Toolfarm Inspirations

Gorillaz- Stylo

3/02/2010 • Permalink • 3 Comments •

Gorillaz have gone full CG and continue to break ground on new video "Stylo"- a compositing and vfx masterpiece. New album "Plastic Beach" will be out March 8/9th US.

Labels: 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Blue hippie cat Reviews AVATAR

2/26/2010 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A slightly disgruntled dog gives his take on the "blue hippy cats" in Avatar.

Nicely done, apparently the CG artist has yet to reveal themselves. Rumored to be created with XSI and Lightwave with motion capture. One word- aaawesome!

Labels: 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Lightwave

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Galileo by Ghislain Avrillon

2/12/2010 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Galileo from Ghislain Avrillon on Vimeo.

A really beautiful example of style/melding of textures with vector art using Flash and After Effects. Animated in Flash, composited in After Effects, and edited in Premiere. Love the soundtrack and audio fx too!

Labels: 2D, Character Animation, Experimental, Flash

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Honda Accord Crosstour Commercials by Elastic

2/04/2010 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I've really been enjoying this series of funky, stylistic commercials for the Honda Accord Crosstour. Here's the full lineup so far! See more of Elastic's work at http://www.elastic.tv/

Honda Accord Crosstour "Squirrel"

Honda Accord Crosstour "Squirrel" from Elastic on Vimeo.

Honda Accord Crosstour "Snow Trip"

Honda Accord Crosstour "Snow Trip" from Elastic on Vimeo.

Honda Accord Crosstour "Instruments"

Honda Accord Crosstour "Instruments" from Elastic on Vimeo.

Honda Accord Crosstour "Boxes"

Honda Accord Crosstour "Boxes" from Elastic on Vimeo.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Commercial, Experimental

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Final Fantasy XIII Game Trailer

12/21/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Dazzling as usual, the team behind the Final Fantasy series does not disappoint with lucky #13.... aside from the US version not available until April or so! It already has sold over 1.5 million units in Japan within the first four days of its release last week.

Guess it's time for me to bite the bullet and finally purchase a PS3.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Film Short, Game

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Vincent- an Early Stop-Motion by Tim Burton

12/17/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Created in 1982, this is one of his first stop-motion films- interesting to see themes and styles have not changed much!

Labels: Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Retro, Stop Motion, Tim Burton

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) 2009

12/03/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Giant robots invades Montevideo! A short movie directed and animated by Fede Alvarez on a shoestring budget of only several hundred dollars. (Probably not factoring in his actual time to make this...) Hollywood quickly took notice and offered him a bigger budget.

http://www.aparato.tv/

"Alvarez ended up signing with CAA, Anonymous Content and attorney Karl Austen the week before Thanksgiving and entered immediate talks with Ghost House after bonding with its principals, which include director Sam Raimi."

Full Story on www.heatvisionblog.com.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

N.A.S.A. "Spacious Thoughts"

11/25/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A new music video from the N.A.S.A project: "Spacious Thoughts," featuring a most-interesting combination of Tom Waits and Kool Keith, directed by Fluorescent Hill. Excellent animation.

Read the interview and "making of" post at Boing Boing.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Psyop: "Saddest Road"

11/25/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

The Michelin man comes to the rescue of small furry animals, prevents roadkill apocalypse. Lovely work from Psyop!

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Commercial, Film Short

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Tom Fun Orchestra- Bottom of the River

10/19/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Makes me think twice about what I'm throwing away in the garbage!

Tom Fun Orchestra-Bottom of the River from trunk animation on Vimeo.

Director: Alasdair Brotherston and Jock Mooney
Producer: Richard Barnett
Production company: Trunk Animation
Compositing: Andy Hague, Alasdair Brotherston
Animation: 2D: Anna Benner, Timothy McCourt,
Alasdair Brotherston
3D: Patrick Krafft

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video, Retro

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

"The Seed" by Johnny Kelly

9/30/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

The Seed from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

"A two-minute animated voyage through nature's life cycle, following the trials and tribulations of a humble apple seed.

