Starry Night (Interactive Animation)

More than anything, I want this for a wall in my house.

Saul Bass: On Making Money vs Quality Work

The inimitable Saul Bass — designer of some of the most impressive opening title sequences in movie history — on Making Money Vs. Quality Work. Bass has created title sequences for such films as The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Vertigo (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), Ocean’s 11 (1960), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He also designed posters for many of the same films, including The Shining in 1980.

We Were Wanderers On A Prehistoric Earth

Completely beautiful, like a moving postcard. Director/Producer/Editor James W. Griffiths was asked by Tourism Malaysia to make two films, one on the subject of Malaysian history and one on nature. We Were Wanderers is an ode to the flora and fauna of Malaysia. This was filmed on a Canon 1D Mark IV and graded using Color Finesse in After Effects. Looks like some of the slow-motion shots were enhanced with Twixtor, software I can’t wait to try out with a project I’ve got coming up end of the month.

The Great Dictator

I recently watched Chaplin on Netflix, and a major culmination of the film reached with this exact, incredible speech taken from 1940′s The Great Dictator. From the comments,

Charlie Chaplin spoke these words 70+ years ago , for someone to be able to take these words and show how that even today they ring true is a testament to their timelessness and brilliance and for a video to do the words justice is brilliant also. well done

And it is still true, even today. Ignore the at times cheesy visuals (Cybermen from Doctor Who, anyone?) and listen to the words and really hear them. The Album Leaf was a cute choice for the music in the background. Still inspirational, Charlie. Thanks.

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait

Not new, but recently came across this video in my Vimeo likes while looking back at the last couple years, the ffficial video of Charlotte Gainsbourgs duo with Beck, Heaven Can Wait. Nice use of whackyness in slow-motion. Video directed by Keith Schofield.

Fun – We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe) (Acoustic)

I don’t get bands that use lowercase letters and punctuation in their name. These days you could argue with a name like fun. it would maybe for SEO, but that could be pushing it. Regardless, my friends at the PEAK recently posted this video on their Facebook page of fun. and Janelle Monáe performing an acoustic version of their single ‘We Are Young’ from the band’s upcoming album, Some Nights – available February 21, 2012 on Fueled By Ramen.

A Sneak Peek at “Shapes & Smiles” New Works by Jolby

A video sneak peek at the new body of work “Shapes & Smiles” by Jolby opening December 16th, 2011 at Subtext Gallery in San Diego, CA.

Somewhere between the shared brains of collaborators Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols (Jolby) is a land occupied by their beliefs, passions, thoughts, and memories. Returning for their second solo show at Subtext, these seasoned creators will guide us on a voyage through their past, present, and everything in between to find out what makes them happy.

Watch this link to view all of the work from their new show on December 16th: jolbyandfriends.com/shapesandsmiles

Portugal. the Man – Do You

Another music video that incorporates all the things I like in a video, abstract thought, weird activities and fantastic colour grading.

Fiji Vignettes

Vimeo’s Featured Videos is often the first place I’ll go when I’m looking for some kind of motion or video inspiration. Earlier in the week I came across this 3 part vignette by director Riley Blakeway of Taj Burrow while in Fiji. The footage is gorgeous, the location equally so, it doesn’t hurt that Riley had access to what I can only assume is a helicopter for some amazing shots.

“All of the surf vision was shot with the EX1.” says Blakeway, which is more than I was expecting from the Sony PMW-EX1. This was sorta the step before the Canon DSLRs came out and started trending, (5Ds and 7Ds mostly). The colour grading is perfect. The intros/outros were on super 8mm.

Echo Lake – Buried at Sea

The music video for Buried at Sea’s song “Echo Lake” directed by Natalia Stuyk. The video was shot off the coast of Granada, Southern Spain.

Cut Copy – Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution

Just got this treasure in my inbox, the new Cut Copy video for “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution” was just released… right now! To quote the email:

The video was found in a rusty chest in an ancient grotto in Saint-Maximin, France, and from what archaeologists can ascertain from the hieroglyphic-like scribes inside the chest, it was directed by Emile Sornin, and produced by Jules de Chateleux at Division. Because of its age, it took a lot of time to unlock said chest.

I also see that they’re performing in Vancouver two days after the final PEAK Performance Project Showcase… so maybe I’ll have to stick around…

The Largest Star Ever Discovered

Our Sun — approximately 1 million miles in diameter — is generally considered by the Universe to be one of the smaller stars.

via Discovery Channel

Toro y Moi – How I Know

This cute music video for How I Know by Toro y Moi is about three gents exploring a haunted house. Little do they know, the spirits of two female ghosts long for companionship. You may even recognize Daniel “You Go Glen Coco” Franzese from Mean Girls.

Baby Monster – The Fear of Charlie Sunrise

I was recently turned on to Anorak London (formerly Scruffy Bird PR), a PR and marketing group from, wait for it, London, when my friend Ryan posted a new Clock Opera remix this past week. I searched the groups SoundCloud and greedily gobbled up all the downloadable tracks and have been listening to them since. Great songs, all of them, including this track “The Fear of Charlie Sunrise” by Baby Monster. I recently spied my friends at BigStereo post the video and am pleased to share it with you!

M83 New Album Teaser

Okay so I’m definitely not on top of this, but I am definitely looking forward to the new M83. I feel like it was just the other day I found myself wondering, “when the fuck, Anthony Gonzalez?!” it turns out ‘when’ was soon. Last month ilovem83.com was updated with this teaser for the upcoming album.