Diane Birch One Take Music Video

This video from Diane Birch for 'Valentino' directed by Dennis Liu of @radical.media is another great feat in choreography. Though the planning stages had to be extremely complex the end result has almost a sweet low-fi essence to it that reminds me of children performing in front of a tied up sheet for the neighborhood. The reality of the degree of performance couldn't be more different as is evident in the behind the scenes footage where the screen comes down.

Jamie Cullum Cry Me a River from the House of Blues

I had the pleasure of seeing Jamie Cullum perform at the House of Blues here in Boston over the weekend. One of the highlights, for me, was his amazing remix of Cry Me a River combining the original song from Ella Fitzgerald and the Justin Timberlake hit with the same name. Being a masshole i have to admit the Aerosmith cover off of Rock and a Hard Place is one of my favorite renditions of the heartbreaking Fitzgerald classic but this one is in tough competition, split into two videos below.



...and in true Two If By See style i have to share the originals for the full effect:

OK GO Plays Mousetrap with This Too Shall Pass

It's nice to see that OK GO has continued it's run of excellent, and hopefully virally successful, music videos. You remember Mouse Trap right? (the board game, not the movie) if not what about the breakfast scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventure?

Well OK Go, with the help of director James Frost (Zoo Films) and Syyn Labs created a life sized, and extremely intricate, moving chain reaction machine that in itself took months of pre-planning to create before the camera choreography was even a thought - the end result - fun. really really fun. Check it out.

Here's some trivia for you, the actual name of such a machine is a Rube Goldberg machine, a machine that achieves a simple task in an over complicated or convoluted manner.

Want to see that Pee Wee scene? You got it!

Jeff Scher Animates The Little Drummer Boy for Bob Dylan

Every now and then i see some work that blows me away and when researching the artist more i can't help but ask - have i been living under a rock?

I saw this new video for Bob Dylan's rendition of Christmas classic The Little Drummer Boy on Motionographer and was totally wowed by the dreamy surrealist take on animation, a painters perspective on animation, with all of the beautiful imperfections and personal translations built right in. I have this watercolor of Paris in the rain bought off the street while studying abroad with the people represented by impressionist streaks of oranges, purples and reds that immediately comes to mind.



i had to see more from animator Jeff Scher and felt like an excited child as i watched all of the work i could find by the artist.

No Time


Tulips


L'eau Life


Milk of Amnesia


there is plenty more about Jeff out there go check out his website for more info about his paintings and animation.

Flaming Lips Animated Fight Test from Ka-chew!

I'm missing LA today and thinking of driving and listening to the Flaming Lips with the windows down.

These animated videos are from director Sean Nadeau of Ka-Chew!

Susie and Jessie Create Bad Shoes

My dear friend Susie is getting married in Vegas this weekend, and to celebrate i want to share one of her music videos that i think absolutely belongs in the - wow i have such talented friends categories.

The video is for "Bad Shoes" by Dagger Lees, created by Directing/Editing/Writing Duo Susie and Jessie (Susie Morrell, Jessie Ward). Check it out and see below for a little background info from Sue on the concept and the creative process.

The Dagger Lees - Bad Shoes from jessie ward on Vimeo.

What came first the medium or the concept? Did you have the camera and want to experiment or did the inspiration for the look of the film come directly from the song/artist?

The whole thing was inspired by a dress! Donna, the lead singer, found this amazing vintage Victorian nightgown and from that they were inspired to make a video for their upcoming single that evoked a similar menacing, old time air. Well, I guess a nightgown isn't menacing but it's still a little decrepit and creepy! We like the idea of making videos that look vintage themselves and we all decided to make the film look like it was shot entirely on super8 (we both have our super8s and love them, but budget constraints - and practicality - make producing music vids on super8 basically impossible for us).

I love the use of the iconic villain from the silent era. Can you tell me a little about the story line and where it came from?

Once we had the visual motif in mind, we decided to cast each band member as a unique character. Donna was the little girl lost in a nightmare set in the forest. Grum (guitarist) was the pied piper villain. Benni (bass) was the living doll gone mad, breaking her dolls (possibly a little girl lost herself who never made it out of the woods). And Justin (drums) is the odd man in the background who digs graves and plays with clocks.

