Tuesday 25 January 2011

Isaac Salazar

Beautiful crafting of books...

Kevin Van Aelst

Love some of this guys work... especially these fingerprint ones. An aspect of design that I like is creating something from something else... I think this is juztaposition?

Charles A. Anderson Design Co

Ok, so I'm not generally a fan of packaging design, its just not my bag.. buuuuut this caught my eye and I love it! Brilliant idea to sell the ingredients in the shaker. 

"El Paso Chile Co. is well known for their boutique brands of salsas and marinades. They also have some of the best margarita and cocktail juice blends available on the market. With CSA's help in packaging, they invented a novel way to bring their cocktail flavors to a wider audience by selling glass martini shakers that contain the mixings for finished martinis – just add ice and alcohol."


Olympics

Electric Revolution - BBC4

Just stumbled upon this whilst researching BBC4 as a possibly channel to air my 'Top 10 worst fonts'... Love stop motion and this works so well and really goes with the channels ethics and style of communication... even the circular motion at the end is consistent with the BBC branding of their idents.

The Wave Pictures - Sweetheart

Absolutely amazing. I think I might use a technique similar to this to create my animation for 'Top 10'

Title Sequences

I have no idea how to out together my title sequence, but want to start with this first. Here is a range of different title sequences that use static assets... I found all of these from The Art Of The Title Sequence. Click the links above each one to watch on website... couldn't find embed code for most of them on youtube!

300 - I like how this uses illustration, rather than video












A History of Scotland - genre appropriate















Adventure Time - some crazy s**t, outstanding level of work














Bonnie and Clyde - simple but effective















Broken - Genre driven title sequence















Buried - Really nice use of line to animate text











Catch Me If You Can















Cowboy Bebop - I want to see this film ha!




















Dean Spanley














Delicatessen - the texture, colour and just whole animation is amazing!













Dexter














Edward Scissorhands















Fakers - wonderful transitions












Freaked - crazy stuff, not my style but looks pretty cool
Gentlemen Broncos - reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite

Het Klokhuis - amazing
It Might Get Loud - long intro but cool

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - using only static imagery, brilliant relationship between type and image

Lady In The Lake - Commentary excerpt by film historians James Ursini and Alain Silver (from the 2006 DVD): Ursini “We're here to talk about one of the most unusual film noirs and maybe one of the most unusual films in mainstream Hollywood history called "Lady in the Lake." When I first saw this movie years ago I remember seeing the credits and thinking I was in the wrong movie. This cannot be "Lady in the Lake." This is a Christmas movie. Is this is a Capra movie, or a Leo McCary movie? ...[This] is a very sarcastic, ironic, even nasty movie. It's an anti-Christmas movie disguised as a Christmas movie. These titles set the tone, along with the Christmas carols which carry over through the movie and use of the chorus which [also] carries over; there is no instrumental music at all." Silver “[The titles] are unusual and are immediately ironic as we go from these Christmas graphics with the holly, the ivy, the candles, the deer and the Christmas star to a gun [which is] not very Christmasy...the first indication of film noir."


Mr. Magorium's Wonderful Emporium - Wonderful! I love how there are some consistencies, but it tays fresh and new all the way through the sequence

MTV P.O.V - Wicked, just be using image
Napoleon Dynamite - Love this film, and love this title sequence
Paraiso Travel - Nice introduction for the characters
Reservoir Dogs - Suits the film
Scott Pilgrim vs The World - not much use of type, but very effective
Sherlock Holmes - I like the early concept over the actual final title sequence
Stranger Than Fiction - This title sequence has made me want to watch this film!
Tetro - would work for a serious film
Thank You For Smoking - I would love to use this style in my animation!
The Company - Love the sketching in this sequence

The Dog Problem - Using static assets, but animations added, brilliant
The Island of Dr. Moreau - Shows good distortion of type
The Number 23 - Loads of information given
We're Here To Help - Fantastic use of form
Wild Style - changing typefaces
Zombieland - Just think this title sequence is pretty good

Saturday 22 January 2011

Thomas Cook/M&S

Just seen this Thomas Cook advert and its a massive rip off the M&S adverts.
No no no.




Monday 17 January 2011

Imaginary friends

I have found these amazing imaginary friends on the internet. These were all found on the V&A Museum of Childhood.

Jodie (imaginary friend of Roseanna)
I am seven, and I have a friend called Jodie, she has dull brown hair, greeny-brown eyes and looks rather normal. Her long hair is tangly and she speaks in a whisper. I discovered Jodie at Tesco's with my mum. Jodie was buying a packet of Frosties and some biscuits. Jodie only eats sweet things, when I started school she got me into trouble because she did not pick up paints or glitter but spilled them.

