If the above clip is any indication, Lagos would be one hell of a trip.

I should remember to visit places like this…

(via Gridskipper)

Sometimes, it’s very easy for me to forget to be creative and keep coming up with new interesting things. (Not just stuff I’m comfortable with.) For some reason this video seems so inspirational to me. It makes me want to go out and create something incredibly individual… something only I could do.Oh well, I hope I remember to stay inspired.

Ahh, found the original creator: Sander Plug.

I ran across a link to the Vexille movie site today, so I thought I should remind myself to check it out. Cinematical says:

According to a glowing review over at Twitch, Vexille is about a future where android technology becomes forbidden once lines between technology and humanity cross. Everyone signs the UN treaty but Japan, who secludes themselves from the world, kicking out foreigners and masking themselves from electronic/satellite surveillance. After 10 years of seclusion, a Daiwa (Japanese robotic company) executive comes to meet with international politicians. Vexille, a female op based in LA, discovers the politicians dead, that the Daiwa is a cyborg and then must infiltrate Japan to stop the company and save the world.

Sounds good and the visuals look great! Too bad it opens in August in Japan… and who-knows-when in the states. Oh well, at least I can remember to look out for it.

Since coming back from Japan, I’ve been trying to steer clear of Japanese food since I felt like I almost OD’d over there, but one thing I didn’t get nearly as much of as I hoped while there was anime. So, I finally checked out Satoshi Kon’s latest movie, Paprika and I gotta say… it was awesome, like nothing I had ever seen before.

I could get into the plot and it’s science fiction aspects, but none of that is really important. The movie is about concepts more than direct this happens after that. Additionally, it’s just gorgeous. The art style had evolved slightly from his older movies, so it took about 5 minutes to get accustomed to the color palette, but from then on it was so much eye-candy!

When I walked out of the theatre, the only way I could describe what I thought of the film was that it was like Lucky Charms. That is to say: “Magically Delicious!”

I gotta remember to buy the DVD as soon as possible!

Creating the advertising and signage for the movie Children of Men (which I remember really liking) must have been a ton of fun for the UK based Foreign Office. Being in advertising, this is the type of project I would have loved to have done as it was basically free reign to comment on today’s marketing and the directions it could go in the future.

I need to remember to save time from work to pursue some more fun projects.

(Via Kottke.org)

Bird by Pleix is one amazing video as the whole thing was shot at 2000 frames per second! The music by Vitalic defintiely contributes as well.

Anyway, I should remember that anything shot at 2000 frames per second looks very cool.

(Image from NOTCOT.ORG)

I should remember to check The Great Yokai War out again now that it’s on DVD. I would imagine the special features on the DVD are great.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You know, I’ve always gravitated towards cartoons and the cast of characters that inhabit them. Sure, at the beginning it was lots of Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, and the like. But then one morning while flipping channels waiting for Pole Position to come on, I came across Robotech on spanish TV and I was hooked on anime.

Anyway, despite the years of spending more time with foriegn animation, occasionally something comes along to remind me of the time I spent lying on my stomach on the floor inches from the tv watching Looney Tunes. Earlier this year, artist Michael Paulus did a series of 22 illustrations imagining what the skeletal structure of cartoons would really look like and now Hyungkoo Lee has gone even further by creating actual cartoon character skeletons out of resin, aluminum sticks, stainless steel wires, springs, and oil paint. Not only is it truly amazing, it also displays the odd underlying freakishness of children and things they gravitate towards.

I should try to remember that cartoon characters can be real!

Via Veer, NOTCOT.ORG, ResonTence, Talk About Design, BagelTurf, Observations of Life on Mars, and just about everyone else.

Wow! I have to remember to figure out how to buy one of these! Being a fan of the Ghost in the Shell movies and Stand Alone Complex series (not so much the mangas), I’ve wanted a Tachikoma of my own for a long time. This one seems like a prototype, but I really hope they go into production. I would definitely be in line to pick on up.

Here’s some video of it in action and the Tachikoma robot product page. Via Engadget.

Being in advertising, sometimes you can get so wrapped up with the latest trend, or style and lose sight of how a superbly executed simple effect can make a mindblowing impact. Recently (well, 2002 anyway), Spike Jonze did some work on a skate video called “Yeah Right!” by Girl/Chocolate. It seems as though he did three segments and they’re mindblowingly cool.

Check out Invisible Board where with a haunting soundtrack Jonze presents basically standard skating footage with a twist. The most amazing part about it is that the twist is so small, so simple, but the impact is huge.

In the intro piece, Jonze again shows your basic skate moves and footage, except in super slow motion and again with an amazing soundtrack. Presenting the action at that speed just makes it all look so larger than life and truly amazing.

Magic board is my least favorite, but still cool.

There’s an interview about the video (not with Jonze) that covers some of the ins and outs of the piece with a couple funny moments.

Don’t for get to keep it simple.