Reel of the Month Club (Dec. 2024): Coat of Arms
December 21, 2024
Shynola adds a new chapter to their canon of innovative music videos with this otherworldly CG take on “Tookah” by Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini. The synthetic style of the submerged facial animation will strike some as unfinished or at least lacking finesse, but there’s no doubt it adds an element of unease that elevates the clip above the merely ethereal. Label: Rough Trade, direction/animation/edit: Shynola, production: Black Dog Films.
Stash is pleased to present the online premiere of Richard Hickey’s “Francis.” A former Superfad director/CD, Hickey (now repped by Not to Scale in the UK and Logan & Sons in the US) worked with EP Kevin Batten to craft the tense and perfectly-paced film from a Dave Eggars short story first heard on a “This American Life” broadcast. [Watch]
London animator, director, writer and all-round motion-master Fraser Davidson follows his 2012 “Irritable Bowl Syndrome” with another sharp and breathless ode to American football once again combining the pacing of a rant with his signature graphic style to provide both hilarity and insight, all fueled by the VO talents of Billy Baumann and Mark Brickey at aidpodcast.com. Audio: Morgan Samuel. [Watch]
Stop-motion cheese. Lots of cheese. Check out how the crew at PlusOne in Amsterdam painstakingly water-cut 1500 slices of the stuff into a fun spot for giant Dutch dairy co-op FrieslandCampina. Creative team: NotJustAnotherTeam Co-production: Shoq-Studio Creative Director: Martijn Hogenkamp Direction: Cas Prins Production: Geert Jansen D.O.P.: Dirk de Graaff, Sebas Vriend Gaffer: Nicholas Burrough […] [Watch]
Both fans and detractors of Milkyeyes (aka Donato Sansone) have come to expect the unexpected from the Torino-based director/animator/artist/compositor who often pushes his video experiments past the boundaries of NSFW. This latest piece, an exercise in disturbing/comic portraiture, builds on his “Draft” video [Watch]
Japanese motion designer/director Takashi Ohashi dials in his talent for weaving simple elements into intricate and engaging worlds by referencing electrical schematics and side-scroller video games for his new music video for the insanely catchy Megu & Patron track “pari pari pari.”
[Watch]
The team at French advertising giant Havas wish you a mischievous and creative new year with this irrepressible clip packed full of fun 14s. [Watch]
After winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 with his thriller “The Secret in Their Eyes”, Argentine director Juan José Campanella launched his first animated film, “Foosball”: budgeted at US$20M the soccer-centric action comedy is the most expensive domestic feature ever produced in Argentina. [Watch]
The 2014 BassAwards for Motion Graphics, Animation and Broadcast Design opened for entries Jan 16, with this frenetic/furry head-turner from Nomint and ZeligSound. Enter your most killer work by Feb 18 to snag discounted rates. [Watch]
Berlin’s Polynoid (aka Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Csaba Letay, Fabian Pross, Tom Weber) just released this ambitious/meticulous Dragon Eternity game trailer thru their new prodco/studio venture called Woodblock designed to separate production from the “pure directing and filmmaking character that defines Polynoid as a creative collective. Woodblock opens up new possibilities for us as filmmakers, and for our studio as a production house by introducing our roster of different directing talent and artists.” [Watch]
By focusing on and personifying the frozen threat of the athletes’ nemesis at the Sochi Winter Olympics (voiced by Charles Dance from Game of Thrones), the BBC and Platige Image director Tomasz Bagi?ski not only create a grand and powerful promo, they also effectively contrast the athlete-centric treatment found in [Watch]
Inspired by the work of photographer Richard Misrach, Elastic director Patrick Clair conjures a world of dark intrigue with this compelling open for HBO’s new “True Detective” series starring and EP’d by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson which launched Saturday. Design, animation and compositing by [Watch]
Lisbon director/designer Renato Marques illuminates a strong script with austere and striking CG to mark the 66th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Produced thru US prodco Workhouse Creative and backed by music and sound design by Marco Almeida. [Watch]
What better way to end the week than watching an over-achieving over-the-top cheeze fest? Writer/director David Sandberg and his Laser Unicorns wracked up 6M YT views in less than three weeks with this feature film trailer, more than doubling their Kickstarter goal with another two weeks ago. [Watch]
