the reality of a very real problem on both sides of the Mexican-U.S. border. Although many of us don’t ever see the reality of these problems, it is an important part of American and Mexican culture. And although it is not a flattering aspect of culture, it should be acknowledged just as we acknowledge the more positive parts of culture.

Art :: Animating Man

March 22, 2013August 28, 2013Leave a comment

by Amanda Nedermeijer

The story of man… cute and clever in less than three minutes! I love the interaction between the animator and the animation- it takes animation to a whole new level. I think it really illustrates the relationship between the artist and their creation and how our imaginations can really get away from us.

Art :: Learning the Alphabet

March 12, 2013August 28, 2013Leave a comment

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/56974716 h=360&w=640]

By fedelpeya

Simple, to the point and celebrates a type of art beyond film and animation- architecture. I think it beautifully celebrates some of the world’s most magnificent buildings and their creators while using the art deco style to exhibit each building. I like that so many artistic styles and topics are combined to make this short film – plus it manages bring such a global perspective into a seemingly simple short.

emfirno

documentary production

Tag: animation