BBC Olympics 2012

Passion Picture‘s Pete Candeland did it again with this gorgeous spot for the 2012 Olympics. His signature character style never ceases to amaze and he was again able to up the quality. Very nice and detailed animation with beautiful matte paintings and backgrounds. Definitely a great follow up for his 2008 Olympics spot. Enjoy!

Update: Here‘s the full 3 minute version.

Grant Orchard’s Dirty Thoughts

Studio AKA‘s Grant Orchard’s latest piece is a reduced graphic animation similar to his signature style works. It’s called Yeah Just There and was made for onedotzero‘s 15th anniversary as a Granimator app. Similar to the Geometric Porn App (which he only saw 2 weeks before finishing his piece, according to his Pictoplasma Talk last week) Grant’s app was first rejected by Apple. Now they apparently changed their mind so you can all enjoy it here. [Mildy NSFW] Cue Apple-are-Nazis debate in comments.

L’Odyssée de Cartier

Released today, a crazy 3:30 Minute piece directed by Bruno Aveillan, nearly two years in the making with a team of 50 people. Details to follow, but until then enjoy the craziness on Cartier’s Facebook page or via Art-Spire. Update: Produced by QUAD with Effects by Digital District. Update 2: Unfortunately a version on vimeo with more info was made password protected, so we’re back to the other links.

Niki & The Dove – The Fox

WINTR kicks it up for Niki and The Dove with this amazing video. Apparently done completely in CG, it does have the feel of your latest trendy DSLR-footage with CG combined hipster thingie.

WINTR is kind of new on the motion graphics playground (at least for me), which makes the quality of the piece even more impressive. There seems to be an obvious trend of classical motion graphics houses venturing into live-action, while smaller web-based studios push their techniques to easily compete with the big players. Watch, everyone, how every new technology levels the playing field. Now after all this nonsense, go ahead, enjoy the piece.

The Backwater Gospel

The infamous Animation Workshop hit hard this time, churning out a really impressive production, which is way ahead of what you’d expect from a student film. Granted, they had a pretty reasonably sized team, and from what you can see, all of them were apparently crazy talented. Now go and enjoy the Backwater Gospel – also make sure to check out their extensive blog with progress elements and making of snippets.

Luv Deluxe

24-year-old director Saman Keshavarz has had a lot of success with first times. After scoring big time (YDA, Clio, Emmy) for his apparently first commercial – a kind of trashy looking but charming Canon ad – he took SXSW’s Best Music Video Awards for his first music video. Although the video is already a bit older, we didn’t want to keep back on this one. It’s unusual narrative is reminiscent of the classic Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up, but takes the idea further. Enjoy!

Coalition Of The Willing Launch

Coalition of the Willing is an animated film about an online war against global warming in a post-Copenhagen world. Between the start of February and the beginning of June 2010, Coalition of the willing was released in sections, now the final film is ready for your viewing pleasure.

Headed by Knife Party aka Simon Robson, the film has been crafted by artists and filmmakers using an array of eclectic techniques.

To celebrate the launch, there will be a launch event this Wednesday, June 30th. In London hosted by Nexus and Berlin hosted by Sehsucht Berlin and Parasol Island. We have 20 tickets to give away to the London launch. tickets will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. please send your request by 5pm on tuesday to beccym@nexusproductions.com

Feel free to just drop by the launch event in Berlin at CSA Bar, Karl Marx Allee 96, 10243 Berlin, 19:30h.

Book Review: The Language of Film

The book ‘the language of film‘, released in April 2010, examines the topic of how film communicates its meaning to the audience.

The authors show which factors have to be considered while producing a film. They start with the basics such as a good story (obviously), the aesthetic choice of framing, light and camera. Furthermore, they deal with the topics semiotics, narrative, intertextuallity, ideology and framing of images as well as constructing meaning. The style of the book is detailed. It explains complex facts in a very clear and concise way.

The structure of the book allows the reader to skip chapters. It is possible to read the book not only linearly, but to jump around in it, without getting lost. A clear and concise design facilitates the navigation throughout the book.

The running glossary explains technical terms as soon as they appear, there is no need to constantly look stuff up. Highlighted thinking points discuss interesting aspects and inspire the reader to reflect the topic. Further reading tips help pave the way to more knowlegde.

The fact that all those details are arranged at the sides of the pages makes it easy for the reader to still concentrate on the main text. Case studies at the end of each chapter exemplify the theoretical knowledge. There are many stills which are analyzed to visually explain the theoretical aspects.

All those references are integrated in the design without losing clarity. Case studies at the end of each chapter help to understand the theoretical part by using examples of famous films or films which are published on the ava books website.

The book contains a lot of practical exercises which makes it a great textbook. It appeals to both beginners and professionals by giving a broad overview of the field and then using interesting examples for each detail. The reader will be able to reflect upon small details of films as well as the big picture.

However, folks hoping to find a book which explains everything about framing, storytelling and co should look elsewhere. The main focus of the title are the technical and conceptual aspects of film and which reactions it evokes in the audience.

(With thanks to Katrin Förtsch for help on research and review.)