F5 RE:PLAY Films + Stash Short Films Vol. 1

F5 RE:PLAY Films on Stash 60

Since F5 last April, I’ve received a slew of emails asking how people can get their hands on a DVD of the F5 RE:PLAY films. Never fear: Stash has swooped in to save the day.

Stash 60 is a special two-disc set that includes 14 films created for the F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival.

As a reminder, the RE:PLAY festival invited filmmakers from around the world to create original short projects for the F5 festival last April in New York City. The result was an astounding array of innovative, memorable work that has helped keep the flame of F5 burning strong.

Pick up Stash 60 here.

Review: Stash Short Films Vol. 1

While we’re on the topic of Stash, we received a review copy of Short Films Vol. 1, and it’s definitely worth discussing.

Focusing on non-commercial, mostly narrative works, this DVD signals an extension of Stash’s influence to a wider, more general audience.

The 30 films (with a cumulative runtime of 2:32) include work from some Motionographer favorites, including Neill Blomkamp (of District 9 fame), Roman Coppola, Gaelle Denis, Johny Kelly, Shilo, Three Legged Legs and Run Wrake. There’s also a healthy smattering of student work—all of which rivals the quality of the professional work. The majority of the collection is based in animation, but there are enough live-action and hybrid works to keep you guessing.

(more…)

RIOT Atlanta: Branding From Scratch

Network branding doesn’t get a lot of attention here on Motionographer. We tend to favor the quick-cut, visual slam-dances of advertising and music videos over the comparatively conservative design systems that attempt to express a television network’s ethos.

It’s easy to forget that TV’s largest advertisers are the networks themselves. Combine IDs, graphics, promos and all the other elements of a traditional network package, and you’re staring up at a staggering mountain of deliverables—and that’s leaving out the demands of multi-platform efforts for the web, mobile devices and emerging media.

To make matters trickier still, all the elements must cohere to one another while allowing for the network to evolve, to grow.

For the first in a series of features looking at the design processes behind network branding, we enlisted the help of Dominique Elliott, Professor of Motion Media Design at SCAD. This summer, Dominique was embedded in the offices of RIOT Atlanta as they worked on launching a new integrated web/TV network called Halogen, going live today in the United States and online. She talked to creative director Jeff Doud about their process and shared her findings with us.

Read the interview here.

Cut&Paste 2009 Global Championships

Photo by Jason Lewis

We’re two days away from the first-ever Cut&Paste Global Championship, taking place this Friday, October 16th, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC.

The Global Championship will present the same three competition formats that Digital Design Tournament 2009 has featured throughout the 16 cities of its global tour: 2D, 3D, and motion design.

Bent’s Nando Costa Sings a “Whale Song” for Modest Mouse

Nando Costa’s colorful career recently took another interesting turn when he joined Bent Image Lab as a director/partner. The fruit of that union can be tasted in his first project with Bent, a music video for Modest Mouse’s “Whale Song.”

Nando took time to fill us in with loads of juicy behind-the-scenes details, as well as bringing us up to speed on life after Nervo.

Read the feature here.

Jarrett Conaway: Turbo

Perhaps this official description sums it up best: “Turbo is a high adrenaline short film in the tradition of The Karate Kid and Tron.”

The Karate Kid and Tron. Uh, where do I sign up?

However you spin it, USC film student Jarrett Conaway’s epic 23-minute short film is an incredibly ambitious and thoroughly entertaining MFA thesis. Born from his loves of gaming and kung fu, Turbo is a sci-fi action flick shot through with impressive vfx work and an interesting interactive gaming concept at its core.

Conaway also managed to snare some decent talent for the short, including Justin Chon (the annoyingly chipper guy from the Twilight movie).

There’s much more information on the official site, as well as a cart load of goodies for sale.

Thanks to Nathan Boyd for the tip on this one!

Behind the scenes video after the jump…

Prologue: MTV Video Music Awards 2009

MTV has found a good thing, and they’re sticking to it. For the third year in a row, they’ve tapped LA-based Prologue to create the graphics package for their colossal Video Music Awards show.

Directed by Ilya Abulhanov, the condensed sans-serif type and annotated landscapes of the VMA 2009 package build upon the look Ilya established for the OFFF 2009 titles. In the VMA 2009 package, though, the landscape is alive, modifying itself in subtle but surreal ways.

Gigantic telescoping streetlights and strings of gondolas adorn the familiar skyline of New York City, creating a panoply of mechanical transformations that seem to be a literalization of Rem Koolhaus’ vision of a “delirious New York.” Ilya’s split-screen moments create dizzying multiplications of the city, piling density upon density.

I’m reminded a little of Rob Chiu and Chris Hewitt’s titles for Offf New York. Ben “HECQ” Lukas Boysen did a masterful job sound designing both projects, creating a wild mix of tension and wonder that is driven as much by pockets of poignant silence as it is by the tightly controlled cacophony of the city.

Check it out here.

Cut&Paste: 2009 Global Championships

Photo by Jason Lewis

This year’s Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament has made its way through 16 cities and 256 competitors from February – June 2009.

It now culminates in a battle of the best, champions vs. champions, with the final 2009 tournament event: the first-ever Cut&Paste Global Championship.

Showcasing the talents of 48 competition winners in 2D, 3D, and motion design, from the North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific regions, the championship event will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Friday, October 16, 2009.

The Global Championship will present the same three competition formats that Digital Design Tournament 2009 has featured throughout the cities on its global tour: 2D, 3D, and motion design.

When:
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Doors open: 7:00pm EST
Show starts: 8:00pm EST

Where:
Hammerstein Ballroom @ Manhattan Center Studios
311 W. 34th Street
New York, NY 10001