Brazilian animation studio Birdo put their prodigious talents to use in this quirky opener for the Brazil installment of Resfest 10.

Says Paulo Muppet of Birdo:

We created the animation over a concept designed by Rafael Grampá for the festival’s poster, which suggested some kind of bird character carrying an onion like vegetable. All the animation was done using Flash and the compositing in After Effects. Paulo Beto then created a great mood with the audio to match the strangeness of the fruit-bird-character.

You may recall that Birdo also worked on Fons Sheidon’s recently posted Voicst music video.

Cassiano Prado has released another project in his minimalist series of works for music group ZeroUm. As with the live visuals he created for the band, this latest effort is a playful bit of work that sits well with the rest of Cassiano’s eclectic portfolio, which if you’ve never checked out, is worth your time.

Like many of his Brazilian brethren, Cassiano enjoys playing with vibrant colors and geometric patterns, but his live action works tap into a twisted subconscious that is uniquely his own.

Here is the brand new site of Florian Witzel, another super talent living in New York City (originally from Germany). Florian is a designer, director and cg artist that currently resides in the bunkers of Psyop working as a Technical Director. Guys like Florian make life easier for all designers since they will figure out how to make whatever nonsense design you throw at them move. So from the bottom of my designey heart, thank you Florian for being so damn smart.

So I am a big sports fan and have been adamantly watching the Celtics this post season (that’s basketball for those of you out there who have no idea who the C’s are) and in doing so have been obligated to watch more advertising then actual game. This is usually a bare, but for those one or two ads that you hope to come up on every commercial break. This year for me it has been Method’s League of Clutch.

They have a similar appearance to Mato Atom’s recent short film, Champions, but for me Method’s have a longer lasting effect due to a strong sense of drama, detail and finesse. Like Simon, I’m a sucker for animations that keep it simple and still create more punch then the ones that rely on a cluster fuck of information to entertain and these spots give just enough drama with zero fluff. My personal favorite is Garnett, but I may be biased.

Kevin Garnett

Sidney Crosby

League of Clutch

I’ve always been a sucker for a simple idea well executed. And right now I can’t think of a piece that achieves it better than this music promo by Lithuanian director Rimantas Lukavicius (korb), for Mario Basanov & Vidis feat. Jazzu, for the track “I’ll be gone”.

Taking the simple premise of using a cardiograph (Four of them to be precise) to represent different audio lines within the track, Rimantas manages to create something truly mesmerising. It’s one of those, ‘I don’t quite know why I like this so much, but I do’ pieces of work. I guess there’s something special about the piece being utterly devoid of visual clutter, and that so much currency is made from the right camera pans and cuts. It’s a ballsy move to stay with such a simple set-up throughout the whole promo and Rimantas succeeds in holding the attention without needing to introduce any further imagery. Hats off to him…

Check out some more of his work here

Credits:
Artist: Mario Basanov & Vidis feat. Jazzu - I’ll be gone
Concept, Direction, Edit, CG: Rimantas Lukavicius | KORB www.korb.lt
Producers: Martynas Mickenas, Arunas Matacius
Production company: RGB (Lithuania)

This recently released project from Digital Domain for BMW is a breathtakingly detailed mix of organic and industrial imagery full of verve and sophistication. While the underlying concept of the spot isn’t groundbreaking, I’m smitten with the execution.

It seems mixing flesh and machine is something of a predilection for director Carl Erik Rinsch. His work with RSA films and his Toyota spots show an interest in compositing, both literally as it applies to CG/live-action integration, and figuratively as a metaphor for the way humans and synthetic realities interact.

Poetics aside, Digital Domain did a solid job on the vfx. In addition to some amazing texture work, the lighting in the tunnel sequence and forest scene is simply beautiful. There are a couple minor moments when the CG feels a little too sharply pronounced against its analog backdrop, but on the whole it’s a seamless bit of work. Rinsch’s unchained camerawork and playful framing complement the subtly frenetic animation, balancing what might otherwise be an unadulterated orgy of CG. (Not that I’m completely opposed to CG orgies…)

Full credits

A while back, we announced Media Temple’s first ever Collective Project, and now they’ve posted their favorite submissions on the freshly launched Collective Motion site. There’s a mish-mash of styles from across the spectrum, some experimental, some ultra-clean. It’s fun to see what people do when the door is thrown wide open.

(Oh, and if you’re wondering why most projects don’t have sound, that’s because the Collective Motion reel is used primarily at (mt)’s events, where there’s usually a DJ or two on hand to kick out the jams.)

Yves Geleyn’s latest effort, “Dandelions,” continues in his tradition of heartfelt narratives with a handmade aesthetic. The live action setting is a bit of a twist on Geleyn’s previous work posted here, but his familiar childlike innocence is still running strong. The project also benefits from the light touch of Mark Webster’s music and sound design.

Watch “Dandelions” | Watch “Dandelions” on Hornet’s site | Yves’ blog