The film was kindly funded by Adobe, made using their CS4 range of software. It was produced at Nexus Productions and features a soundtrack by Jape. It was made using a mixture of stop motion papercraft and 2D drawn animation."

Making of video:

Making of 'The Seed' from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Full credit list available on Vimeo.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video, Retro, Stop Motion

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Moby: "Mistake" Interview at Wired.com

9/16/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Via Wired Magazine: "One of the nice things about the demise of the music business,” says Moby, sipping tea at a sidewalk cafe in downtown Manhattan, "is that a big production doesn't matter any more. Like in 1998, it seemed the criteria for determining the worth of a music video was how big the production was. Now the only thing that matters is the idea." -Moby

Read the full interview at Wired.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video, Stop Motion

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Monsters: 091 Tourists

9/16/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Monsters: 091 Tourists from Volstok Telefunken on Vimeo.

Labels: 2D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

New Miyazaki Film: "Ponyo"

8/17/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Great message, beautiful animation. Loose adaptation of the Little Mermaid with a special emphasis on preserving our environment. Learn more about this latest film from the famous director Hayao Miyazaki, of "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke" fame.

Labels: 2D, Character Animation, Film, Movie Trailer

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Juiced and Jazzed by Justin Weber

8/05/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Very cute old-style cartoon about a lady in the 1930s who is suddenly with a flask of some really strong hootch.

Labels: 2D, Character Animation, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

The Beatles Rock Band

8/02/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I've been meaning to put these up. Are these incredible or what?!

First the Opening Cinematic. I love the psychedelic sequence during Here Comes The Sun (incidentally, my favorite George song). Goo goo ga joob.

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

I wonder if Revolution #9 will be included in the game? Haha. I hope not. That song gives me nightmares.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Game

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Rubbubs by DUCK

7/27/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

An animated short directed by Jan Chen of DUCK in Los Angeles. I wouldn't exactly say this is NSFW, but it could be. I mean, the film is full of animated condoms! Well executed and very cute, each character has its own personality.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Virgile by Flying V

7/06/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Very entertaining and cool piece about a guy named Virgile trying to impress a girl. Flying V is Clement Soulmagnon and Gary Levesque, two classmates from the 2008 Supinfocom prom. This is their first film short.

Virgile from Flying V on Vimeo.

Labels: 2D, Character Animation, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

62nd Cannes Film Festival Opens Tonight with Pixar’s "Up"

5/13/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

For the first time, the Cannes Film Festival will be opening tonight with a 3-D animation; Disney/Pixar’s "Up" has been chosen this year. While several animated films have been chosen in the past, Up is the first one to have the honor of opening night. View the full theatrical trailer.

Up will be released on May 29th.

Labels: 3D, Cannes, Character Animation, Film, Movie Trailer, Technology

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Moby and David Lynch: Shot in the Back of the Head

5/05/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Shot In The Back Of The Head from Moby on Vimeo.

Video by David Lynch, music by Moby. So yeah, it’s going to be weird, but how interesting is that combination??? Creepy hand-drawn animations with disembodied heads to a track from Moby’s upcoming album, "Wait For Me".

Labels: 2D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Bryum & Kapok; by Overture

5/04/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I love the static watercolor textures in this animation....

Bryum & Kapok 03: A Lilt from Overture on Vimeo.

Part three of a series. Check out Overture's site for details, the full story, and to see more lovely work.

Labels: 2D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video, Website

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Pixar's Up Official Extended Trailer

3/25/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Disney Pixar's next animated film is called Up. It looks fantastic... very funny! It will be in theatres May 29, 2009.

That sounds like Ed Asner doing the voice of the old man, Mr. Fredrickson. I'd love one of those dog collars for my cat!

Below is a leaked Scene, which I don't believe was actually leaked because I saw the scene on an official Disney Pixar page on Facebook, but it wasn't embeddable.

