Avengers Visual FX:
I just finished recording 3 hours of training for the Explosive Train sequence so while I finish editing that… check out this amazing demo from ILM on the VFX work for The Avengers. 3 Hours of recorded training is probably 1.5 hours after editing out rendering and bad jokes. Stay tuned, it’s a big series.
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, October 15, 2012
Crave (2012): re-blog from Art of Title
“His imagination is a dangerous place to be.”
The main-on-end titles for Charles de Lauzirika’s psychological noir Crave take what is at root a basic child’s toy to grim extremes. Wind-driven, humanoid whirligigs are torn apart and re-purposed into disturbing wooden mechanisms acting out vigilante fantasies from the film – images from a nightmare. The angular type stands out from the grit and grain as the camera transitions from grisly scene to grisly scene, each segment part of a larger, interconnected machine which could only be stopped by its own friction.
Director CHARLES DE LAUZIRIKA and main title designer RALEIGH STEWART discuss the creation of the sequence with us.
Can you give us a little background on yourselves?
CL: I was born and raised in LA and I was obsessed with cinema. I went to USC Film School, where I met a lot of great, talented friends, and landed a series of internships and low-level jobs at production companies which got me in the door. The most important relationship to emerge was with Ridley and Tony Scott and their company Scott Free. I started as an intern, became a script reader,...
RSS & Email Subscribers: Check out the full Crave article at Art of the Title.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Interview With David Lindberg About His Work With Color Grading
re-blog from Aetut+
Interview With David Lindberg About His Work With Color Grading:
David Lindberg is a colorist from Edsbyn, Sweden. We’ve asked him a few questions about himself and his work with Color Grading. We hope you can pick up a thing or two.
To split my three years into three chapters we can say that the first year was mostly VFX while the second year was spent on cinematography. I wanted to learn as much as I could so that later I could decide what I wanted to do and what was most inspiring to me.
When I started to get many jobs I started to feel in every project that I always longed to when the editing was done so that I could jump into the grading part. When I later thought about it, it was all obvious to me ’cause when I was young I always painted, it was my truly passion. So grading is basically a mix between my two big passions:
(golden rule: you are never better than your latest film)
But I also have films and directors that I find very inspirational. For example I think Zack Snyder (Director of 300, Watchmen, Legend of the Guardians…) is a genius. I love his style and the grading he uses in his films are fantastic. I just saw the trailer for his new super man film, Man of Steel, and the grading in it are so ridiculous good. The blue, unsaturated and low mid toned style is so sad but still interesting.But I’m also very emotional and want to achieve real emotions in my films so I find films like Seven Pounds, One Day and Meet Joe Black very inspirational.
But I also enjoyed working on the music video for Spoiwo – Years of Silence. Even though my hands almost got frostbitten it was challenging and fun to get some slow motion shots around all the snow and trees.
In grading, a lot of people make the mistake by not grading their film because they don’t think they know how to do it. But when I first started grading I didn’t know anything about it. I just added a couple of Curves-effects and tweaked until I found it cool and beautiful. There are no rules on how to do grading, the only things that decides if a grading look good or bad are our eyes and we all have those. So experiment with all the effects you can think of being a good way to achieve something you’ll like, and start tweak and play around and let your eyes be the judges ’cause in the end we don’t know how you achieved the grading, we just see the result.
Then you have the secondary correction which means making keys and masks if there are something you want to lit or darken. Sometimes maybe a wall or a chair is too light or too saturated so that it steals the attention from the actors or the thing you want to focus on, then it’s good to darken or desaturate it so that the eyes doesn’t think it’s so distracting.
Fixing skin tones and eyes are also something you often do in your secondary correction.
Then in the master correction, you want to add your look. Create a look you think is good for the scene, like adding different nuances in the shadows, midtones and highlights. Here’s is also where I add my contrast by deciding how dark or bright the shadows, midtones and highlights should be. This is a very important step though it kind of decides what time it is, were they are and what kind of weather it is.
That was an experiment I made one night after thinking about how to increase the depth in the scene by adding sharpening in different radius values. It was very powerful though the sharpening added some contrasts in the curves of my forehead and cheeks if I used a big radius. And then I just added a few more sharpening effects but with lower radius and that way it took smaller parts of the scene and increased it’s depth. So it was very cool to get that good control over the depth by adjusting the sharpening tools.
