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Amautalab: Tokyo.Now

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It’s been a while since I’ve dropped by Amautalab’s site, and it looks like they’ve updated since my last visit. I’m particularly keen on the Tokyo.Now spot, which, from the looks of it, is almost entirely analog.

amautalab.jpg

Normally, I don’t go for stop-motion, especially in the context of motion graphics. It takes years (maybe decades) of practice to do stop-motion right, and when young mographers decide to give it a shot, it usually ends up looking sophomoric and unpolished. (In a bad way, not like in that hipster, anti-aesthetic, “it’s supposed to look like shit” way. Although that’s often the excuse they give.)

But Amautalab has built vibrant vignettes infused with whimsical typography that are packed with charm. Each scene is well-crafted without threatening Amautalab’s inner child. Nice job.

Mad propage to Chris Martz.

Posted on 19 May 2007 |

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  • deelilian

    Wow. that is so well done isn’t it..! gorgeous execution, really beautiful style…reallly delicious…

  • Brett

    I love seeing the behind the scenes shots of these things. I kind of wanted to look at high res shots, since I found their little world to be so stunning.

  • http://www.knife-party.net Simon Robson

    I absolutely love this. But I’m posting mainly as a reaction to Justin’s comment. You are right Justin that it takes a long time to learn how to do stop-motion right. But you’re comment is a strong dis-insentive for those who want to get stuck in and have a play with stop-motion (like me!). I’m sure that 15 years ago those creating animation in ‘suites’ in post-houses were saying exactly the same thing about people messing around with pioneering mo-graph on their Amigas. Those ‘hipsters’ were the for-runners of what we are all doing today…

  • http://www.digitalfiction.com KGB

    A great piece…
    Also, im sure those that are busy creating “bad” stopmo stuff are striving to, and will eventually, create pieces on the level of this one. Its all practice…

  • http://www.digitalfiction.com KGB

    BTW… RandomCat is a good touch.

  • http://simplycomplex.us martz

    that cat reminded me of another great site i frequent:

    http://icanhascheezburger.com/

  • http://www.digitalfiction.com KGB

    Ah yes….
    Happy cat has run out of happy :)

  • jaan

    though i understand the meat of what simon’s saying, his metaphor is null because the bad stopmotion you see often in mography projects is not due to a lack of access to technology or money (like the “post suite” vs. amiga thing), but rather due to simple lack of practice and research… which makes it completely deserving of any and all criticism, especially when acquisition has become so simplified and there are incredible free resources around nowadays like stopmotionanimation.com.

  • http://www.growdesignwork.com brandj

    Simon said “have a play …” The reason why some designers use stop-motion or filmed puppetry or other animation techniques is because we want to momentarily step away from the computer and use some analog technology. Sometimes that gets messy. And it can be incredibly fun.

  • stellargirl2008

    I have heard that Animagic Studios (www.animagicstudios.com) has been producing some really amazing animations. They have worked with many fortune companies and smaller companies. Keep on eye on them as they are creating some really amazing TV spots as well as 3D animated TV series. Rumor has it that a 3D animated motion picture is in the works too.

  • bolo

    finally something new and fresh…..love it.