We came from the visual first - the characters, their individual locations in the woods, the props they held and their costumes, and from that formed the loose plot of a our girl waking up in the woods, disoriented and without her way, befriending a little boy who, unbeknownst to her, is actually in cahoots with the Bad Man in the Top Hat. [Oh, another tidbit, the little boy is Donna's real life son, Steven.]

The use of color or lack of it is obviously very deliberate - anything you want to say about that decision? (aside from the fact the red lips pop amazingly among the desaturated film!)

Thanks! Yes, originally, it was to be all black and white. Then we tried sepia. Then as we were playing with the footage, we watched Donna's singing parts in oversaturated color and thought she looked amazing and that it would be a shame to lose all that color. So a happy accident really! Some parts (like her being tied to the tree) were filmed during a wintry sunset and the sunlight was unbelievable. We decided a happy medium of the cold, old film look in some scenes and the overblown color in others was a little risk we wanted to take. Call it indecision, we think it adds another layer visually. It also adds a little more dreamlike, home movie meets nightmare quality to it. At least we like to think so.

What's in the box!?

A lamb's heart. They were out of pig that day. It was my job to go buy it. The things I do for our projects!

Compared to the other videos the two of you have created this one stands out in tone I think. Do you aim to be diverse or is your style more circumstantial? Is this a look you'd like to explore further?

The variation in tone from project to project is both circumstantial - the artists we've worked with so far and perhaps most importantly their non-existent budgets - as well as our completely all-over-the-place personal preferences. Clearly, we both LOVE silent movies, super8 films, nostalgia, vintage imagery, experimental cinema, abstraction. We are also interested in technology and using that to create interesting art, hence our dabbling in somewhat "techy" looking video effects on the Neosupervital vid, which suited that band's synth-pop style. I think it's a coincidence that the majority of bands we've made videos with so far are into making stuff look old, but it's a coincidence that suits our interests too. (And actually, ever since the Dagger Lee video, everyone seems to say they want a super8 looking video like that one!)

How do you and Jesse work together...does one of you tend to be more involved with the talent while the other with the camera for instance or is it a full on collaboration in all aspects?

Definitely a total collaboration. Jessie would have been more into the technical side of film school at NYU (she intended initially to become a cinematographer) while I was more interested in writing. Seems we've both ended up in the directing arena, but our two distinct jumping off points in studying film is probably the reason we both like to come up with the ideas, shoot, direct and edit simultaneously. I think we've both mixed nicely as well in that we both collaborate creatively on each project, while both manning the camera (I'm always trying to become more technically adept). It also helps that we're very close friends - I'm sure not many directors are able to share camera and directing duties, then sit in front of an editing suite for days on end without killing each other! We find it fun, if exhausting.

Check out more work from Susie and Jessie here

Animated Deforestation New Music Video from Clyde Peterson

Set to the tune of "Already Gone" from The Shaky Hands, Clyde Peterson illustrates a story about the destructive consumption of human kind with his unique style of animation. I love his use of Lincoln Logs and other toys, there is something poignant about using childhood references to produce such a strong message. Check it out.

Seu Jorge does Bowie

My friend Sue has got some Bowie up on her blog today, what a good way to start out the morning? Since i'm a little sleepy I'm feeling a little more like Seu Jorge does Bowie myself.

I heart They Might Be Giants

I love They Might Be Giants - it's the melodic geek in me. It started as a child when i was drawn to them because of the pure silliness - I returned a Bag of Groceries, Particle Man, Istanbul was Constantanople. Over the years they have written a number of my favorite tunes - Twisting, First Kiss, End of the Tour - and they have amazing videos to accompany many of them - which I surprisingly haven't really explored before. Here is a little film done to the tune of Dr. Worm for Nickelodeon's Ka-Blam.




expect much more in the near future!

Puff the Magic Dragon

So sad, another iconic loss this week, Mary Travers has passed away.

New From Grandchildren, While You Wait for the Others

You know I've been loving the animation of Grandchildren, the latest for band Grizzly Bear does not disappoint.

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

I love how the stop motion of the actual person takes on the appearance of 2D animation when shown in the pulled out multiples. Can't wait to see what Sean Pecknold does next because apparently he becomes better at his craft with each project.