The scene I’ve got most question for is the man walking of the wood at 0:31 so let’s go with that one.
What mainly did this to a good shot is that it looks like it’s shot with a really good camera. As you can see in the before, it’s not. But by adding those light rays, bringing everything down to a kind of dark look but still keeping the details in everything, and adding those tiny particles in the air, it looks like the camera did have really high dynamic range and that it was shot in high pixels though it could get those small particles as well. So it is kind of like tricking your eyes. Make it look like the camera was better than it actually was.
How I did those sun rays is also a question I get a lot. I used a great plugin Red Giant called Trapcode Shine. I tracked the trees in AE and added the information to a Null object and pointed my layer with Trapcode Shine so that I could have the rays kept in one place even though my camera was moving.
Interview With David Lindberg About His Work With Color Grading:
David Lindberg is a colorist from Edsbyn, Sweden. We’ve asked him a few questions about himself and his work with Color Grading. We hope you can pick up a thing or two.
For those who don’t know, could you explain a little about what your job title is and what you do?
I’m a colorist and I’m grading films, commercials and music videos, but I also love working with cinematography and editing so that’s also something I do in certain projects.How did you get started in color grading work and when did you decide to specialize in color?
I’ve been working with making films for three years now but it wasn’t until one year ago I decided to specialize in color grading and that I wanted to be a professional colorist.To split my three years into three chapters we can say that the first year was mostly VFX while the second year was spent on cinematography. I wanted to learn as much as I could so that later I could decide what I wanted to do and what was most inspiring to me.
When I started to get many jobs I started to feel in every project that I always longed to when the editing was done so that I could jump into the grading part. When I later thought about it, it was all obvious to me ’cause when I was young I always painted, it was my truly passion. So grading is basically a mix between my two big passions:
Painting + Filmmaking = Painting the films.
Were you completely self taught or did you receive any formal training?
I was going in a high school with football and computer as my orientation so I did never take any classes in grading, vfx or cinematography. So to you guys who wants to give up your filmmaking dreams because you don’t have the money for a film school, that is NOT important. If you are motivated and ambitious you will find exactly anything you’ll ever need on the internet. Even though I was in high school I was sitting up at nights at Google searching for information and watching tutorials, lectures, pod casts, and online classes. Once again, you do NOT need a school if you have access to a library or internet.I’ve been meeting two of the largest post houses in Sweden these past weeks to discuss an employment and the absolutely last thing they cared about when meeting me was which school I had gone to. The only thing they care about is how good my latest film is.(golden rule: you are never better than your latest film)
What/Who inspires you?
Music and life inspires me. When sitting on the bus or the car, I never just sit and watch my phone, instead I look at the nature, the people, the buildings and the sky and automatically I get inspiration from those sights. But what I find absolutely most satisfying is sunsets and sunrises. The color of the sun when it has that burning orange or magical red is unbeatable. I can sit and watch it for hours, just noticing how the trees, buildings and sea is affected by the low angled warm light. That inspires me.But I also have films and directors that I find very inspirational. For example I think Zack Snyder (Director of 300, Watchmen, Legend of the Guardians…) is a genius. I love his style and the grading he uses in his films are fantastic. I just saw the trailer for his new super man film, Man of Steel, and the grading in it are so ridiculous good. The blue, unsaturated and low mid toned style is so sad but still interesting.But I’m also very emotional and want to achieve real emotions in my films so I find films like Seven Pounds, One Day and Meet Joe Black very inspirational.
What project or job have you had the most fun working on?
I think it’s the project I’m working on right now. It’s a short film for a company in NYC called The Jacks Firm. I’m doing the editing and the grading and I think it’s a really challenging project with some very cool shots and interesting grading.But I also enjoyed working on the music video for Spoiwo – Years of Silence. Even though my hands almost got frostbitten it was challenging and fun to get some slow motion shots around all the snow and trees.
Do you prefer color work for motion graphics, or visual effects?
Neither, I think it’s fun to grade visual effects to make it match the scene and look natural but it’s way more fun to get a scene and create a completely new look, fixing the skin, the eyes and change some colors in the trees. When you’re grading a scene instead of VFX or motion graphics, you get to be a little bit more creative.Do you use AE for color grading? If no, what do you use? If yes, what plug-ins do you use the most?
