High octane POV music vid
Biting Elbows – ‘Bad Motherfucker’ (Insane Office Escape 2)
Really love the energy in this film, and it’s really well done (nearly said executed, but thought it might come off as a lame pun). It’s like a cross between GTA, Doom and those mental ‘Crank’ films.
Also with good use of locations and a small budget it’s a really impressive little video. It’s almost a calling card for Hollywood. Nic Cage could be in this guys next film…
Bob Gill: a life less ordinary
“If you’re designing a logo for a dry cleaners, don’t sit at your computer, go to a dry cleaners!”
Sounds like OFFSET in Dublin was a really cool event. This talk sounded particularly inspiring, with great ideas on how to work.
How marbles are made
Saw this on Reddit this week – really cute little video (upbeat music, no?!).
Amazing how much work goes into it, great craftsmanship.
40 years of mobile phones
As it’s been 40 years since the worlds first mobile phone call, I thought I’d re-link to a mental post I did almost a year ago, which listed all the phones I’ve owned. My prediction for the next iPhone (5) was right, and I’m on course to get the 5S version, likely a speed bump to the sexy new (and seemingly super scratch prone) iPhone 5 design, later this year….
Cool stop motion brewery tour
Beautifully produced stop motion for Brooklyn Brewery, with hints of slo-mo and motion design in there too. (Shame that beer isn’t that great).
A behind the scenes is on the link below too.
Cool beer packaging
I saw this linked from Coudal Partners, and really loved some of the designs, especially this one from Nelson —>
Upon looking into this beer brand (as I’d never seen or heard or it) it’s actually a brand from Fosters, the drink fondly referred to as cat’s piss in the UK. This is quite different from Fosters (in design anyway). This page, from the designers of Nelson’s branding, Taboo, really shows off some awesome design work.
I’m especially interested in beer packaging at the moment, as my brother-in-law is contemplating a micro-brewery and we’re talking about product names and branding. I’d love to go down this route, imagine how you’d savour that beer! Now, pass me an ice cold Pale Ale.
Manliest Fight Ever
Just saw this on Reddit, insane fight. Amazed they could keep the ferocity of the punches going for so long. Apart from one guys face looking like a pillow at the end of it, they both must have been exhausted. Special note on the music too, excellent choice by the editor there.
The Shoemaker
Lovely micro doc about a shoemaker, can’t believe he’s over 90 years old. Do what you love?
Brands: Please Stop Trying to Start Conversations On Twitter
Great article from AdAge
The brands that really achieve earned media at scale are the ones who relevantly insert themselves into ongoing conversations in a fun or witty way. And if the last year has taught us anything about social, it’s that the window of opportunity to enter these discussions will get smaller and smaller.
It just has to be honest, it can’t be contrived (or even perceived to be so). Just has to feel organic. The Oreo Superbowl response, is a good example of this.
Generating money
I’ve been brought out of self imposed blogging obscurity to highlight something I noticed in an American Express mail out I received today. Here’s a promotion to get 20% off gift vouchers.
So that’s like generating money right?
Reminds me of this beauty from Tim & Eric:
STATIONPARK by Juan Rayos
Love this
Beautifully shot, awesome location, phenomenal skateboarding skills, superb editing – I could go on.
Samsara – Quick Review
I mentioned Samsara a few weeks ago, after we watched a trailer for it in our weekly creative meeting at work.
We managed to get a load of tickets to a screening at the Curzon Soho this week, so off we went!
As you can guess from the trailer, it’s a visual feast which predominantly uses montage (made up of highly detailed and lush 70mm footage – with some compositions strongly reminiscent of Andreas Gursky) to create a loose narrative. It works very well with strong use of juxtapositions. Life and death through various factory production lines; cows turning into beef and milk, chickens hoovered up and turned into plastic packs of thighs, electronics being formed by banks of people repeating the same motion over and over, guns and bullets being assembled by the crate load. Then other images of incredible vistas; temples in Asia surrounded by seas of long green grass, windswept deserts (reminiscent of Lean’s Arabia) and a hypnotic timelapse of Muslims swarming around the Kaaba.