Disney Pixar has also announced their full lineup through 2012. Read the article here. here.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Fan Boy and Chum Chum - Eric Robles

1/25/2009 • Permalink • 2 Comments •

I saw Fanboy and Chum Chum, fighting a frozen super villan, at the MGChicago Screening. It was some of the most entertaining stuff I've seen in a while. I love cartoons and when they're entertaining for adults and children, even better. I didn't see any video online yet, but the show was just greenlighted for Nickelodeon, so it will be on your tv screens before you know it. Below are some photos, renderings, sketches and storyboards of the upcoming series.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Plushood - Meet Your New Neighbors

1/23/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Here is one of the fantastic submissions I saw tonight at the Chicago Motion Graphics Screening.

Labels: Character Animation, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Flashback Friday: What do YOU want for Christmas??

12/12/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

What would any child dream of? A Ren and Stimpy Classic. I put the original Slinky commercial up as well just for grins. It's better than bad, it's good!

Under a buck!

Labels: Character Animation, Flashback Friday

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Big and Chunky Video

11/18/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Fun text animations and CGI for the new Dreamworks film Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Big and Chunky Video

My friend Dru Nget worked on the video, but didn't mention that part to me for quite a while! Here is the press release about the project.

(November 18, 2008; Los Angeles) Entertainment design and branding studio, Shine, has conceived, designed and produced two music videos for Dreamworks Animation's new film, "Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa". The music videos were created for use on MTV.com, Nickelodeon, and as bonus features with the movie's soundtrack which was released by Interscope Records. They are also being used as viral marketing videos online.

The video ideas were conceived by Shine. The character animation was created by the in-house team of animators at Dreamworks Animation, and were used throughout each piece. Shine edited the characters together, created custom graphic animated environments and backgrounds, and integrated it all together to make original music videos for each featured song. The songs were written and performed by the Interscope Records artist Will.i.Am.

ABOUT SHINE. Shine is a creative design and production studio specializing in branding and storytelling for the entertainment and advertising industries. With its roots planted in Hollywood, Shine's team leverages its conceptual thinking and deep experience in branding, advertising and design to help some of the biggest names in the entertainment and advertising worlds communicate their message. Shine's mission is to fuse striking conceptual thinking with the cutting edge crafts of full-motion electronic media in an effort to distinguish brands, personalities, stories and experience.

music artist: Will.i.am
client: DreamWorks Animation
Paramount Pictures
Interscope Records
Shine credits:
Creative Director; Michael Riley
Executive Producer; Bob Swensen
Editor; Adam Bluming
Designer / Animator; Dru Nget
Designer / Animator; Zee Nederlander
Designer / Animator; Ara Devejian
Designer / Animator; Larry Duenas
Designer / Animator; Mike Cahill
Designer / Animator; Link Huang

Labels: Character Animation, Music Video, Typography

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Minilogue - "Animals"

9/25/2008 • Permalink • 1 Comments •

This is fun! Very imaginative animated characters, great tracking work and forced camera blur effects. Directed By Kristofer Ström, VFX by Erik Buchholtz, Varelsen Studios. Worth taking a peek at the high quality version on their site, along with their other recent works.

Labels: 2D, Character Animation, Experimental, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

My Morning Jacket - Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2

8/27/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A music video for My Morning Jacket created by Mixtape Club. "Mixtape Club drew from an array of inspirations such as the BBC's "Planet Earth", foliage plucked from the streets of New York City, and the work of Russian animator Yuri Norstein. The jungle world was built entirely from elements painted digitally. The finished product is a haunting, seemingly hand-painted, lonely story with a touch of fairy tale sweetness." More of Mixtape Club's work along with higher resolution previews are available on their website.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Character Animation, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Orba Squara-Gravel from the album sunshyness

7/23/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

ORBA SQUARA "GRAVEL" MUSIC VIDEO from LORCANFINNEGAN on Vimeo.

Gravel is the first video from Orba Squara's debut album sunshyness.
"The video was all one steadicam shot with animated/illustrated elements added in using 3D tracking software."- Lorcan Finnegan, Director.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Character Animation, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Best of BBTV animations

4/28/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Watch and enjoy:

Labels: 2D, 3D, Character Animation

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Björk's "Wanderlust" Music Video Released

4/01/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

After nine months of hard work, Björk's new video, "Wanderlust" was released to the public on March 31st... and is no less than spectacular. The 3-D version of the video will be released as a DVD single package on April 14, complete with 3-D glasses. You can view the high quality version (highly recommended, as the more compressed version doesn't do it justice!) at www.encyclopediapictura.com.

