Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
Full on collision of vintage photographs, futurist motion design and general enigmatic mixed media in this music video directed and edited by Jeremy Phillips with graphics by Tara Clune, JungWoo Lee, and Phillips for “Scout’s Honor” from the New York music project known as Trumpeter Swan. [Watch]
FITC Tokyo 2015 opened with this complex, dense and hypnotic piece of chaos created by a collaboration of designers, typographers, animators, programmers and musicians spanning three timezones to “contrast the harmonies of traditional Japanese culture against the backdrop and sensory overload of present-day Tokyo.” [Watch]
French director/graphic artist/designer/photographer Edouard Salier imagines a near-future Havana occupied by foreign forces and on the edge of civil war in his festival hit “HABANA,” a black and white short made all the more convincing with seamless VFX by Paris powerhouse Digital District. [Watch]
Whether you’re down with the concept of Natural Frequency Technology or not, you have to admit this beautifully drafted treatment by Mill+ animation directors Kwok Fung Lam and Ivo Sousa for Philip Stein watches and bracelets is a refreshing departure from standard motion graphic explainer videos. [Watch]
Let’s end the week with a counterpoint to huge Super Bowl spots: a zero-budget personal project from Israeli illustrator/animator/character designer Eran Mendel built from a series of rockin’ animated loops. [Watch]
Strange Beast director/animator/illustrator Parallel Teeth (aka Robert Wallace) cranks the nerd-pop factor way up for young nerd-pop phenom/beatmaker/rapper and fellow Kiwi Randa. [Watch]
On Feb 2nd Swiss animator Michael Frei released the Plug & Play game for iPad and iPhone based on his multi-award winning animated short of the same name. Stash catches up with Michael, to find out more about the charming, quirky, minimalist six-minute film and how it came to be: [Watch]
Weareseventeen and Echoic Audio launch the 2015 BassAwards Call for Entries which means it’s time to submit your best motion work before early entry discounts end on Feb 24. [Watch]
This planet’s fascination with pixel art continues uninterrupted with this manic tribute to the “The Simpsons” opening from the all-Australian team of pixel artist/animator Paul Robertson, animator/pixel artist/illustrator/game maker Ivan Dixon, and sound and visual artist Jeremy Dower. [Watch]
Montreal directors Carl Beauchemin, Thomas Chrétien and David Forest met while studying animation in 2009 and set up Lightning Boy Studio three years later to create this sweeping 10-minute CG short called “Le Gouffre” (The Chasm) and then completed the post with the help of 711 backers on Kickstarter. [Watch]
Mundane details and ordinary actions escalate into disturbed and beautiful vignettes in the dream-like world of “Gravity” created by the Aukland, NZ team of animator/filmmaker Louis Olsen and self-taught illustrator/designer Frances Haszard for local hip-hop act @peace. [Watch]
Seamless and surprisingly extensive VFX from The Mill in the new Snickers Super Bowl spot from O Positive director Jim Jenkins thru BBDO, New York starring Danny Trejo as a royally pissed Marcia Brady and a surprise guest as Jan. [Watch]
Lexus launched the 467-horsepower GS F at the 2015 Detroit Motor Show with this 74-second slab of sweet vehicular porn directed by Polynoid, animated at Woodblock and produced by Blacklist thru Team One with music and sound design by Joel Corelitz at Waveplant. [Watch]
Dutch director Matthijs Van Heijningen hit superstar status in 2011 with his Canal+ “The Bear” spot taking home shiny hardware all over the planet. Mikros Image brought the beat-perfect VFX to that spot and now re-teams with Heijningen for another smart/funny animal-centric Canal+ effort called “Unicorns.”
[Watch]