Novocain for the Soul

I couldn't help it, I just came back from the dentist. A classic from the Eels, actually, probably the song that put them on the map. The Music Video was directed by Mark Romanek.

The Music Videos of Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor is another one of my favorite artists, not only because of her infectious voice and talent for lyrical storytelling, but because of her mesmerizing music videos. Many times with animated elements (which you know I love!) to add a layer of fantasy, the visual interpretations of her work always augment her already complex works of art.

I was first introduced to Regina Spektor when a client of mine, a few years ago now, called Company X, was responsible for editing the video for On The Radio.
On The Radio Directed by Matt Lenski


Regina Spektor - Samson Directed by Peter Sluszka


Better Directed by Marc Webb


Laughing With Directed by Adria Petty


Eet Directed by Adria Petty


Fidelity Directed by Adria Petty


Regina Spektor - Us Directed by Adria Petty

Joe Cocker Little Help From My Friends Translation

Just a final Woodstock tidbit to make you smile before the weekend. This video translates Joe Cocker's Woodstock rendition of Little Help From My Friends, guaranteed to make you smile.

Oliver Peoples Catches a Tuesday

Oliver Peoples Eyewear brings Zooey Deschanel and one of my favorite musical artists, Matt Costa together in a short promotional film, Catch A Tuesday, directed by photographer/director Autumn De Wilde.

I am in love. From the seventies double exposed film aesthetic to the retro-indie styling, i WANT to live in that world.
Thanks Andrea for sharing it with me!

Outstanding Concert Video Backdrops

I found this awesome animated backdrop for Led Zeppelin's live performances of Kashmir in my Vimeo suggestions today. It was created by Steve Scott.

Led Zeppelin

I think it's amazing and mesmerizing and it got me thinking about all of the mind bending concert videos and backdrops I've seen in my life so I started hunting. Sadly I couldn't find much at all aside from video accompaniments for Madonna, Britney Spears and the Spice Girls...I've included some below.

Madonna




Britney Spear Circus




I recently saw Elton John and Billie Joel perform, and one of the videos that I was digging for in particular was a copy of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road animated backdrop. While I have yet to find it i wanted to share this backdrop for Your Song. It's very simple but somehow just simple enough that it doesn't take anythign away from the words - a great pairing I think.

Elton John - Your Song from Kate Dawkins on Vimeo.

If anyone has any other examples of Concert Backdrop Videos and Animation - I'd love to see them and add to this collection, please send them over!

Every Town...Has It's Ups and Downs

I'm having one of those days and for some reason just really wanted to hear this song, Not in Nottingham. From Disney's Robin Hood written by Roger Miller.

Heath Ledger Directed Modest Mouse Music Video

The much anticipated directing project from Heath Ledger - for Modest Mouse tune, Rat King, - has finally been released. The animated video tells the story of burly whale sea captains gruesomely fishing the seas for humans. The story was created to support Sea Shepherd an organization that defends ocean wildlife worldwide.


The illustration and co-direction credits go to Daniel Auber via production company The Masses. Check out The Masses Website for more on the process of making the video with and without Heath.

Ray Ban Never Hide Booth Remix

Ok, so I'm a little slow on the uptake on this one, the Never Hide Booth was actually set up by Ray Ban during the SXSW festival this June. But how cool is this mix? Squeak E. Clean & Rossangeles mixed the audio from the booth together to make a song - love it!


I think it's super cool....and just because I feel like it, here is the viral sensation that is a couple years old now, the Ray Ban Sunglasses Face Catch. Enjoy!

Montreal's Departement Does It All

Boutique Creative Studio Departement, based in Montreal, has just finished their latest project, a music video for The Cliks. The artfully crafted film showcases beautifully realized high speed footage, an eerie looming cloaked character, and lots and lots of film magic.

Departement has their hands in interactive design, branding, immersive design and direction and clearly is skilled in all aspects. Check out their latest demo reel for the full spectrum of their capabilities. I'm impressed by their diversity, a testament to their range in skills.

"We want to push things further into immersive design, music video,sound design and commercial campaigns (TV and Interactive)." said Thibaut Duverneix a Director/Creative at Departement "We love the creative process and experimentation, we also develop our own tools to create exciting design, imagery, sound and experience."

I can't wait to see what lies in their creative future.