This is the "making of" video montage:

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Film Short, Music Video

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

SMILE, A Student Film

3/13/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Wow. This is a very intense, super-freaky student project. Here's a short blurb:

"SMILE is an impressive 2005 student film by Yuval Markovich and Noam Abta produced at Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem. Horror films are all too rare in animation, and this short does a solid job of building the tension and creating a mood of paranoia and uncertainty. Technically, it looks like the film was shot in live-action, with over sized CG heads placed on the live bodies. It's a surprisingly effective technique that adds to the film's uneasy mood."

You can check out more of their films at: www.lioninzion.com

Labels: 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Student Work

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Glassworks Ad for Bank of Ireland- "Dragon"

2/18/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This is a nice piece by Glassworks for the Bank of Ireland. This is the last in a series of ads that are all very well done. Their work was recently featured on the Best of STASH 2007 reel at the Chicago Motion Graphics Festival.

Labels: 3D, Character Animation, Commercial, MGFest

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Mirrormask- a VFX treat

1/21/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Designed and directed by Dave McKean, Mirrormask is stunning and chock-full of visual effects. Dave McKean is one of my favorite artists, and I was excited to see the film retained much of the look and feel of his work.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Experimental, Movie Trailer

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Chicago Motion Graphics Festival Highlights/ Best of STASH

1/21/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

In case you missed it, here's a few of the highlights from "Best of Stash 2007" at MGFest08.

Microsoft Zune Ad by Fulltank.

Music Video: Faithless-Music Matters by Micros Image.

Coca-Cola Happiness Factory- The Movie by Psyop.

Labels: Character Animation, Commercial, Experimental, Film Short, MGFest, Music Video, Television

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

JibJab - In 2007

12/20/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

It's original, funny and creative. JibJab is genius.

Labels: Bizarre, Character Animation, Film Short, Flash, Humor

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

My First Crush - Julia Pott

12/11/2007 • Permalink • 1 Comments •

Real stories about first loves animated by hand and spoken by ponies and sharks. It's very cute. This was created by Julia Pott for her final film project at Kingston University. The music and sound design was done by Christopher Frost. It's just wonderful.

Labels: Bizarre, Character Animation, Student Work

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Birds on Fire for Zune

12/11/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I know they've been around for awhile, but some of these Zune spots are very well done and are interesting to look at (shocker!).

Labels: 3D, Bizarre, Character Animation, Commercial

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Genre by Don Hertzfeldt

12/06/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Charlie had posted a comment about the Vitamin Water commercial looking very much like Don Hertzfeld's work. Yes, definitely, I see some similarities but I prefer Hertzfeldt's. Something about cute little bunnies. I love bunnies. This combines hand drawn animation and stop motion. It's very clever. Don Hertzfeld's Genre is really awesome. He's seriously talented.

It also reminds me a bit of the scenes in Better Off Dead where John Cusack's character is drawing the cheerleader and other characters and they come to life. Better Off Dead is one of my all-time favorite flicks. I've seen it about 50 times.

Labels: Character Animation, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Snicker's Rugby

12/06/2007 • Permalink • 1 Comments •

Who knew eating high fructose corn syrup could turn you into a rugby monster! Very cool character animation.

YouTube: "Spy Films finishes another Snickers Spot With Directing team Alex & Steffen. Agency: BBDO Moscow, Russia"

Via Antville

Labels: Character Animation, Commercial

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Zune - Intergalactic Swap Meet

12/06/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Zune has really stepped up the advertising with this series. Here's their newest, Intergalactic Swap Meet. It was created by 72 and Sunny and directed by Stockholm's againstallodds. The colors are poppin' and the characters are superb. It's just lush.

Via Stash

Labels: Character Animation, Commercial

Posted by Michele Yamazaki