After its spectacular run on the festival circuit, Montreal directing duo Fluorescent Hill (Mark Lomond and Johanne Ste-marie) just sent us “Migration,” their Super 8 mini-documentary capturing the enigmatic behavior of lovable and otherworldly creatures in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. [Watch]
So here’s the thing: the love interest is nubile, naked, flies a broom, and her octopus-wig doubles as her chaperone fending off the lusty advances of an undead, one-eyed old pirate captain while three also-undead sailors hang around playing musical wingmen. [Watch]
If you watched the animated short “Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou” from Ringling College students Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon last year, you know the gap between student and professional character animation work has vanished. Here’s evidence the same has happened for character-driven VFX. [Watch]
Just in time for Halloween, Toronto’s Polyester Studio releases a fresh mix of mad and macabre vignettes called “Memento Mori” (Latin for “remember (that you have) to die”) they describe as a celebration of the dark side of life and a reflection on our mortality. [Watch]
The crowded Rube Goldberg-inspired video genre gets a much-needed kick in the funny bone from 1stAveMachine director (and Rube Goldberg specialist) Bob Partington who, over the course of six and half weeks, employs molasses, a turtle, melting Popsicles and sprouting grass to create “Slow-Berg.” [Watch]
Raw technique, nightmare imagery and themes of race and madness made Icelandic director/animator Einar Baldvin‘s intense USC thesis film “The Pride of Strathmoor” a favorite on the fest circuit: recognized at Annecy and Ottawa and awarded the Jury Prize for Best Animated Short at Slamdance 2015. [Watch]