It’s hard to call out any stand out moments as each individual ‘scene’ has the ability to blow your mind, but outside of the incredible vistas, it was the scene of a performance artist using copious amounts of clay to cover his face which was tonally the most standout – a ‘character’ piece and very dark. The dance sequence in the prison was captivating, showing male and female prisoners nonchalantly watch their cohabitants dance with verve, passion and joy.
Having Lisa Gerrard working as one of the composers of the soundtrack makes for a formidable accomplice in creating a soundtrack as epic as the images.
In summary, a quite hypnotic film which fills you with wonderful images that you most likely have never seen, nor even aware of. Ultimately it does a sterling job of connecting the dots that inhabit this planet.
Official synposis
“Expanding on the themes they developed in Baraka (1992) and Chronos (1985), Samsara explores the wonders of our world from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man’s spirituality and the human experience. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation.”
Frasier’s Apartment Floor Plan
Love this floor plan of Frasier’s apartment, drawn with great detail by nikneuk in deviantART, what a place – dream apartment.
The Making of the Leica M9-P
Just watched this lovely ‘making of’ film for Leica via @hutchyaaron
Just overwhelming craftsmanship on show – with a beautiful end product.
This is why Steve Jobs would always refer to a Leica camera as a benchmark of beautiful design, fit and finish.
I love the way it’s been shot too – just a series of simple close ups, very unassuming. Just showing in (extreme) detail each and every element coming together. Craftsmanship porn.
Films from an alternative universe
Saw this very cool post on Reddit the other day, it’s a great idea and perfectly executed with these brilliant (and scarily genuine) posters.
I would pay good money to see Peter Sellers as Phil Connors, not taking anything away from the legend that is Bill Murray though, it would just be insane.
The cast and director of ‘Trainspotting’ certainly provide a mouth watering proposition too – better than the original? Who knows, but would have been amazing to see (if alternate universes existed with Irvine Welsh time travelling to the Sixties).
Bruno Morais – A Vontade Superstar
A bit of a plug now (but a genuine one – this is a cool album).
My wife runs a small independent record label, Black Brown & White and their second signing, Bruno Morais, has just released his first album with them, ‘A Vontade Superstar’. We just received some CDs at home, and they look brilliant, with beautiful illustrations on the album by Marcelo Cipis. (Might have to work with this chap myself, very impressive!)
It’s currently out to buy on physical CD in ‘all good record shops’ and online at Amazon and out soon on iTunes.
Have a listen to three of the tracks here:
Here’s a music video for one of the tracks from the album ‘A Vontade’:
Everynone – Ball
Great new piece from Everynone, about anything round shaped, or more specifically ball shaped.
I don’t know what’s more impressive – the feat of researching, collating and editing all the images together so beautifully or the gorgeous sound design, seamlessly moving through all the sonic landscapes that are associated with these shapes.
Awesome Channel Idents!
Animade, an animation company I’m a big fan of, just brought out some very cool idents for a Ukranian children’s TV channel. Just so simple, cute, funny and a real sense of playfulness. I wish I could watch that kids tv channel!
Scorsese On Set
A very cool collection of behind the scenes stills of Martin Scorsese on set directing his films (and music videos).
Via Reddit
Cloud Atlas
Here’s an (extended) trailer to the new film from The Wachowskis, ‘Cloud Atlas‘.
It looks mental (in a good way). When the trailer needs five minutes to give the ‘CliffsNotes’ version of the film, you know it’s going to be a beast. The challenge is how will it all tie together into a coherent narrative? I can’t believe it will all come together in under three hours – looks to be worthy of two, or even three films. Based on the visuals in the trailer, it should be fun to find out.