I am mainly working in DaVinci Resolve which is a great grading software, but I have worked a lot in AE and Premiere as well. I prefer the RGB curves in AE and Premiere than the curves in DaVinci but still DaVinci has some better features with keys, masking and tracking. When I worked in AE and Premiere I always used Magic Bullet Colorista 2 which is a great plugin. It gives you control over shadows, midtones and highlights and you can make keys for the skin as well, even though it’s not as good as in DaVinci.What other options do you wish were available in AE?
First of all, vectroscopes, histogram, waveform and RGB parades! I don’t understand why they don’t make that easy to use in AE. I think you can get it by getting some plugin but it shouldn’t be so complicated though it’s very useful when grading and fixing scenes.Then I think it should be better ways of doing keys if you would want to isolate specific areas in your scene. But then again, AE is not built for being a grading app, but still.Do you have favorite before/after clip work you’ve worked on?
I really haven’t uploaded any good before and after videos to show my breakdown though I always get new jobs and projects that I think, I want to include this in the breakdown, but then I get another job which I also want to add in the breakdown and that way I never get time to do a real before and after video but I liked the vintage look I created a few weeks ago which I made a before and after video of:Do you tend to default warmer or cooler colors? Why?
It all depends on the scene and what mood you want to achieve. If you want to create a happy mood in a scene when it is suppose to be hot and sunny, it’s not a good idea to make it bluish and cold. But if I had to choose one I think I find cooler looks more interesting and beautiful.Where do you hope to be in 10 years time?
Good question. I hope to become one of the best colorists in the world, but I also love telling stories and affect people with my films so it’s not impossible that I’m directing films. I got too many film ideas that I want to make and I want at least one of them to become a real film.What is the most common/annoying mistake you see made in people’s work?
I think it is people who are just making films based on other ideas. The only way to become successful and make your film being spread over the internet is by making something new and interesting that when a guy sees it he thinks, wow I must show this to my friend. That’s the only way your work can be spread and become popular and famous. So instead of watching films on the internet and recreate them, think of something new that can make people look at your film and think, oh I wish I was the one who came up with that idea.In grading, a lot of people make the mistake by not grading their film because they don’t think they know how to do it. But when I first started grading I didn’t know anything about it. I just added a couple of Curves-effects and tweaked until I found it cool and beautiful. There are no rules on how to do grading, the only things that decides if a grading look good or bad are our eyes and we all have those. So experiment with all the effects you can think of being a good way to achieve something you’ll like, and start tweak and play around and let your eyes be the judges ’cause in the end we don’t know how you achieved the grading, we just see the result.
What advice would you have for someone asking for basic color grading principles to follow?
First of all, make a primary correction which means fix your scene so that it looks natural and clean.First of all, make a primary correction which means fix your scene so that it looks natural and clean. It is basically getting your scene correctly balanced, but some also do their contrast in the primary so that the highlights are completely white and the blacks are completely black (a good way of getting this right is looking at a waveform), but I use to do this when I’m creating my overall look.
Then you have the secondary correction which means making keys and masks if there are something you want to lit or darken. Sometimes maybe a wall or a chair is too light or too saturated so that it steals the attention from the actors or the thing you want to focus on, then it’s good to darken or desaturate it so that the eyes doesn’t think it’s so distracting.
Fixing skin tones and eyes are also something you often do in your secondary correction.
Then in the master correction, you want to add your look. Create a look you think is good for the scene, like adding different nuances in the shadows, midtones and highlights. Here’s is also where I add my contrast by deciding how dark or bright the shadows, midtones and highlights should be. This is a very important step though it kind of decides what time it is, were they are and what kind of weather it is.
Talk to me about your Unsharp Mask experiment.
What program or plug-in have you really wanted to learn that you just haven’t been able to to?
There is no such thing though you can learn anything you want on the internet. But then, some softwares are way harder to get than others and it takes more time but if you are willing to spend that time, you will learn after sitting those hours of watching tutorials. But for example, it takes longer time to learn Maya or 3ds Max than understanding Colorista 2 for AE. But if you want to learn and are willing to spend time on learning it, you can’t fail.Can you briefly walk through any of the shots in your T2i Color Grading project?
