This little animated film appeared on Google Japan as an animated way to explain how Google Street View works. Fun to watch and enlightening... I guess that's infotainment!
Showing posts with label 3D animation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3D animation. Show all posts
Google Street View Explained Via Animation
This little animated film appeared on Google Japan as an animated way to explain how Google Street View works. Fun to watch and enlightening... I guess that's infotainment!
My friend Ro & The Aliens
tell The Untold Story
of Space-Dog, Laika
Not only does this animation for Zune-Arts feature Laika, a jack russell terrier that looks just like mine, but it was created by a very talented colleague of mine, Mr. Ro Rohitash!
Visit Ro's site here.
About the music:
The Aliens Music Blog.
Visit Zune Arts here to see more wonderful films and music collaborations.
Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studio & His New Look Book.
I'm a big fan of Red Nose Studio. And have been for several years, since I first saw their work in the Sunday New York Times magazine editorials. I'm so enamored of the look and genre, that I have attempted to sell their work to several of my clients who, for whatever reason - some stated it was too dark-, have opted to decline.
Their loss.
Because Red Nose Studio, which is really just one super talented man named Chris Sickels, is about to become a household name, well...at least a design studio name. His work is a combination of puppetry, stop motion animation, art and soul. His stories are full of whimsy and tenderness and his characters are sweet, silly and a little strange.
Just last September, Chris released a beautiful new book for both adults and children alike,that makes use of his 3D characters that Red Nose Studio is known for.
The Look Book by Chris Sickels:
As siblings Ian and Ann try to keep themselves entertained during a long and boring summer day, they learn that the world around them is more exciting than it first appears. After they leave the house on a quest for amusement, they come across an unusual array of characters and scenarios that make them see the world in surprising new ways. From exercising priest to priests exorcising, and kitchen sinks to sinking kitchens, everything depends on how you look at it. Creative word plays grace every spread and teach the duo that there’s plenty to see if you open your eyes to the world around you.
The book measures 8"x 8″and has 64 color illustrations. The cover is die-cut so you can see through the spectacle ‘lenses’ to Ian and Ann on the inside.
Below are two spreads from the interior (click on them to enlarge and see them as you should):
Chris' own blog shares some wonderful background and sketches for the book.
In his own words:
"here are two sketches that were in the first group of roughs that started it all taken from a sketch book while flying out to NY to meet with a publisher. the idea got some laughs but nothing serious came from it. the sketches got filed away back in the studio and from time to time i would sit down and make myself laugh coming up with sketches and word pairs. several months later i get a call from Megan Patrick an editor with HOW books that asked about any ideas i might have for ‘fun’ books. after a phone conversation where i run through several ideas and getting not much of a response, the one idea about a twin sister and brother that see the same thing in their own way written with homonyms, was the one that she liked and asked that i work on some more. after going through hundreds of homonyms we weeded it down to a resonable (sic) list that i started doing sketches from. out of those about 10% made the cut and that was how the book started."
Chris describes it as :
"In this scenario Ian sees what Ann saw, hence the title See Saw. You, the viewer, can't exactly see what they see, but my intention is that you will be encouraged to take the time to look at things differently and also enjoy the varying viewpoints of others."
The piece was installed on October 2nd and will be up for 12 months.
Below are shots of the installation.
Check out the work of Chris Sickels here.
And sometimes his art and actual puppets are for sale.
His animation is amazing and he has produced several sort films, like the Red Thread Project below, so please be sure to check out the quicktime movies on his site.
Above left: A poster for his short film "The Red Thread Project" Above right: A framed print of "Temptation"
You can inquire about these and more by contacting him at chris@rednosestudio.com
He is represented in LA by Magnet Reps.
Sony Bravia's Bunnies- A Rip Off? You Tell Me.
