Fresh PES!

Who doesn't love the quirky clever perspective on the world animated by PES? I know I do! It's been a long time coming but here is some new stop motion goodness from the filmmaker, titled "Fresh Guacamole" a follow up to "Western Spaghetti."

Brand New School Uses Stop Motion to Animate 2010 AICP Sponsor Reel

Brand New School goes old school with a low-fi stop motion sponsor reel for this year's AICP awards. The team took advantage of the rich grimy streets of New York and used them as their abstract art backgrounds to illustrate the corporate sponsor titles. I just love the peeling paint and layers of old posters and graffiti they chose to use, such rich unique images that only time and exposure on the New York streets can create.

Here's the brief on the process from the Brand New School team:

Embracing Brand New School's passions for animation, photography and filmmaking, the team first created logo animations and printed those frames on individual, brightly colored pieces of paper. Then, armed with a Canon 5D, tape, and a small fleet of bicycles for transportation, they spent 5 days traveling multiple boroughs capturing the footage. "For each company's mark, we devised animations and then scoured neighborhoods in search of locations for them that would all work together," said Adolfsen. "We tried never to repeat ourselves, each time trying to raise the bar. It was like a big game, played on the walls and streets of the city." Music and mix credits for the Sponsor Reel go to the incredible talents at Stimmüng.

Billboards Come to Life with the Help of Olympus and Seeded by The Viral Factory

Billboard Ads come to life - your worst nightmare? Remember that Simpsons's Tree House of Horror when all of the advertising Icons were destroying the city? (just dont look- just dont look)

Well this is a lot less scary. A follow up to "The PEN Story" one year later - and super sized created from a series of stills blown up and photographed again in their surroundings with the PEN camera creating a new stop motion adventure.

for those of you interested in the origins of the story here ya go!

The Viral Factory's Solar Controlled Earth Hour Countdown

Earth Hour is upon us once again. This Saturday the 27th residents and businesses around the world will shut off for an hour in an act to conserve energy and unite in awareness of the energy crisis world wide.

The Viral Factory produced and created a light sensitive or interactive stop motion animation with music from Hot Chip for the occasion.

The version on the Earth Hour site senses the light level via your computer's web cam and dictates the version of the story told. Check it out for yourself here: http://www.myearthhour.org/lightsoff

The YouTube version has a built in toggle light switch so that you can jump back and forth between the story lines...very cool. i love this idea and the video is really entertaining too.

Freezelight Magic Forest

I've been feeling so uninspired lately and feel like there just hasn't been a lot of exciting new work out there. Am I wrong? If so please send me something!

Well, in thumbing through my vimeo i found this magical little film that made me smile. Created (I think) by matting images of the long exposure light animation with the clean forest stills. I like the playful interactions with the landscape - it made my day.

Freezelight Magic Forest from FREEZELIGHT.RU on Vimeo.

Animation from Clem Stamation, Wax Stag

Wax Stag - And How from Clem Stamation on Vimeo.

i love the rich colors, geometric shapes and the deliberate movements - really well done. I've been needing a new piece of animation to drool over lately!

A Tilt Shift Makeover for Colorama

Tilt shift filming and stop motion animation are used to create a fantasy, miniature feel for Colorama. The aesthetic leaves the viewer wondering whether they are looking at some thing real, or is it a model? The question alone does a great job at engaging the audience, and personally - it reminds me of Mr. Rodgers and the land of make believe, the nostalgia alone draws me in.

Colorama - Makeover from Upper First on Vimeo.

project via Upper First

Animated Amazon Kindle Commercial

One of my favorite new commercials on air is this darling, colorful and whimsical stop motion animated commercial for Amazon Kindle. So cute, right? But did you know it was the winner of a commercial contest? That's right not even professionally produced, impressive - the song was even written and performed by the actress in the ad.



