The Monk and the Monkey (Brendon Carroll)

Nice little short from some students at Ringling.



Breakdown:

Thought of you (Ryan Woodward)

Just gorgeous, thanks to James M for the link...



Behind the scenes -

Les Metiers: Le Boulanger

Some great character design here with some equally good animation - love the little details like the mass of the dough and the glow from the baking oven.

Rhinoceros 1515, Kazuhiko Nakamura (3D)

Saw this on CG Talk this morning, really love the mixture of steampunk styling with museum exhibit composition and something of an ancient natural history illustration look to it.

Click here or the image for the large version.

Tom Richmond Illustration (MAD Magazine)

I've long been a fan of the artwork of MAD Magazine. I'm just becoming familiar with the artists behind this though, through a couple of recent articles. Tom Richmond's artwork embodies many of the distinguishing qualities; rich characterisation, vibrant compositions with life that leaps off the page, and attention to tiny details that reward keen reader with some comical touches.

Click here or on the image to link to his site

>> UPDATE

I found this paint Demo of Tom's on YouTube, interesting watching his technique in time lapse.



Related key MAD artists:

Mort Drucker
Sebastian Krüger

A-Ha Take on Me video is 25 years old. (Animator interview on BBC News)

I still remember the first time I saw this video, it had me glued to the TV in wonder as a ten-year-old kid! I ageree with the opinion that both the song and video have stood the test of time very well, and there are some interesting insights in this short news item.

"The band and actors were shot on film before the tapes were handed to Mike Patterson who, over 16 weeks, sketched some 3,000 drawings over individual frames."

- Full Story on BBC here.

Kahani. Final Year student film (Meg Park)

From Cartoon Brew:

"Kahani is short film created by student Meg Park in her final year at Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. Park definitely shows talent in color design, effects and pacing – in some ways her making-of video is more inspiring than the finished film."

Making of video here:


> Production Blog
> Personal Website

Disney Amiga Animation Software, 1990

In 1990 this was the future! Interesting stuff though, I had an Amiga for years and never heard of this software, perhaps it was never commercially released...

Salesman Pete

Thatnks for this Chris! This is a bit special. Following up from an earlier post, the full version of this highly polished student short film is now online.

I can't help but feel that with a more coherent story this would be an instant classic, like French Roast. As it is, it's visually stunning with some great action sequences, but gets a little lost in the flashy editing at key points which leaves you wondering what's going on.

Take nothing from the achievement though, great work from all involved and clearly worked by a talented and passionate team.

View their other project, "Meet Buck", on their promo website:

http://www.salesmanbuck.com/

Monsters

I saw this by chance at the Cambridge Film Festival last night. After the film I heard a lot of interesting comparisons; lost in translation with extra terrestrials, Close Encounters of the Third Kind for starters. Personally I felt it was to Cloverfield what Contact was to Independence Day; a quietly paced, thought-provoking film, far from the action-horror which the trailer portrays.

I'd actually strongly suggest not watching the trailer or reading reviews as spoilers abound, just watch it for yourself. It'll divide opinion as a film, but it shows just what can me achieved on a limited budget with a little imagination. There's a sense of atmosphere and spectacle to this that transcends a lot of recent flashy blockbuster set pieces. I loved it.

iPad Light Painting

Inventive use of the iPad to extrude stop-motion type 'into' 3d space.

Il etait une fois (Benjamin Lacombe)

Lovely animated promo for this French Illustrator's pop-up book depicting various fairtales.

Between Bears (Eran Hilleli)

Beautiful abstract student piece, will update properly later.

Red River Bay (Gobelins, for Annecy 2010)

Nice work from some of the current Gobelins crop for an Annecy 2010 promo. Is that chalk pastel?

Behold, the iCade!

Retro, spritey, old-school arcade goodness always has a place here! This isn't real... yet. Not unthinkable though, and the related article shows how an April fool's day hoax may not be that unrealistic after all.

Here's the site:
- http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/iCade.shtml
and related artical with something similar working...
- http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/06/09/its-real-ipad-arcade-well-at-least-its-not-fake/

Alphabet (Pavel Pavlov)

I haven't posted any true graphic design work in a while, so here goes! Animated alphabet by Sofia based Pavel Pavlov, who incidentally has a nice website too.

Morning (Nikolai Stepanovich)

Just cos it made me smile.

Rango trailer (Dreamworks)

Johnny Depp as a lizard in the Mojave desert? Has to be good!

B-Movie competition winners (CG Society Challenge)

The shear range of great ideas have proven this to be one online competition that has really grabbed the attention of a lot of seriously talented individuals. I'm going to take time to look at all of the entries, having a real interest in old B-Movie imagery and classic film posters.

Take your time, there's a lot of great work here.

Salesman Pete and the Amazing Stone, WIP...

This is so good it will make you feel nausious; a student project as polished as just about any fine studio short, one of those rare gems even during this spell of summer rich pickings. Check out the translated production blog here for more info and images.

The posterized colour palette has translated beatifully to the finished render for an almost 2d look. Cracking stuff.

View the rest of the WIP Here on Vimeo.