So, like many bloggers this morning, I came across this wonderful ad and was going to post it as follows:
Fabulous new stop-motion animation with Clay Bunnies for Sony's Bravia tv:
Credits
Title: Play-Doh
Client: Sony Bravia
Ad agency: Fallon, London
Creative director: Juan Cabral
Executive creative director: Richard Flintham
Agency producer: Nicky Barnes
Account director: Ben Cyzer
Director: Frank Budgen
Production company: Gorgeous Enterprises
Producer: Rupert Smythe
Song: Rolling Stones, She's Like A Rainbow
And, of course, the making of:
And then the controversy began.
At first I thought that the post on Gizmodo was an overreaction.
Given that I'm an Advertising Creative/Art Director (yes, that's my "real" job) I was ready to defend creatives in the business for often using artists as their source of "inspiration". Something that has been happening in all art forms for centuries. After all, Kozyndan's work is clearly inspired by Hokusai, so why can't Fallon London be inspired by Kozyndan?
Above: Kozyndan's Bunny Tsunami
Above: Hokusai's Wave
Given that this is not Sony Bravia's first spot to use lots of colorful animation as a metaphor for a good color television, and that Kozyndan works in a static medium and this is tv, I thought maybe they initially intended to use Kozyndan as the actual animator (which, perhaps is why they requested samples of his work).
After all, I could see the process happening as such. But then decided that "illustration' wasn't a good metaphor for high def tv, so they decided to go with stop motion animation.
This is all a guess from having sat through hundreds of pre-production meetings.
But then the ugly comments began to appear. And frankly, I'm not sure how I feel now.
Do you think the spot should have credited Kozydan? Do you think it should say "Inspired by Kozydan? but then should it really say "Inspired by Kozydan, who was inspired By Hokusai"?
First from Gizmodo:
Sony Bastards Ripped Off the Bunny Tsunami Ad
What the Hell. When I saw this morning's post on the awesome Sony Bravia Bunny Ad, featuring multi-hued rabbits climbing through a cityscape transforming into a tidalwave, I assumed it was the work of my favorite artists, the LA-based kozyndan. By my front door, I have a framed print of one of their limited edition NYC bunny panoramics, which I've put below. Aside from this, they're probably best known for reworking of Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kana gawa" with bunnies inserted in the place of the white wash, which was featured on a Giant Robot magazine cover. I was only half right about kozyndan's involvement with this Sony project, unfortunately. They were robbed: For pretty damning proof, watch the video, and read on.
Apparently, the Passion Pictures animation studio ripped off kozyndan's after requesting samples of their work and never called them back. Dan just wrote me an email about it to confirm that this is pretty much the story, at least from their side.
I hear this happens often in advertising, but that doesn't make it fucking right. I guess it's not Sony's fault, but they should at least get their money back or get Passion Pictures to give a fair chunk to the artists. I'm pissed and not sure what I, or anyone else can do about it. Thoughts? [Passion Pictures vs KozyNDan]
Then from Core77:
Will the Real Bunnies Please Stand Up?
Why does that new Bravia ad look so familiar? Oh, right... KozyNDan did it years ago.
Here's what they say:
Its hard to think that people at Passion Pictures did not have this early panoramic of ours in mind when they created this new spot for the SONY Bravia line.
To add insult to injury, someone from Passion Pictures contacted us almost two years ago asking to see samples of our work (including this panoramic) as they were interested in working with us. We sent them samples and then heard nothing from them ever again. (It should be noted though, that the more likely culprit is the ad firm who hired Passion Pictures, Fallon.)
Still, its a clever ad.
Related: the original Bunny Tsunami for Giant Robot
It's not like KozyNDan are so outside of mainstream media that nobody would eventually notice. I still love the ad, but this certainly takes some of the magic away. I've seen it happen so many times at big agencies - there is little regard for the line between inspiration and flat-out plagiarism, and often a complete lack of conscience or even understanding why it's wrong. (Some people call it "business", but psychiatrists call this kind of behavior "psychopathy".)
And comments from KozyndanSo, what do you think?
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