Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
The genre of animal love triangles slips into murderous new territory in “Chaud Lapin,” the carefully rendered graduation film directed and animated by Supinfocom Arles students Géraldine Gaston, Alexis Magaud, Flora Andrivon, Maël Berreur, and Soline Bejuy. [Watch]
London animation director and designer Jesse Collett brings a soft and whimsical feel to the latest nugget of wisdom from School of Life founder Alain de Botton, an insightful and surprising look at the factors contributing to your own sense of self-esteem. [Watch]
Blazing and emotional animated film from Sao Paulo studio Le Cube helps legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna deliver his heartfelt message of encouragement to fellow Brazilian athletes competing on their home turf at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer. [Watch]
The on-going gentrification of Berlin takes a strange turn in this striking interpretation by artist/architect/designer Riccardo Torresi for “Ganz Berlin” from German electro-artist Diego Parravano, aka Copycat Club. [Watch]
Irish animator Max Halley (currently working at Giant Ant in Vancouver) recruits a straight-talking chicken to reveal the deep-rooted psychological source of your perpetual and overwhelming need for other people’s approval. [Watch]
London’s One Small Pixel and Onesize in Amsterdam invite you on an intriguing abstract journey full of immaculate details to highlight the 2016 UK art events sponsored by oil and gas giant BP including opera, ballet, art exhibits, festivals, awards, grants and lectures. [Watch]
Follow the Northern California river otter on a seasonal journey through the prismatic light of the High Sierras to the Pacific Ocean with this vivid mix of 2D/3D animation and hand drawn illustrations crafted by Bay Area production studio Little Fluffy Clouds for the River Otter Ecology Project. [Watch]
Accomplished character work and bang-on comic timing mark this short film called “Fuel” directed and animated in two months by third year MOPA (formerly Supinfocom Arles) student Camille Jalabert. [Watch]
A full-on jolt of visual caffeine, Stash 117 adds another 31 stellar video projects to the Stash Permanent Collection – the planet’s largest online archive of design, animation and VFX, plus behind-the-scenes features and exclusive interviews. [Watch]
Few things will perk up a Friday like discovering great new work from a studio you’ve never heard of. Witness the careful lighting, subtle character work and palpable teenage angst in this spec Coke spot called “Am I in Your Mind” from three-year old Hong Kong VFX house HEHAAA. [Watch]
Stink director Marcio Leitão (a.k.a Squarehead) tranforms the simplest of sketches by illustrator Daniel Semanas and the smooth VO from UK actor Nick Brimble into the most minimal animated TV spot we’ve seen this decade. [Watch]
London creative agency DBLG responds to an open brief from Decca Classics to celebrate the music label’s deep library of string artists with this stand out film – both startling and serene, photo-real and abstract – set to “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Avro Part. [Watch]
UK sound designer Simon Pyke’s ongoing 30 Seconds project (challenging filmmakers to freely interpret a supplied audio clip) causes three directors from PostPanic in Amsterdam to abandon any sense of impropriety in what the studio calls “an x-rated cocktail of cell animation, stop motion, motion graphics and a lot of genitalia.” [Watch]
London animator/illustrator Yukai Du‘s second TED-ed lesson is possibly the most lush and relaxing explainer video of all time. This four and half-minute animated film, written by UC Davis ecologist Richard Karban, demonstrates how plants communicate with each other especially when they’re under attack. [Watch]