What mainly did this to a good shot is that it looks like it’s shot with a really good camera. As you can see in the before, it’s not. But by adding those light rays, bringing everything down to a kind of dark look but still keeping the details in everything, and adding those tiny particles in the air, it looks like the camera did have really high dynamic range and that it was shot in high pixels though it could get those small particles as well. So it is kind of like tricking your eyes. Make it look like the camera was better than it actually was.
Anything else that you’d like to share with our readers?
My career developed very fast and I’m very lucky to have got that much luck by having the right people accidentally watching my films on internet and then later got contacted by them. I also got a mail from a company in Hollywood a few months ago while I was still in high school and they asked if I wanted to fly there and work for them for three weeks, that was really inspiring and I learned a lot! So when I talked to a person who is kind of my mentor, I said to him that most of my success has been by luck, but then he said:Yes you have got some luck but then again you’ve earned that luck after all those hours of watching tutorials and classes at nights. You wouldn’t have got that luck if you hadn’t worked hard and put a lot of videos and tests on the internet, luck is never free.So work hard if it is something you want, because sooner or later you’ll get it back in some way.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Inside 1980s ILM
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Inside 1980s ILM:
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Director Gavin Rothery hosts a great review of groundbreaking analog VFX techniques with a series of videos peeking inside 1980s Industrial Light & Magic.
Posted on Motionographer
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Director Gavin Rothery hosts a great review of groundbreaking analog VFX techniques with a series of videos peeking inside 1980s Industrial Light & Magic.
Posted on Motionographer
Classic Quickie: Chris Casady’s FX for TRON (1982)
Classic Quickie: Chris Casady’s FX for TRON (1982):
My work on TRON 1982 from Chris Casady on Vimeo.
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Chris Casady’s effects animation for TRON (1982).
Read more about Chris’amazing work in this short retrospective.
Posted on Motionographer
My work on TRON 1982 from Chris Casady on Vimeo.
Motionographer Classic Quickie: Chris Casady’s effects animation for TRON (1982).
Read more about Chris’amazing work in this short retrospective.
Posted on Motionographer
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Rear Window Timelapse MUST SEE!
Rear Window Timelapse:
Jeff Desom pieces together a killer looping installation of the Hitchcock masterpiece, Rear Window. Check out a timelapse of the composite.
Jeff Desom pieces together a killer looping installation of the Hitchcock masterpiece, Rear Window. Check out a timelapse of the composite.
TNT Belgium: A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square
TNT Belgium: A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square:
The viral marketing clip of the day features a good dose of storytelling, breaking down television tropes into interchangeable jigsaw puzzle pieces. There’s a hot chick on a bike, some slapstick, a gunfight – the only thing missing is a helicopter touching down.
With the popularity of Improv Everywhere and theatrical productions like Sleep No More, this sort of promotion fits right in with the popularity of the consumer wanting to be in the middle of something special. You’ve just got to make sure you don’t stray too far into Theme Park Stunt Spectacular territory (though, I admit I probably watched the Universal Studios Miami Vice show over thirty times as a kid).
Please send credits if you have.
The viral marketing clip of the day features a good dose of storytelling, breaking down television tropes into interchangeable jigsaw puzzle pieces. There’s a hot chick on a bike, some slapstick, a gunfight – the only thing missing is a helicopter touching down.
With the popularity of Improv Everywhere and theatrical productions like Sleep No More, this sort of promotion fits right in with the popularity of the consumer wanting to be in the middle of something special. You’ve just got to make sure you don’t stray too far into Theme Park Stunt Spectacular territory (though, I admit I probably watched the Universal Studios Miami Vice show over thirty times as a kid).
Please send credits if you have.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Daft Punk Derezzed Floppy Cover! SO AWESOME!
Daft Punk Derezzed Floppy Cover:
YouTuber MrSolidSnake745 covers Daft Punk’s bliptastic TRON single Derezzed using five floppy drives. It’s not as clean as the electric guitar cover, but you can’t miss the song’s unmistakable riff.
YouTuber MrSolidSnake745 covers Daft Punk’s bliptastic TRON single Derezzed using five floppy drives. It’s not as clean as the electric guitar cover, but you can’t miss the song’s unmistakable riff.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Nitro Circus: The Movie
This is gonna be AWESOME!!!
Travis Pastrana and the rest of Nitro Circus take their Jackass-with-vehicles antics to the big screen – and in 3D, naturally. We’re sick of the Angry Birds gimmick, but the other tricks are enticing.
