Flickr is such a pretty, clean & streamlined service.

…but neon, flashing, glowing, spinning animated  awards are not. In tribute to these horrible eyesores, and the unfortunate people who ruin a perfectly good comment thread with such nonsense, I give you the “Hideous Flickr Comment Award”:

Embed it wherever you see ugly flickr comments and help to stop the internet looking like the 90’s again.

Here’s the code if you are lazy:

<a href=”http://darkmotion.com/blog/hideous-award/”><img src=”http://darkmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hideous.png” /></a>

After our brainstorm and effects experiments, Josh & I put together some storyboards to plan the sequence, and break down the effects shots. We edited them into animatic to work out the pacing and timing of the shots, and how they sit in the generality of the film. Josh also kept things fresh with his inspiration pants.

More to come!

Chroma Key Test - DIY from josh knepper on Vimeo.

This is a home-brew green screen, compositing test for a spanking new film I’m working on.

My current fascination is the production of live action x animation. Most specifically, 2D animation. I think the charm of this is that the compositing only has to be accomplished in a generalisation; not dependent on ‘accurate’ compositing (take Who Framed Roger Rabbit for example).

I met a film maker - Josh Knepper recently, and we got talking about projects. Naturally, we both wanted to put together a blend of creative fusion, and thus this project was born. We also thought it would be neat to document the process, so here goes nothing!

More soon

Tyler & I are teaming up to make useful & neat things for the Internet. If you want some wizards to make you pretty swell things, you now know where to go.

clompi.com

Pixar’s 10th feature film “Up” takes us on a wonderful adventure  in a typical, masterful fashion. The always positive bias that surrounds Pixar is  definitely earned & deserved.

Storytelling is the prevailing attribute that drives the studio’s success, and this film is no exception. I felt a definite series of tear jerking moments in the beautiful 10 minute biographical romance story of Carl Fredrickson. Without any dialogue, it remains engaging & sincere. It was clear that there was a gorgeous moment of cinematic story glory when the audience in my cinema session was in dead silence.

There was definitely a more mature tone overlooking the story, but always embellished with moments of the usual side-splitting humor & cheer between moments of sombre & darkness. I felt a much stronger connection to the characters due to the believability of the story and character roles. Continue reading »