The Move Is Complete… I Think

Hey, everyone. We should be on the Media Temple Grid now. Woo hoo! If you discover any weirdness, please let me know.

In Last Place? Nowhere near.

In Last Place is the work of Kaori Sohma, formerly of VH1 and Lifelong Friendship Society. All her work for television, print as well as boards are here, including directing work for SmileFaucet and a charming collection of films that are little snippets of her life – observed. And perhaps the best of those VH1 montage – animation spots that we all know and love. Can You Dig It?
EDIT: Douglas emiled me this comment: “This posting deserves mention of how well thought out simplicity can communicate a good idea. Very nice work!” And you can’t say better than that.

save the cheerleader…

woops… wrong earth ending issue.

click3x, MTV and Dr. Octagon, attempt to save the planet. Whilst the whole thing is riding the thin line of cheezy, it’s good cause overrides. It’s a little light hearted for such a serious matter, if you ask me. I like to be kicked in the stomach, keeling over to the ground while getting yelled at about the issue at hand, and then told, with enthusiasm, what can be done, rather than have some kid lip sync a rap song about it. Anyway, at least the message is there, which is why I post it. It actually airs on TRL, wednesday Nov. 1st.

enjoy

Gone Fishin’

“Onnazuri: or men, women, & capitalism” is a great animated short by Yusuke Murakami. Beautifully hand-drawn, Yusuke’s character animation is subtle and understated. One has to wonder how the docks are cleaned at the end of the day, however…

Joseph Kosinski: Gears of War

The new Gears of War trailer is noteworthy for several reasons. One, it’s directed by one of my favorite CG-centric filmmakers, Joseph Kosinski, formerly of KDLAB.

Two, although some of the visuals are probably what you’d expect for a shoot ‘em up action game, the soundtrack isn’t. Gary Jules’ hauntingly beautiful “Mad World” (which you may recognize from the Donnie Darko soundtrack) is a daring choice. Some may not like it, but I think it’s super.

Three, according to the short blurb on Kosinski’s site, the spot was “created entirely within the Unreal 3 Game Engine.” I remember reading about the Unreal 3 engine over two years ago when it was still in development and being astounded by it then. I had no idea it was capable of this kind of graphical beauty, though. It’s a testament to the power of the Xbox 360. (Despite that, I’m holding out for a Wii.)

Big thanks to Mark Mitchell for the tip.

Parasol Island Fall 2006 Showreel

Yeah, it’s a bit long, but damn Parasol Island’s new reel is good. Loads of stylistic variety, some nice design work and a fun mix of music. The only bummer is that it’s not available as a download.

EDIT: Here’s a Quicktime version (50mb)

Thanks to Seth for the tip.

INTERspectacular Shows Us the Unscientific World

INTERspectacular wrote and directed a series of chuckle-worthy spots for the Science Channel, a new arm of the Discovery Channel. I love it when design studios have a head for writing. It separates them from the pack and discourages them from devolving into agency monkeys and eye-candy factories.

The style for these spots is great, too. It reminds me of a specific cartoon from my youth, but the name of it is eluding me. It had something to do with cowboys, I think… anyone have any idea what I’m talking about?