Travis Pastrana and the rest of Nitro Circus take their Jackass-with-vehicles antics to the big screen – and in 3D, naturally. We’re sick of the Angry Birds gimmick, but the other tricks are enticing.
Shut Up and Play the Hits (Trailer)
Shut Up and Play the Hits (Trailer):
A documentary about LCD Soundsystem’s final show – aka “the best funeral ever” – with additional focus on frontman James Murphy, who was the one who decided to break up the band.
A documentary about LCD Soundsystem’s final show – aka “the best funeral ever” – with additional focus on frontman James Murphy, who was the one who decided to break up the band.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Total Immersion: Projection Mapping + Tracking for PS3 Shots, Like Pure Magic
Total Immersion: Projection Mapping + Tracking for PS3 Shots, Like Pure Magic:re-blog from Create Digital Motion
We’re living in an age of the Neo-Baroque/Neo-Rococo, in which technique creates marvelous illusions, when technique and thought can create dazzling effects. And as the technology matures, that work begins to evolve genuine playfulness. It’s not enough to see the novelty: that novelty is now conveyed through real wit.
At least, I feel fuzzy, optimistic thoughts like that when I look at work like a series of spots for the Sony PS3. Friend-of-the-site Memo Atken is involved, alongside FND and Flat-e, with the wonder, mixing real-time projection mapping with head tracking and camera tracking (both at once) for a sort of live match-moving-like effect.
But… well, just watch. I hope we’ll get to talk to Memo, Flat-e, and FND soon. Credits and a teaser description of how it was done below.
And consider this: the combination of sensing with projection is to live digital visuals what a technique like perspective was to painting centuries ago. It’s a calculated illusion, but it could be the basis for an entire body of work, both a marvel in itself and a springboard to new art.
Credits:
Sony PS3 Video Store Realtime Projection Mapping [flat-e]
Memo writes:
Dynamic projection mapping with camera / head tracking – Sony PlayStation Video Store [memo.tv]
Thanks, Steve Nalepa and David Lublin.
We’re living in an age of the Neo-Baroque/Neo-Rococo, in which technique creates marvelous illusions, when technique and thought can create dazzling effects. And as the technology matures, that work begins to evolve genuine playfulness. It’s not enough to see the novelty: that novelty is now conveyed through real wit.
At least, I feel fuzzy, optimistic thoughts like that when I look at work like a series of spots for the Sony PS3. Friend-of-the-site Memo Atken is involved, alongside FND and Flat-e, with the wonder, mixing real-time projection mapping with head tracking and camera tracking (both at once) for a sort of live match-moving-like effect.
But… well, just watch. I hope we’ll get to talk to Memo, Flat-e, and FND soon. Credits and a teaser description of how it was done below.
And consider this: the combination of sensing with projection is to live digital visuals what a technique like perspective was to painting centuries ago. It’s a calculated illusion, but it could be the basis for an entire body of work, both a marvel in itself and a springboard to new art.
Credits:
Realtime projection mapping for Sony PS3 Video Store.
Agency: Studio Output
Directors: Robin McNicholas (Flat-e), Barney Steel (FND), Memo Akten (MSA)
Cameraman / AR: Thomas English
Music: Finn McNicholas/Si Begg
Client: Sony PS3 Video Store
Production Company: Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF)
Sony PS3 Video Store Realtime Projection Mapping [flat-e]
Memo writes:
For the launch of the Sony PlayStation Video Store, our job was to bring a living room alive with hints at various hollywood blockbuster franchises – so we decided to push projection mapping to a new level. We projection mapped a living room space with camera (or head) tracking and dynamic perspective. All content realtime 3D, camera (or head) is tracked to match and update the 3D perspective in realtime to the viewers point of view. Add to this real props, live puppetry, interaction between the virtual and physical worlds, a little bit of pyrotechnics and a lot of late nights. I can tell you, physically walking around in that space really messes with your head, e.g. when the floor drops you reach out to grab onto something!.
Dynamic projection mapping with camera / head tracking – Sony PlayStation Video Store [memo.tv]
Thanks, Steve Nalepa and David Lublin.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Johnny Woods and Dpony VHS Movie/Album
Johnny Woods and Dpony VHS Movie/Album:
Dpony Movie is available on VHS tape in a limited edition of 100 copies.