Fred Willows (imaginary friend of Cate, I love how he has a second name!)
Well, I have an imaginary friend. His name is Fred Willows. I met him at the beach in a place called Leeman, WA When I was six. I took him home to our beach house and kept him in the front bedroom's closet. We left to go home from Leeman and He was left behind so he ran after the car all the way home. (2 hours). i forgot about him for ages and now I am 11 and i saw him at school. I was playing with him and I lost him but now he is sitting on the couch.

Mouse (Imaginary friend of Debbie, she tried to kill him!)
When I was growing up I had an imaginary friend called Mouse, who was, not surprisingly, a Mouse. He was about 2 feet high and blue - he also looked suspiciously like Mickey (which goes to show how influenced by tv I was). But my folks say they remember me speaking into cupped hands to him when I was really little so perhaps he could change size or he grew or something like that. We used to have long conversations, read books, read the encyclopedia and play monopoly. I remember him being there until I was about 6 or 7 then I decided I was too old for him and tried to squash him with a big book (I knew he was just imaginary so wasn't worried about killing my friend). It didn't hurt him, but he got angry and went away.

Carrot (Imaginary friend of Lea)
I have an imaginary friend called Carrot, she is a dragon! A vegetarian dragon who is able to speak is suprising but my one also reads, writes, sings, can do maths, can type and weave! Carrot is orange (pale orange) with a light green tail tip! She hides in my pocket when she is small or makes herself invisible when she is big! She loves Harry Potter, carrots, school, drawing, animals, writing and reading. She is like me only of course she looks different. She always smells of spring grass and she breathes out oxghen and in nightrogen like a plant!

Ebby (Imaginary friend of Scarlet)
Ebby is my friend. When I want to talk to her, she's big like me, but sometimes I want to take her out of my rrom, but not very often so she turns into pink playdough and I squish her down so she's little and then I mould her back into a girl and then she gets her normal colours back. She's coming to Holland with me in the spring!

Esme and her imaginary community
My daughter Esme is 3 and she has a whole imaginary community, a yellow house down the road where her dogs live and a farm that she says we can go to and ride on her horses Arney, Daisy and Jo Jo, there are also ducks, a cow, some sheep, an elephant and a dragon. when she's cross she says that we cant visit any more. She also has a friend called Roderick who is sometimes a carrot and sometimes a dragon!

Jennifer and Hanna Mary Ronald (Imaginary friends of Laura)
I have three imaginary friends one is Jennifer shes a dog and her husband they also have 10 pups loves pork chops he always hides there fruit meals unless its fast food. And then theres my best friend Hanna Mary Ronald. She can be my size or pocket size. She has moussey brown hair and blue eyes she always wears her blue dress with red roses in the middle. She is a vey good chess player and she always beats me. Whenever we are in the garden she pretends to dive in the compost heap this ends in a bath usually. We always pretend to be climbing mount everest and rest in a cave (the table).

Wack and ZeeZee (Imaginary friends of Elly)
I have 2 imaginary friends. I didnt really force myself to create the first one, Wack, he just kind of appeared. He is like a sickly green colour with a huge purple tounge and he follows me around and he is really sarcastic and his sense of humor is dark and ironic but he can be really nice and can tell which people are truly my friend and not. My second imaginary friend is ZeeZee, and she is a kind of teddy bear sorta. She is a total bookworm, and loves reading and researching and is a kind of a perfectionist... Dislikes: Argueing, annoying people, and negativitie. her Personality is Bright. Witty, Clever, Thinks about what COULD happen if i do something like revenge, Offers good advice... she's really cool!

Roger Keaton (Imaginary father of Autumn)
My five year old daughter Autumn, has an imaginary father. She has not had a father in her life, yet this man has taken her everywhere and done everything with her, before he died in a plane crash. The most amazing thing is his name is Roger Keaton which is almost identical to a high school boyfriend I had, who was in the air force. Roger danced with her to songs we hear on the radio, Roger fed her beets, (Which I told her, I dislike) and she loved them.

Doo-Doo (Imaginary friend of Sara)
My name is Sara and I am 10 years old. When I was 5 years old I used to have an imaginary friend that lived under the sofa. At night I would creep out of bed and have a tea-party with Doo-Doo! Whenever I went somewhere I always used to pack Doo-Doo up in my bag. When I turned 7 we got a new sofa and I said goodbye to Doo-Doo forever. I never had any imaginary friends again because whenever I tried they reminded me of Doo-Doo.

