Motionographer Classics: Prince of Persia

Motionographer Classics: Prince of Persia:

 We’ve been playing with classic quickies for a while, since not all inspiration has to be the latest and greatest. A couple months ago, Jordan Mechner released his game dev journals, videos, and even original Apple IIe source code from his 1989 gaming classic Prince of Persia. It was one of the first computer games to combine arcade action with realistic animation and cinematic storytelling. The characters were animated using rotoscoped references of Mechner’s brother climbing and leaping around a parking lot.
Watching these videos, there are two things I can’t get out of my head. The first is how visceral the animation still feels through just a few limited pixels. The second is the fun, hands-on nature of the old video tapes. They remind me a lot of my early days in motion graphics where we would often run to the roof to quickly shoot some silhouettes or sloppily shoot some splashes or ink splats with a miniDV camera. These days, most people are probably using a dSLR for run and gun shooting, but I think motion graphics still allows for that kind of tactile experimentation.
For more info, check out The Verge’s article on telling stories in 48 kilobytes or less.

Posted on Motionographer

Hidden Messages on Dollar Bills

Hidden Messages on Dollar Bills:re-blog from Computerlove

New Orleans-based artist Dan Tague folds a dollar bill as many as 100 times, until it spells out an unexpected phrase, including “We Need A Revolution” and “Trust No One.” He photographs the origami currency on a black background and prints the photos in a large format (large enough that the Treasury Department can’t accuse him of counterfeiting). Tague’s themes are protest, American history and, of course, money.

Source.

ONE DAY ON EARTH: 10/10/10 UPDATE

ONE DAY ON EARTH: 10/10/10 UPDATE:re-blog from Motionographer

Last year we posted news on the One Day on Earth project, an ambitious initiative that planned to document life in every country in the world in a single 24-hour period on 10/10/10. With the help of their online community of over 15,000 members, Vimeo, the UN and 60+ non-profits, they reached their goal of having every country represented – not to mention Antarctica and outer space, courtesy of NASA. They recently launched what they are calling a “Global Video Map” from their October shoot day. It is searchable by location, topic and keyword and, as EP Brandon Litman puts it, the Motionographer community “came through big”.
One Day on Earth’s focus on partnerships, its online community and the shared nature of the archive makes this project a good example of how the global collaborations can be done. If you missed shooting on 10/10/10, not to worry, they plan to do it again this year on November 11th (11/11/11).


Below are some submissions including a couple from participants referred by the Motionographer posting. And, while the thousands of hours of footage will be cut into a feature film by the One Day on Earth team (due to be release in Sept 2011), the archive is shared by all those that participated (non-commercial use, with credit) for their own use or two make a film of their own.


Timelapse of Brooklyn, NY – Daniel DeGloria



Bondi Sea Pool, Australia – Jason Wingrove



Streets of Old Sana’a, Yemen – Husam Al-Sayed



Masquerades in Lagos, Nigeria – Olakunle Idowu

Star Wars Augmented Reality

Star Wars Augmented Reality:re-blog from Computerlove

Test footage from an early version of Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner, the first augmented reality Star Wars game. Available on iPhone ($4.99) iTunes Link

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS: from The Awesomer



Nintendo’s new handheld 3D gaming system offers glasses-free 3D viewing on its 3.5″ top screen, adds an analog control, gyro and motion sensors, beefed up graphics, and a 3D camera on back.

• Link: http://www.theawesomer.com/c/click.php?id=11197
• Hat Tip: http://technabob.com/blog/2010/06/15/nintendo-3ds-revealed-e3-2010/

Tron Evolution E3 2010 Trailer

AMAZING!