Here is some background info from the creator Angela Kohler:

"My boyfriend, Ithyle Griffiths, and I had just purchased Kindles and were doing a lot of traveling when we got the e-mail about the contest. We were constantly approached in airports with questions about them. The best thing about the Kindle was that we no longer had to each pack five books in our luggage, and could pick and choose what book to open every time we boarded a flight. We wanted our commercial to reflect all the different books you can carry around in one device. On a plane from Japan to Thailand, we brainstormed ideas and sketched out little stories that our character could fall into following different literary genres. We scribbled out pictures on napkins and made a flip-book, putting the little scenes in different orders. The day of the shoot, we gutted a pillow to make clouds and smoke (a last-minute addition) and did the commercial in one seven-hour take. Our friend Annie Little starred in the spot, Sharon Williams was in charge of the wardrobe, Rachel DeSimone did the hair and makeup and we all worked together moving the scene inch by inch between shots. After we assembled the 300 or so frames, Ithyle wrote some music to accompany the clip, and that same day Annie sent over some lyrics that just happened to fit perfectly. They recorded it together the next day. We are so thrilled to have won both prizes because it means our film resonates with both Amazon corporate and their customers. We are really looking forward to attending the Gen Art Film Festival, and having our video recognized at the event is definitely icing on the cake."

Perspectives on a Girl

It's beginning to look like a girl power week around here but I couldnt help it. How cute are these films for Girl Guides? These two stop motion animated films are part of the Girl Guides, (Americans think Girl Scouts,) Film Festival. They are not only adorable but support the themes of the organization, encouraging girls to explore, create, and make friends through common interest.




via Motionographer

Milkyeyes Stop Motion Experiment

This is very cool. A stop motion experiment created with a complex layout of illustrations all turned in time. The artist is Donato Sansone aka Milkyeyes. Can't wait to see what he does next.

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.

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.

Making up a song about Coraline

Yep - finally, finally saw Coraline this weekend. So cute. I can't get enough of that clay stop motion animation look. Loved it. As many of you probably know, They Might be Giants originally was to create up to 10 songs for the film but it took a darker turn in production and the only one that made the final cut is the Other Fathers Song, sung by TMBG's John Hodgman who also played the role of Coraline's fathers in the film.

The Latest Lego Video Game Hommage

Since three people have sent this to me today and it's only noon I have to share. Check out this incredible stop-motion Lego feat, 8-bit Trip. What is it with Lego fans and retro video games? Why have the two become so tightly linked?


Thanks to Mike, Xandy and the other Facebook friends to share this with me today - check out some more Lego video game fun here.

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

Steampunk in Stop Motion

When The Falcon popped up on my Vimeo list this morning I was just thrilled, i love waking up to great creative ideas! It is a combination of some of my absolute favorite things, stop motion animation and vintage cameras - the result a Steampunk story about a cast of photographic characters battling exposure and depth of field.

As with most stop motion experiments, i first thought of PES, but then began to think of other Steampunk animated pieces that might be fun to dig up. What is Steampunk you ask? Steampunk is a subculture aesthetic that references the future using elements from our industrial past. Think gears, watch parts, and factory components combined to create something new. I think of Modern Times, Monty Python title cards, and the intro to You Can't Do That on Television.

Check out these commercials from 8fish that were featured as a part of this years' Addy Awards Ceremony, there were a total of 18 bumpers in the collection.

PES Launches Into Outer Space

Speak of the devil! It's new work from PES! This spot for Bacardi is via David and Goliath and so well timed with the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing. Enjoy.

Stop Motion Lego Arcade Games

I think I'm going to declare today a day of Legos! Check out these fabulous stop motion retro video games recreated with the classic toy. They are all there, Pac Man, Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, Frogger and more. This guy is good - look out PES!

Coldplay Strawberry Swing

The newest from Coldplay has sent me back to my sidewalk chalk obsessed childhood summers - if I had only kept up with it...

The stop motion animated superhero story is from Director Shynola of The Directors Bureau. Check out the sneak peak below, and the fully release version here.

Etsy Commercial Contest

The DIY marketplace is looking for an ad campaign, and what else would you expect than a contest from within it's own talent pool. Etsy has opened up the floor to their handmade audience to more or less - hand-make a commercial about an Etsy Handmade Moment. Checkout etsy for all the submissions and see below for some of my favorites. Shocker, they tend to be of the stop motion animated variety!