Polymath Motion Rebrands Studio as OddBeast
September 17, 2024
New London studio Optical Arts just leaped onto the Stash radar with the submission of “Utopia”, their intriguing architectural exploration of “an imaginary mausoleum in Chandigarh, Le Corbusier’s modernist city in Northern India.” [Watch]
Mixing long exposures on a vintage Bolex with motion control and in-camera projections, Smuggler directors Jason Sondock and Simon Davis (aka rubberband) pull off a technically ambitious lockdown video with a gritty/lo-fi feel for NYC duo Lewis Del Mar. [Watch]
The latest looping treat from Laurie Rowan, the UK animator, illustrator, and director (thru Nexus Studios) whose collection of eccentric CG character gifs has generated over 700 million views and twice as many smiles. [Watch]
The latest in Ruffmercy’s music video canon finds the London director/animator using gold leaf and homemade Super 8 textures to enhance footage of Brussels-based vocalist Martha Da’or on the track “Moving On” by Italian producer Clap! Clap!. [Watch]
Egyptian agency KAIRO for Ideas gathers local creatives including artist/illustrators Muhammad Mustafa and Mariam ElReweny, animators Alia Mohamed Wahby and Asem Kamal, plus rock band Cairokee for the Abo El-Reesh Children’s Hospital. [Watch]
The second in a series of four films coming from Japanese flower artist Azuma Makoto, “Story of Flowers 2” finds illustrator Katie Scott and animator James Paulley continuing the detailed execution and calm pacing they introduced in the first film. [Watch]
Working with animation studios 2veinte in Buenos Aires and Moving Colour in LA, Montreal directing duo Vallée Duhamel corrals a team of 40+ artists (all working from home) to create a vibrant dream for Katy Perry. [Watch]
Prepare to follow Shanghai director/motion artist Axl Le and London audio house Box of Toys into a dark and disorienting CG fever-dream set in a lurid near-future Hong Kong and focused on an enigmatic character named Vincent. [Watch]
Directors Vitaly Grossmann and Vincent Schwenk in Hamburg, Germany: “The Microsoft Design team approached us to create a teaser for their Fluent Design System – a collection of UX frameworks for creating web and mobile apps that share code, design, and interaction behavior. [Watch]
Montreal director/animator Elizabeth Laferrière brings her talent for spontaneous illustration and motion design to this light and airy music video for hometown electro-pop duo Alfa Rococo. [Watch]
Any five-minute deep-dive into the complexities of AI risks becoming a snooze-fest but Seattle animation director/illustrator Reece Parker and the Trifilm crew keep this film for Microsoft engaging with an array of animation techniques. [Watch]
Strange Beast director/animators Anna Ginsburg, Hannah Jacobs, and Matt Lloyd each contribute a chapter to this heartfelt BBC Radio campaign sharing stories of local groups and individuals working to make life easier in their communities. [Watch]
Former Animade director/designer Russ Etheridge teams with writer/producer (and wife) Ayndrilla Singharay for a whimsical look at obsessive love, facing your fears, and how unlikely relationships can save us in times of disaster. [Watch]
London illustrator/animator Daniel Stankler hand-crafts a surprisingly emotional animated film for UK charity Live Life Give Life highlighting the positive effects of organ donation on the personal relationships of the recipient. [Watch]