Jonny Kofoed Website

A gorgeously styled ad for Pam's food stuffs tops the bill on this talented chaps updated website. It has a really tactile look to it, all half-tone patterns and illustrutive character design.

'Reel'y Inspiring Vimeo Channel

Vimeo channel showcasing character animation demo reels, looking forward to going through these when I'm not dropping off to sleep!

I am Iron Baby (Jocelyn Strob Simard - StrobFX)

Polished and comical take on Iron Man - everyone seems to be making this suit lately!

- View CG Talk thread

Pixar Canada Opens for business in Vancouver

Pixar opens a new studio producing short format films using existing Pixar characters for TV and digital media:

- Website
- Introduction

Walk Challenge 2010: Contest Winners (Spline Doctors)

Cheers for this Chris! Spline Doctors Walk Challenge 2010, the winners. Loving the disco guy at the end! Rub some funk on it...

Here's the link to the contest at splinedoctors.com - click here

Fly (Aardman)

Good little short from Aardman, a little different to what you might expect from them (self-funded project).

- Creative Review Article

Azureus Rising (Black Sun Entertainment)

Stylish piece from US studio Black Sun Entertainment.

**UPDATE**

More info here on Motionographer...

Coke "Quest" (Paranoid US)

Buck bring paint swatches to life for Sherwin-Williams

American studio Buck bring a great concept for paint manufacturer Serwin-Williams. Colour swatches are animated representing a range of environments and the creatures, houses and vehicles within. This ispart of a larger campaign, so we can look forward to a few more of these.

**UPDATE!**

Nice breakdown & interview on Motionographer.

I Love Dust: Featured Website

Great illustration, design, typography and of course animation from this London/South Coast based dual studio outfit.

Pixels (Patrick Jean)

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Independent web videos.

This appeals to both my nostalgic side and a newly resurrected interest in pixel derived art, sprite animation and all things Commodore & arcade! Beautifully done...

1st Personal animation up here for C&C!

I'm setting up another blog for my own work, maybe somewhere we can all stick sideline projects, reels etc for c&c, encouragement and feedback? What d'you think?

I'll move this there once that's set up. For now here's something I've been tinkering with for a few evenings and would like to improve. It's a clip I've wanted to animate in a more cartoony way on a character for a while, so I started by setting up a rotoscoped step pass of the reference which is blocked out here:



The roto version looks very slow and lacks any snap when played back by itself and the poses look stiff and lack fluidity; I've since adjusted the timing and key positions but would like some feedback on how it looks, as well as whether any of the poses could be pushed further etc. The jump-through at the end is only very roughly blocked, so ignore that part for now. All C&C welcome, it's a few days from being complete!



Below is an update based on the C&C you guys gave me. I've tried to hold some poses, really push the c shapes in the left/right switches for contrast and vary the timing. It's now a lot different to the straight roto but could use another crit at this stage. You can still ignore the end, I've not done much with that!

New version:


And the side-by-side changes, last week to this week.

Skateboard Animation

Stop motion animation made from random magazine and web photo cut-outs, cheers for the link Ricky.

List of Inspiring Animators....

http://www.jimjagger.com/JPages/JLinks/Links_Inspiration.htm

Thanks Almudena for this list; links to reels, websites and blogs. Looks like it's going to be well worth going through this one by one!

The Daily Zoo (Chris Ayers)

"This is an inspiring collection of illustrations from top concept artist Chris Ayers created during his first year of recovery from leukaemia. In the spring of 2005, Chris Ayers was busy working as a concept artist in the Hollywood film industry. That all came crashing to a halt when he was diagnosed with leukaemia. After a year-long period of treatment and recovery, he started a sketchbook called "The Daily Zoo" on the anniversary of his diagnosis. Over the next 365 days he would draw one animal character each day, challenging not only his self-discipline but also his imagination. Most importantly, it allowed him the opportunity to celebrate the gift of each healthy day. Chock-full of wonderful creatures, ranging from curious pandas to sinister hyenas, athletic aardvarks to zealous zebra's, as well as Ayers touching commentary about his experience with cancer, this volume will leave you inspired as well as amused."

Website here.

Animation ABC - How it Works (Cirkus Animation)

There've been a lot of comical prods at the client/artist relationship lately. This is more of an instruction video for the unenlightened client - must've been born of some frustrating encounters though! Nicely done in a 50's 'infomercial' stylee. : )

Bad Day in Gesture Drawing Class

Entertaining little play on a comic strip, for anyone who's been on the wrong end of an unflattering pose in a life-drawing class. Click the image for the full story!

The Whispered World (Deadalic Entertainment)

German games developer Deadalic Entertainment have released a great looking point and click adventure, in the same genre as the recently featured Machinarium. Great rich colour palette and illustrative style - two very different stylistic approaches. More artwork on the site, click here.

2010 Oscar Nominations for Best Short Film

• The Lady and the Reaper - (Kandor Moon)
• Logorama - (H5)
• French Roast - (Pumkin Studio)
• Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death - (Aardman)
• Granny O'Grimm - (Brown Bag Films)

Cartoon Brew has links to watch all five online here. French Roast gets my vote, closely followed by The Lady and the Reaper (stills above) with it's unexpected highly stylized cuts and sense of chaotic, cartoony fun with some heart.