Orders are available now for the price of $19.99 (including shipping and handling, USA only)
Orders are available now for the price of $19.99 (including shipping and handling, USA only)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
“Graphic Design: Now in Production” exhibition
“Graphic Design: Now in Production” exhibition:re-blog from The Art of Title
This Saturday, October 22, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis will open Graphic Design: Now in Production, a joint exhibition with the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
The exhibition features work produced since 2000 in the most vital sectors of communication design, exploring the world of design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters; the expansion of branding and identity programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations; the entrepreneurial spirit of designer-produced goods; the renaissance in digital typeface design; the transformation of raw data into compelling information narratives; and the storytelling potential of film and television title sequences.
For the latter section, Art of the Title was asked to guest curate a 'screening room' for the titles section of the show, and for the past ten months we've worked to produce a comprehensive list of film and television title work created within the last ten years that exemplifies contemporary title design.
Twenty eight sequences were chosen, representing both US and international film and television, from studios such Prologue, Imaginary Forces, Digital Kitchen, Elastic, yU+co., Lobo and MK12, and designers like Gareth Smith & Jenny Lee, Kuntzel+Deygas, Daniel Kleinman, Tom Kan, Jamie Caliri and Johnny Kelly.
With this wide variety of sequence choices we hope to highlight work that has influenced the design field, shown creative vision and use of materials, innovative practices and methods, and which embodies the timeless tradition established by past eras of title design.
A comprehensive, illustrated catalogue produced by the Walker Art Center accompanies the exhibition. The title sequence section will contain a specially commissioned introduction from Ben Radatz, Partner and Creative Director at the Kansas City-based MK12 (Stranger Than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace) as well as write-ups and interview excerpts from Art of the Title.
We would personally like to thank Andrew Blauvelt at the Walker and Ellen Lupton at the Cooper-Hewitt for this opportunity. It has been a tremendous honor to work with them on this and we are extremely proud and excited to be present for the opening.
Further details can be found here: http://calendar.walkerart.org/canopy.wac?id=6189
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The first major museum exhibition on graphic design in more than a decade, Graphic Design: Now in Production will run from October 22, 2011 - January 22, 2012 in Minneapolis and then travel to New York in the summer of 2012 and other venues thereafter.
Curatorial Team:
Ian Albinson, Art of the Title
Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Art Center
Jeremy Leslie, magCulture
Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Brand New
Graphic Design: Now In Production is co-organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York.
Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
1-612-375-7687
http://www.walkerart.org/
WRITER: Ian Albinson
Full details for our “Graphic Design: Now in Production” exhibition post are available at Art of the Title.
This Saturday, October 22, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis will open Graphic Design: Now in Production, a joint exhibition with the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
The exhibition features work produced since 2000 in the most vital sectors of communication design, exploring the world of design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters; the expansion of branding and identity programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations; the entrepreneurial spirit of designer-produced goods; the renaissance in digital typeface design; the transformation of raw data into compelling information narratives; and the storytelling potential of film and television title sequences.
For the latter section, Art of the Title was asked to guest curate a 'screening room' for the titles section of the show, and for the past ten months we've worked to produce a comprehensive list of film and television title work created within the last ten years that exemplifies contemporary title design.
Twenty eight sequences were chosen, representing both US and international film and television, from studios such Prologue, Imaginary Forces, Digital Kitchen, Elastic, yU+co., Lobo and MK12, and designers like Gareth Smith & Jenny Lee, Kuntzel+Deygas, Daniel Kleinman, Tom Kan, Jamie Caliri and Johnny Kelly.
With this wide variety of sequence choices we hope to highlight work that has influenced the design field, shown creative vision and use of materials, innovative practices and methods, and which embodies the timeless tradition established by past eras of title design.
A comprehensive, illustrated catalogue produced by the Walker Art Center accompanies the exhibition. The title sequence section will contain a specially commissioned introduction from Ben Radatz, Partner and Creative Director at the Kansas City-based MK12 (Stranger Than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace) as well as write-ups and interview excerpts from Art of the Title.
Exhibition catalog
We would personally like to thank Andrew Blauvelt at the Walker and Ellen Lupton at the Cooper-Hewitt for this opportunity. It has been a tremendous honor to work with them on this and we are extremely proud and excited to be present for the opening.
