Literal Video Craze

It seems like these literal music videos have been popping up all over the last few days, from my Facebook to Perez Hilton. Why? Because they are SO good!!

See for yourself...
Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Version


White Wedding Literal Version


What are your favorite Literal Video renditions?

The Beatles:Rock Band Trailer Debuts at E3

I havent' found who made it yet but will post the info as soon as I do! Doesn't it shout the fun and energy of The Beatles?

Update: It was made at Passion Pictures director is Pete Candeland and animator Robert Valley. (credits via Cartoon Brew)

Check out the cinematic trailer:



And the E3 Debut Trailer:

Toyota Prius finds Harmony Over the Rainbow

This commercial, (I know you have probably all seen it) brings the biggest smile to my face whenever i see it, it reminds me of Dorothy's first steps into Munchkin Land and Charlie's Chocolate Factory at the same time. The insane amount of choreography, both physically and between the director, DP, and VFX team to pull off such a large scale tapestry of moving people pieces is amazing.

Check out the spot:


...and a making of!

Sorry I'm Late from Tomas Mankovsky

This outstanding achievement in stop motion animation is a colorful and creative journey played out on the floor in the style of the widely successful Her Morning Elegance video. Shot through production company Blink Sorry I'm Late is a testament to the fact that no matter how big of a crew, or how many resources you might have at your disposal when it comes to this type of animation the real art comes from a few meticulous tests and a lot of going with your gut.

The result is sure to bring a smile to your face, and how great is the use of forced perspective?! There is also a website full of test footage and behind the scenes goodies for those that want to know more. Enjoy!

Photographic Collage Artist Jessica Burko

While on the SoWa Art Walk a few weeks ago one of the collections that really caught my eye was these collage pieces from Jessica Burko. Each piece is a unique combination of found patterns, papers, fabrics, clothing patterns and photos hand stitched together creating beautiful, complex, and tactile, final works of art. One of the things that i love most about this series is that you never see a face clearly - I think the hidden identity really helps the viewer to relate to the image on a much more personal level because of it - at least I did!


















Jessica also has an extensive collection of Polaroid transfers some of which she has turned into illustration. Again, taking something that could be a piece of art in its own right and pushing it one step further. Beautiful work, check out Jessica's website for more!

CHANEL No 5 Aurdey Tautou in Train De Nuit

The follow up to the gorgeous Nicole Kidman/Baz Luhrman Chanel No. 5 short film is this gem from Amalie director and actress Jean-Pierre Juenet and Audrey Tautou.



Ah love, Jean-Pierre's film always looks so rich and romantic it suits Chanel perfectly.

The special treat? A making of video. "Recreating with pictures the emotions induced by a scent is an interesting challenge" Enjoy!

What is Masterpiece 2.0?

Masterpiece 2.0 is a social media art project by Dutch artists/designers Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak. What makes it 2.0? It's a single canvas being repeatedly painted over a six week period that is directly influenced by the viewers via the web and social media. Viewers are encouraged to interact, suggest subjects to be added to the painting or even have a cameo in the animated painting (for a small fee.)

In addition to the actual Masterpiece 2.0, Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak have been documenting the experience daily through the site with making on images and daily time lapse videos on YouTube. And the animation, eventhough it is essential a work in progress is great, when you take the creative process into account it brings it to a whole other level. Very cool, I suggest heading over to Masterpiece 2.0 to check it out right away.


Masterpiece 2.0, a social media art project by Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak.

How in the world did I stumble onto this? Wooster Collective.

Photographer Barbara Cole for Anthropology

How gorgeous are these? and what a great pairing of brand and aesthetics for Anthropology and Barbara Cole? These photos are fit to hang blown up huge in a gallery, yet we are all lucky enough to get them for free in our mailboxes for the Anthropology summer 2009 catalog.
Beautiful right? Barbara speaks about this shoot, using water to distort imagery, and how it affects light on her website.

New Illustrations from Mario Sughi

I awoke to find these colorful, intriguing, and delicately sexy illustrations from Mario Sughi in my in box. The vignettes seem to me like snap shots of idle moments within larger scenes of action. I was instantly drawn in first by the lines and colors only to be held further with exploration of the scene and the possibility of moments that might occur immediately after these freeze frames which may or may not hold any significance in and of themselves.

Mario was kind enough to offer some of his own thoughts about these latest illustrations, all of which were created in the last three or four months:

My first preoccupation is always about forms and colors. And my aim is to create balanced, elegant and clear images. They are very colourful but when they are terminated I regard them successful only if, despite the strong colors, their main quality is still a delicate one.

All of them focus on people and apparently there is always a sort of narrative going on.

The main feature of both the figures and narrative moving in those illustrations is a sense of lightness that at moment becomes almost emptiness, with the result that at any moment those figures (the women as well as the men) can lose entirely all their possible meanings.

thanks so much Mario! To see more of Mario Sughi's work visit Dripbook.

Cookie Machine by Romain Chassing

While browsing through Vimeo today I found this great piece of work,a music video for "Cookie Machine" by PacoVolume directed by French Director/Photographer Romain Chassing. I love the pops of stop motion color combined with a black and white canvas, I think it's really beautiful and whimsical, and the detail that I am obsessing about is the precision of the typography recreated in stop motion. Romain did such a fantastic job controlling the handmade fonts, staying true to the type families, and using a diverse selection of type.

PACOVOLUME "CookieMachine" from discograph on Vimeo.