Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
We suspect some of the praise SyFy is enjoying for their new space drama series “The Expanse” (based on the novels by James S. A. Corey, aka writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), is a direct result of how well the show’s tone is set by this sweeping and ominous title sequence by Australian studio Breeder. [Watch]
Tis the season of tear-inducing animation and Hornet directors Dan & Jason and Hyesung Park bring their best character game to this piece running in Cineplex’s theaters and online thru Toronto agency Zulu Alpha Kilo about “growing up and remembering the things in life that matter.” [Watch]
Over-the-top anti-materialist fun to put you in the mood for holiday shopping (or not) from London animation house Blue Zoo and powered by a cheeky and infectious track written and produced by musical comedian Ben Champion. [Watch]
The fertile Adult Swim ID Project continues (unfettered by the shackles of narrative or common sense) with this languid, morph-adelic short titled “Evolving Thoughts” from the all-Atlanta team of motion studio Awesome Inc and music/sound house Bluetube. [Watch]
Slip into this enigmatic and disorienting dream conjured by Stuttgart director Michael Fragstein for a track by Berlin alt-indie group Dan Freeman And The Serious called “Dagner.” [Watch]
Dublin animation powerhouse Boulder Media (The Amazing World Of Gumball, Danger Mouse, etc.) turns their considerable character magic to an in-house short called “Fresh Cut Grass” about an eager little dog on a quest to find his sister but discovers circumstances have changed since their idyllic childhood.
[Watch]
High concept, low budget: a disarming and charming combination of balloon skin and pointy stuff conceived and executed in-house by the Dollar Shave Club with their go-to helmer, LA director/photographer Jeff Minton, in charge.
[Watch]
The real-world smartphone zombie phenomenon is proving a deep and rich vein of comic-tragedy for animated filmmakers. Here’s a round up of three of the best we’ve seen over the last 12 months: “Life Smartphone” by Xie Chenglin, Stromae “Carmen” by Sylvain Chomet, and “Way Out” by Yukai Du. [Watch]
Easily the strangest and funniest PSA you will see this year, “Stop The Roadkill” finds Hornet director Peter Sluszka and his six puppeteers trapped in the wilds of Forrest Park, Queens for a three-night shoot on behalf of the Humane Society and German auto parts maker Bosch. [Watch]
At 9:30pm on Christmas eve 1966, New York TV station WPIX debuted a three-hour program comprised of a single 17-second, 16 millimeter looped clip of the Gracie Mansion fireplace with carols as a soundtrack. Then… [Watch]
Striking new spot for Lipton’s T.O tea machine from Rogue director Saam Farahmand features Cirque du Soleil talent performing all manner of aquatic gyrations while dressed in costumes rigged to release dye and streams of bubbles augmented by a team of 35 VFX artists at The Mill. [Watch]
The bad news: we’re all part of the deforestation economy. The good news: Forest 500 tracks how key companies, investors and governments are performing in the race to remove deforestation from global supply chains. [Watch]
Turner Sports’ Bleacher Report leaps from the clutter with their maiden ad campaign, leaving no animation style unexplored in this manic, two-minute character romp created by Gentleman Scholar thru agency barrettSF and powered by a remixed track from CA hip-hop duo Blackalicious. [Watch]
New York director Kris Mercado talks to Stash about smashing together dot matrix printers, cel animation, found footage, live action, and stop motion to conjure a certain low-fi chaos he calls “retro funk weirdness” for rap legend Kool Keith and young hip-hop producer L’Orange.
[Watch]