Further details can be found here: http://calendar.walkerart.org/canopy.wac?id=6189
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The first major museum exhibition on graphic design in more than a decade, Graphic Design: Now in Production will run from October 22, 2011 - January 22, 2012 in Minneapolis and then travel to New York in the summer of 2012 and other venues thereafter.
Curatorial Team:
Ian Albinson, Art of the Title
Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Art Center
Jeremy Leslie, magCulture
Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Brand New
Graphic Design: Now In Production is co-organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York.
Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
1-612-375-7687
http://www.walkerart.org/
Walker Art Center
WRITER: Ian Albinson
WALKER IMAGE: j. fo (flickr)
LAST UPDATE: October 19, 2011
© Art of the Title, 2011
Full details for our “Graphic Design: Now in Production” exhibition post are available at Art of the Title.
The Title Design of Saul Bass (a brief visual history)
The Title Design of Saul Bass (a brief visual history):
The Title Design of Saul Bass from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.
Full details for our The Title Design of Saul Bass (a brief visual history) post are available at Art of the Title.
The Title Design of Saul Bass from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.
To celebrate the release of the long-awaited book Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design, I put together a brief visual history of some of Saul Bass's most celebrated work.
Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design, by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham, is available on Amazon.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will also celebrate the life of Saul Bass with a film screening and talk on Monday, November 14, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. This special event features the New York premiere of Saul and Elaine Bass's Academy Award-winning short Why Man Creates (1968), newly preserved by the Academy Film Archive, as well as a rich selection of title sequences, commercials, and corporate campaigns.
Among the evening's guest presenters are the book's author, Pat Kirkham, a distinguished design historian who knew Bass personally; Chip Kidd, the award-winning contemporary graphic designer and writer noted for his brilliant book covers; and Kyle Cooper, a legendary graphic designer in his own right, with such unforgettable film title sequences as Se7en, X-Men: First Class, the Spider-Man trilogy, and countless others.
Full details here: The Academy and MoMA Present Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design
- Ian Albinson, Editor-in-Chief
Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design, by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham, is available on Amazon.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will also celebrate the life of Saul Bass with a film screening and talk on Monday, November 14, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. This special event features the New York premiere of Saul and Elaine Bass's Academy Award-winning short Why Man Creates (1968), newly preserved by the Academy Film Archive, as well as a rich selection of title sequences, commercials, and corporate campaigns.
Among the evening's guest presenters are the book's author, Pat Kirkham, a distinguished design historian who knew Bass personally; Chip Kidd, the award-winning contemporary graphic designer and writer noted for his brilliant book covers; and Kyle Cooper, a legendary graphic designer in his own right, with such unforgettable film title sequences as Se7en, X-Men: First Class, the Spider-Man trilogy, and countless others.
Full details here: The Academy and MoMA Present Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design
- Ian Albinson, Editor-in-Chief
Full details for our The Title Design of Saul Bass (a brief visual history) post are available at Art of the Title.
Friday, October 21, 2011
In 36,000 Photos, Melting Ice Animations Set to Silky-Smooth Mimi Goese + Ben Neill Music
In 36,000 Photos, Melting Ice Animations Set to Silky-Smooth Mimi Goese + Ben Neill Music:
It’s hard to say enough good things about the music video for “Persephone” by Mimi Goese and Ben Neill, so let’s keep it short:
40 blocks of ice (25 L of water), in 40 timelapses of four hours, are strung into some 36,000 photos of stop-motion animation. Stop motion might just rest on its visual spectacle, but in the hands of director Christophe Thockler, the results are positively cinematic, too, and oddly poignant.
With sound on mute, that would be wonderful to watch, but instead, you get to enjoy the music of trumpet player/technologist Ben Neill and vocalist Mimi Goese in a silky, sexy-smooth track that might melt you like so many blocks of ice.
The artists:
http://www.mimigoeseandbenneill.com/
http://www.christophethockler.com/
On that video – Oberon by Mimi Goese & Ben Neill, available on the special edition of “Songs for Persephone,” along with, of course, the track in the music video.
It’s hard to say enough good things about the music video for “Persephone” by Mimi Goese and Ben Neill, so let’s keep it short:
40 blocks of ice (25 L of water), in 40 timelapses of four hours, are strung into some 36,000 photos of stop-motion animation. Stop motion might just rest on its visual spectacle, but in the hands of director Christophe Thockler, the results are positively cinematic, too, and oddly poignant.