"A.D." teaser (directed by Ben Hibon)

Atmospheric little set-piece teaser for an upcoming animated zombie flick. This is directed by Ben Hibon who was also responsible for our own Heavenly Sword story animations, an excellent spot for MTV called Codehunters, and a host of other work you may be familiar with.

More from him here:
Stateless Films

Tostitos “Salsa” (Laika)

Animation studio Laika who were behind Coraline also have a commercial wing called Laika/House. This spot is directed by Nicholas Weigel who was also involved with Psyop on the wonderful Inside the Happiness Factory for Coke.

Laika/House

CGS Production Focus: Where the Wild Things Are

A CGS Production Focus on Where the Wild things are, documenting the work of Framestore, Jim Henson's Creature Shop and others.

Annecy 08 promo (Andres Salaff)

Another great use of colour, this time from Cal Arts graduate Andres Salaff. The inky watercoloured backgrounds and use of what looks like oil pastels on the feathers near the end of the clip lend this a distinctive look.

Inka Bola (Gobelins)

Wonderful expressive stylised character design remeniscent of both Up and Disney's Hercules, great vibrant colour palette and top notch animation...

Skhizein (Jérémy Clapin,2008)

The style of this Oscar nominated French short film suits the stark quirkiness of the storyline very well. From the drab colour palette of muted greens and browns to the restrained use of ambient sound, there's an unsettling atmosphere throughout.

You quickly start to feel for the main character with his inconvenient situation. Set out in a style of animation that recalls paper cut outs and cardboard cutout backgrounds, there's a deliberate effort to make this look as though it's been hand-made. Some great attention to detail.

Richard Williams Documentary (1982)

A 1982 documentary on the Richard Williams Studio, Williams himself, his projects, and the painstaking process of animation. Featuring much interview footage of Richard Williams. Includes clips from The Thief and the Cobbler, his studio's commercials, A Christmas Carol, his shorts, and even Williams' jazz band.



The following pages have additional links to other Williams archived films and projects.

Richard Williams Studio Commercials

Anyone growing up in the 80's will be familiar with a lot of these. From the listing:

"A collection of many of the most famous of the commercials produced at 13 Soho Square in London. Includes a Diet Coke commercial filmed on the set of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as commercials for Shell, Cresta, Tic Tacs, Sex Appeal, Fanta, the Pink Panther commercials for TDK and Owens-Corning, and many more!"

Reel 1


Reel 2


Link to more Richard Williams archived material.

Studio Links Added

Down on the right there, I've started a list of studios large and small. Any suggestions on additions are more than welcome!

Winter Olympics on the BBC (Studio AKA).

Something of a black and white theme forming this month, purely coincidentally! This is a great spot from Studio AKA for the Beeb's upcoming coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. It pits a lone Inuit agains the perils of the Canadian wilderness with only his skills in the events of the games to save his skin!

Great to see animation being embraced once again as a medium to promote TV coverage of sporting events, following on from the 2008 Olympics Monkey promo....

Black and White, short film by Gabor Lendvai (Animation Mentor).

One of the most original short films I've seen come out of Animation Mentor so far, with some good playful character animation and a well executed stylistic approach showing how an ambient occlusion pass can be used in context as a deliberate aesthetic choice.

Drawing Prince Naveen (Disney)

Here's an interesting little play on the 'Animated Character interacting with Artist' skit from Disney (not sure of the animator). Cheers for this link Dean!

Short and sweet with some lovely poses and gesturing as you might expect.

Machinarium (Amanita Design)

Harking back to the old days of point and click adventures, this is now attracting a lot of attention, and rightly so. I've yet to play for long but it's clear this has a distinctive style and is the result of a labour of love from small and passionate team.

The backgrounds look like watercolour images from a childrens' book and the quirky nature of the puzzles sets this apart.

This CGS Feauture has links to the game itself and gives an insightful account of the game's development.

• Game site with free demo
• CGS Feature
• Blog
  

"The Sunny Side of the Street" (Soulcage)

Ricky reminded me of this old gem from German studio Soulcage. Lovely game-of-two-halves concept and great comical music and silent movie film treatment. The animation style suits the piece perfectly too.

• CGS "Making of" Article
• CGS Feature with links to the movie (May have to 'allow popup')
• Soulcage

Onesize: The American Dollar, Anything You Synthesize

I sent this link around a year or so ago but still love the concept, and the strange evocative feel of this piece. It's not the most technically polished CG you'll see, but it takes nothing from the atmosphere and it suits the track perfectly.

It's interesting to read that this originally played the other way round, with the end being the beginning. The decision to reverse it was a happy accident in editing, and completely changes the concept; whilst it seems like it now has a happy ending though, there's a bleakness in knowing the fate of the lush closing shots.

The Third & The Seventh

Happy New Year! Thought it was about time I gave the ol blog a tart up and post something new. Plenty more to come soon, just finding the time to update it.

This is very impressive - another one-man-band of the rare breed that can actually boast a whole smorgasbord of talents. I hate him, of course...