F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival: Batch Two

As promised, here’s the second batch of films from the F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival, featuring work from Shilo, Pistachios and Superfad. Our sincerest thanks to all of them for flexing their creative muscles and contributing to the festival.

Shilo “Still Run”

Superfad “Popcycle”

Pistachios “Guitarist”

Related posts:

• F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival: Batch One
• F5 RE:PLAY FILM FESTIVAL
• Dvein: F5 Titles

Psyop: Milk “Sad Princess” and “Medusa”

Psyop crafted these two grin-worthy fairy tales for the California Milk Processor Board and agency Grupo Gallegos: “Sad Princess” and “Medusa.”

This is a study in the art of narrative compression. Each spot feels like fully realized fairy tale—and yet nothing is rushed. From the lush mattes to the tiny dancing mouse at the end of “Sad Princess,” each frame feels like a pitch board packed with detail.

Psyop apparently had some serious creative leverage in how exactly to illustrate Gallegos’ scripts. Says Creative Director Marco Spier:

We had a lot of fun coming up with the possibilities of her wrath. And thinking about how to transition from her tender little tear drop-into wreaking havoc on the town’s men, before turning into a tumultuous ocean, in a legendary storm, all in 2.3 seconds.

One technical note: Scrub through the snakes-to-hair transformation at the end of “Medusa.” While a cross-disolve might have done the trick, the snakes are actually morphing into hair. Despite not registering on a conscious level, labor-intesive details like that are what separate Psyop from the herd.

Watch “Sad Princess” and “Medusa”

Motionographer Jobs 2.0

Photo by Marius Kallhardt

Last week, the Motionographer Jobs database went kaput, and we lost all of the job listings. After pulling out my hair, I decided this was as good a time as any to try out a new system. It’s still in beta, but it’s a big improvement over the old system, I think.

My apologies to everyone for the downtime. Hopefully, the new job board will be a happy, stable framework upon which we can build. If you hit any bugs along the way, please use the Contact page to let me know.

Oh, and for the coders out there, the new system is based on the JobberBase script, which is pretty damn delicious.

Quimby The Mouse

More animated goodness from Chris Ware for This American Life. More info on the Vimeo page. Animation by John Kuramoto.

1st Ave Machine: Samsung “New Species”

1st Ave Machine’s latest project for Samsung is a delightful throwback to their early days (by which I mean a few years ago), when co-founder Arvind Palep cranked out photorealistic mechano-organic CG imagery that wowed everyone with its surreal beauty.

Like their “Sixes Last” promo from a couple years back, “New Species” is set in a forest of the imagination. I could decry agency Cheil Worldwide for forcing a repeat performance from 1st Ave, but it’s just so damned beautiful, I really don’t care. I feel like Arvind has created a universe—or rather augmented our own—with his work. You can’t contain that kind of potential in a couple of projects.

Check out 1st Ave’s portfolio here. For those who attended F5, note that Asif Mian’s new Mute Math video is now online as well.

By the way, I found this amusing old post from the Tween archives.

Optix Digital for Bontrust and Inlingua

NOTE: Some people might find this not safe for work (NSFW).

Optix Digital, based in Hamburg, Germany, flexes their muscles in two new CG spots. First up is Bontrust “Geldvermehrung” (marginally NSFW).

This may be one of the strongest metaphors I’ve seen in a while for global economic convergence. It’s also loads of fun. Unique character designs and a full narrative arc are packed into the tiny space of the spot.

The circling cameras and love-bird music set the perfect stage for what lay ahead at the climax of the story. (Wink, wink.) I wish we could get away with making this type of work in the States!

For a little more behind the Bontrust project, including process images from Optix, read on.

Next up, an action-packed, type-based spot for Inlingua.

Key words and economic phrases comprise helicopters, fighter jets, tanks, and explosions—all obstacles we fight as we make our way toward the final goal. The POV camera work and excellent sound design help sell the ambiance of warfare and chaos as we duck in and around bunkers and dodge bombs of type.

Credits

Cisma: Adobe “Le Sens Propre”

Cisma’s latest short film, “Le Sens Propre,” continues in the surreal tradition of “Handmade” and “The Fly and the Eye,” fleshing out a body of work that grows more interesting with each new project.

The narrative of “Le Sens Propre” loops around itself in a dreamlike Gordian knot. The film’s real focus is on perception—the little surprises that blossom when expectations are upended and conventions are twisted.

From a production standpoint, there’s no 3D involved. The hand-crafted tableaux feel palpably real, which only further underscores the film’s surreality.

For a Q&A with Cisma and some production stills,  read on.

Disclosure: “Le Sens Propre” was underwritten by Adobe, an advertiser on Motionographer. This is no way effected our decision to share this work.