With sound on mute, that would be wonderful to watch, but instead, you get to enjoy the music of trumpet player/technologist Ben Neill and vocalist Mimi Goese in a silky, sexy-smooth track that might melt you like so many blocks of ice.
The artists:
http://www.mimigoeseandbenneill.com/
http://www.christophethockler.com/
On that video – Oberon by Mimi Goese & Ben Neill, available on the special edition of “Songs for Persephone,” along with, of course, the track in the music video.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Ken Block's Gymkhana Four: The Hollywood Megamercial
Ken Block's Gymkhana Four: The Hollywood Megamercial:re-blog from CRBlog
Posted on YouTube on Tuesday, DC Shoes' latest short film showcasing their sponsored Gymkhana driver Ken Block has already clocked up over 3.5 million viewings. We thought we'd flag it up as there's some rather nice action-film-referencing typography in it – not to mention robotic sharks, deranged zombies, pyrotechnics, massive stunts and some pretty impressive driving skills...
For those of you that don't know what Gymkhana is (we didn't until an hour ago), it's a motorsport where competitors vie for the fastest time around a usually complex course – but also perform different driving techniques from spins, figure 8s and, where possible or necessary, drifting. Nothing will explain it better than this nine minute film - shot by director Ben Conrad (who created the opening title sequences for Zombieland / 30 Seconds or Less) of motion design, TV and branding agency, Logan in Los Angeles.
At nine minutes, the film is probably a little longer than it needs to be, but as a promotional film for the motorsport Gymkhana, the skills of driver Ken Block, and a plug for DC Shoes, well, it's not bad. The film-referencing typographic work in the opening sequence was created by designer Corey Holms who now works in house at Logan. Here are a few stills showing some of the frames from the opening sequence. Can you name all the films alluded to?
There's a behind the scenes, making-of film (but of course) too. Find it here
Credits
Director Ben Conrad
Production co Logan
Executive producer Matt Marquis
Line producer Rick Brown
Concept director Ken Block
Editor Volkert Besseling
Cinematography Stephen Blackman
Creative director Nate Morley
Creative consultant Brian Scotto
Post producer Pierre Nobile
Title design Corey Holms
Sound design Keith Ruggiero
Post supervisor Vincent Wauters
Original music by Money Mark
Posted on YouTube on Tuesday, DC Shoes' latest short film showcasing their sponsored Gymkhana driver Ken Block has already clocked up over 3.5 million viewings. We thought we'd flag it up as there's some rather nice action-film-referencing typography in it – not to mention robotic sharks, deranged zombies, pyrotechnics, massive stunts and some pretty impressive driving skills...
For those of you that don't know what Gymkhana is (we didn't until an hour ago), it's a motorsport where competitors vie for the fastest time around a usually complex course – but also perform different driving techniques from spins, figure 8s and, where possible or necessary, drifting. Nothing will explain it better than this nine minute film - shot by director Ben Conrad (who created the opening title sequences for Zombieland / 30 Seconds or Less) of motion design, TV and branding agency, Logan in Los Angeles.
At nine minutes, the film is probably a little longer than it needs to be, but as a promotional film for the motorsport Gymkhana, the skills of driver Ken Block, and a plug for DC Shoes, well, it's not bad. The film-referencing typographic work in the opening sequence was created by designer Corey Holms who now works in house at Logan. Here are a few stills showing some of the frames from the opening sequence. Can you name all the films alluded to?
There's a behind the scenes, making-of film (but of course) too. Find it here
Credits
Director Ben Conrad
Production co Logan
Executive producer Matt Marquis
Line producer Rick Brown
Concept director Ken Block
Editor Volkert Besseling
Cinematography Stephen Blackman
Creative director Nate Morley
Creative consultant Brian Scotto
Post producer Pierre Nobile
Title design Corey Holms
Sound design Keith Ruggiero
Post supervisor Vincent Wauters
Original music by Money Mark
Sunday, August 7, 2011
MOVE
MOVE:re-blog from Computerlove
3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an
exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to
turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food
....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....
= a trip of a lifetime.
move, eat, learn
exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to
turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food
....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....
= a trip of a lifetime.
move, eat, learn
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