Tadro (Imaginary friend of Maddy)
Tadro is my imagimary friend that i just met. He is really nice he is really funny as well. I really like him because he plays games with me he is sitting right next to me saying really funny stuff. He is 23 years of age and I am only 10 years of age. There is a big difference in the age but he is so nice he tells me his deepest darkest secrets. I tell him all of mine. He really loves my secrets because they're really funny. The colour of his suit is yellow and it is so funny I roll on the ground laughing. It is that funny he loves playing with my dolls so he tells me he gets me in really big trobble and get me sent to my room but any way we have fun.

Leah (Imaginary friend of Astrid)
My imaginary friend is called Leah. I've known her since I was two years old. She has Red hair and she likes wearing warm clothes straight off the radiators. She has a birthday about once a month but she's always 3 years old.

Super Casserole (Imaginary friend of Jared)
I am 22 years old right now and his name is Super Casserole. He's a super-hero, he's funny, very rational, keeps me grounded. It sounds insane, but it's not, I have a great normal social life and I don't think he's "real" or just "invisible". I love Super Caserole and he has no negative effects on my life. As he once said "I may be imaginary, but I'm still your friend!"

Mr Monster (Imaginary friend of Oliver)
My friend is Mr Monster. He has always been here, when I was 3 or 4 he was round lots. Now he's not here so much. I'm nearly 6 now. At the minute he is in Turkey or Wales! But he still comes back sometimes. We play and trick people. Mr Monster is a bit cheeky and always gets me in trouble. It's always his fault though. So Mummy tells him off and not me. I like Mr Monster.

Grandma and Grandad (imaginary grandparents of Isabelle)My three year old daughter has imaginary grandparents, Grandma and Grandad which we could understand if she didn't already have three grandparents! Grandma is an expert on absolutely everything and if we say No to anything we get the retort "My Grandma says that I can do that". According to Isabelle, Grandma has done everything from ice skating to riding a pony but Grandad appears to get on her nerves quite a lot.

Smiglet (Imaginary friend of Kelsey)I found Smiglet at Heathrow airport. We were standing in a queue waiting to board a flight to New York. I looked on the ground and found Smiglet. Smiglet is a girl. She is a pig, She wears baby clothes and plays with baby toys. She lives with us in our home, her family lives with us as well. Once upon a time, there was three in the family, and when it was almost midnight and dark outside smiglet got out of her cot and she went out the door. She went into the woods, she got very scared. She hid. Then she made a phone call the number was 098 thats the number of the magic smiglet bus. On the ground there was a bag and inside the bag there was a little magic star and she wished to get back home then a camel came. So smiglet got on the camel and went home. Then the sun came up. Smiglet's mum and dad came out and saw smiglet and said 'I am going to give you a cuddle and a kiss' and then they lived happily ever after.

Marnie (Imaginary friend of Lauren)Between the ages of 3 and a half and 5 and a half I had an imaginary friend named Marnie. She lived behind a panel which gave access to a back-boiler behind our gas fire in the lounge. Marnie took responsibility for all my actions, both good and bad for these two years - "Good Marnie made me do that." I would squeeze myself in between the fire and a pot plant and knock on the panel for her to come out to play.

Blue Crocodile (Imaginary friend of Becky)Becky aged 4 and a half has had an imaginary friend called Blue Crocodile for the last couple of years. As you may have guessed he is a crocodile that is blue. He first appeared as a scary creature that she 'saw' in the garden through the conservatory window but after a few weeks of being a little scared of him, she eventually made friends with him and invited him into the house to play. He has been around on and off ever since. Blue Crocodile is quite an independant friend. He drives his own car and lives in his own house. This is just as well, because he also has a number of his own imaginary friends including Red Crocodile, White Crocodile, Green Crocodile and at one time a number of cows!

Larissa Starikova

This initial chalk on tarmac is what I want to do. Very smooth and real looking. 

What is an ident/sting?

"A sting or ident generally comprises of a short animated video sequence that forms either a company logo, graphic or image. The length of a sting varies but typically lasts around 5 – 20 seconds. A sting’s purpose is to reflect the ideas/products/mentality of a company."


I think as idents are supposed to be short, I will not overload it with information. I do want there to be a bit of secretive to the theme, and not completely redundant in the communication, but Again I need it to be understandable easily. This esting for E4 has got so much going on but it works well because they happen at different times, and the last thing is the E4 logo, which sticks in your mind. 

Saturday 15 January 2011

Well known imaginary friends

1. Harvey
"Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is apooka named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit."

Harvey.
























2. Drop Dead Fred
I love this film. "In the 1991 movie Drop Dead Fred, the lead character develops an imaginary friend in order to cope with the psychological abuse that she had received from her mother."

Drop Dead Fred.