Modul: Diploma Project by Maxim Zhestkov

Young designer/director Maxim Zhestkov has just released his diploma project,  entitled “Modul.”

Explains Maxim: “I’ve tried to reflect the universe in infinite confinement. Pulsating energy and magnetism. Confrontation and the pursuit of something great, a goal that an observer can not understand not being involved in the process.”

Sound by Marcelo ‘Combustion’ Baldin.

Parachute Ending

Will Sweeney and Steve Scott have teamed up to co-direct this trippy new video for Birdy Nam Nam. Made entirely in Flash and After Effects in a little over a month with a completely open brief given to the Directors by the band, Parachute Ending is a stand-alone sci-fi short inspired by the likes of La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) and other vintage sci-fi references. It’s altogether surreal and mysterious with amazing illustrations and animation for this wordless synth-driven song. Totally digging it!

Update: Vimeo version here.

Thanks to Collin for the tip!

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Prologue: 2009 MTV Movie Awards

Prologue has released a montage of their colorfully wacky package for the MTV Movie Awards, directed by Ilya Abulhanov (who also directed the recently posted OFFF 2009 titles).

The creators of the many awards show packages, including the MTV Music Video Awards and the last five Academy Awards shows, Prologue knows their way around a sealed envelope. Careful never to upstage the red carpet regulars who share the spotlight with their graphics packages, Prologue knows when to pull back—and when to shine.

As Prologue’s youngest creative director, Ilya brings a shoot-from-the-hip confidence that’s countered by crisp typography and well-composed shots. His palette is an unlikely mix of mustards, eggplants and oranges that works with the surreal vignettes and icon-headed figures that unify the package.

De Monsters

Monsters: 091 Tourists from Volstok Telefunken on Vimeo.

This is Monsters: 091 Tourists, just the latest of almost a hundred similar shorts made by Volstok Telefunken for a Belgian Show, “Man Bijt Hond.” The Monster films all feature silly, gross and joking Monsters animated over real live-action shots of people in everyday situations who interact with the drawn Monsters in unexpected and hilarious ways. Mix Candid Camera clips with 2 parts sick and twisted animation, shake and enjoy!

The Monsters’ own site is here.

London: See No Evil June 4th at Bodhi

Attention Londoners: See No Evil’s next meeting will be meeting on June 4th, 7pm at Bodhi. David Wilson will be on hand to discuss his “We Got Time” for Moray McLaren, followed by an Open Screen Night. There will also be free Stash DVDs being handed out like highly addictive substances worthy of their namesake.

Wish I could be there! Fellow Motionographer James Wignall will be in attendance, though. Get there early. Space is limited.

Full details on the See No Evil site.

Europride: “Pufff”

Sometimes a great project comes your way, and you know you’ve just got to do it—budgets and deadlines be damned. That’s how London studio The House of Curves must have felt when Grasshopper Films and agency TBWA tapped them to create this showstopper for Zurich’s Europride gay festival coming up in June.

The House of Curves’ Andrew Daffy tackled quite a few tasks for this labor of lust: editing, previsualization, modeling, animation, lighting, compositing and even co-writing the lyrics with director Richard Hickey, who maintained a pitch-perfect balance between magic and kitsch throughout the spot.

Watch “Pufff” a couple times to catch all the subtle interactions with the physical space and the transformations of the objects surrounding the sleeping couple.

Just to prove that Andrew (who looks like a cross between John Cusack and Seth McFarlane) was fully committed to the spot, he even dolled himself up in drag for a little character research. Head over to the theater page for all the action, and keep your eye out for a making-of podcast from The House of Curves.

Challenge Your World

Through an online community, contests, and events, Challenge Your World connects emerging entrepreneurs to the resources and expertise they need to launch companies that restore the environment, contribute to society, and build a healthier economy.

It’s with great pleasure that I share with you the first five films from this year’s inaugural Challenge Your World 20/20.

Each year, 20 video artists create 20 wild, whimsical, and unconventional machines that solve environmental issues. If we’re going to transform the world we have to push ourselves to think differently — so these videos reject the status quo, explore crazy ideas, and blast beyond boundaries.

Want to participate? For information on how to submit a video contact Julien Vallée at video@challengeyourworld.com.

McBess Wood [NSFW]

Superstar Illustrator McBess teamed up with Simon, their mates and the Mill to churn out this gorgeous music video for their own band, The Dead Pirates.

The characters featured are drawn in his signature style and animated flawlessly. They might remind you a bit of the Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. video, which I must say is about the best company to be in. The whole piece is visually beautiful in its reduced colour palette and soft shadows, and at the same time it tells a cool story that ties in with the music perfectly.

Editor’s note: Bits at the end of this video might be deemed not safe for work.

Soy Tu Aire

This used to be a quickie, but I feel it touches on something that is important for this industry. One of the biggest talking points for many of the presenters at F5 this year was that the future of this business lies in interactivity.

With technology now opening up new arenas for motion design to be utilized, we are in the beginning steps of branching out from the television and into everyday space. Granted this piece is still built around the internet, but it is an amazing example of how much more powerful our work becomes when a viewer can actually interact with it.

The elements to play with are very simple, yet this is an incredibly engaging piece that keeps the viewer fixed for the entire song. And in a time when 15-second viral videos barely retain our attention, that’s pretty remarkable. Regardless of what you think about the aesthetics of this piece, I think it reflects the exciting prospects of where our industry is headed.

Watch “Soy Tu Aire”

Conception and Direction: HerraizSoto & Co.
Programming: badabing!
Animation: Jossie Malis

Related articles about interactivity and motion design:

• The New Lingua Franca
• Infinite Oz “Tin Man”
• Two More Envelope Pushers

Buck Dews it Again

Buck is back again with another installment for their Mountain Dew campaign. This one brings us through a brief history of the product as we follow a Dew man journey through time. Although the concept has become a bit used and abused, Buck dusts it off with their own personal style.

Utilizing cel animation on top of live action and 3d models for reference, Buck brought in Brooklyn based animation house Augenblick Studios to help out with the extensive cel work that needed to be done.

Here is what Orion Tait, CD at Buck NYC had to say about the process:

Footage was used as an animation guide for the main character. Augenblick studios animated the main character,
and our team did the rest (as a hybrid of 2d cel and 3d animation). For the character, we shot Thomas on a treadmill and constructed an edit. We then illustrated style-frames based on stills from that edit (which you can see up on the site).

The edit and style frames then went to Aaron and his team for cel animation. They are very traditional in their approach, which you can really see from their work on superjail. They used the footage as reference to layout key frames, and then started closing the gap with in-betweens, until they got to a fluid 30fps animation. This allowed them to nail the timing and loose look of the illustration and introduce the morphing animation, all while maintaining nice fluid, stylish animation that most rotoscoping lacks.

With every new project Buck releases, they establish themselves as the masters of the pop illustration domain as well as a studio with a knack for high quality production.

Credits