Distance

Here’s another delectable morsel of hand drawn animation from this year’s bountiful Gobelins harvest. It’s by four, third-year students – Todd DeJong, Tom Law, Wandrille Maunoury, Etienne Metois and Jonathan Vermersch – and does a fantastic job illustrating a distinct flavor of anxiety we’ve probably all experienced.

P.S. If you’re into ‘making of’s then you’re in luck: Wandrille, Tom and Todd each uploaded a behind-the-scenes peek of their individual contributions to Distance. Enjoy!

[ Distance ]

Eclipse

This short by Gobelins students Théo Guignard, Nöé Lecombre and Hugo Moreno reminds me of three distinct ‘flavors’: Stanley Kubrick‘s trademark sterile, ominous atmospheric direction, Bruce Timm‘s tight, economical illustrative style and Vangelis’ thick, synth-heavy ambient soundtracks. It strikes a just-right balance between hand-drawn 2D animation’s warmth and character and the immersion-heightening ability of subtly-executed 3D. It’s very nice; don’t hesitate to dive in.

If you’re diggin’ this one, I suggest you watch Countdown next.

P.S. Hugo posted a behind-the-scenes look at how ECLIPSE came together; if you’re into process it’s can’t miss.

P.P.S. Our Gobelins feed is filled to the brim with fantastic short films that are all worthy of your attention. Enjoy!

[ ECLIPSE via mcbess ]

Livin In The Sunlight, Lovin In The Moonlight

“Drawn in their distinctive 80s-inspired kaleidoscopic style, the Layzells take us on a surreal romp through a richly textured cartoon world dreamed up by a hallucinating out-of-work animator.”

File under: LOLWAT

A surreal-silly-psychedelic-good-times romp created at Blink for Adam Buxton‘s new ‘comedy-meets-music-video’ series, BUG, on Sky Atlantic HD. Best served at the height of your sesh in full-screen HD. This one’s a treat; ENJOY!

P.S. The Layzell Brothers (who illustrated/animated/directed the attached) are also responsible for the super-bizarre Reindeer and om-y 8-Bit Mazes so give those a gander when you’re done here.

[ Adam Buxton 'Livin In The Sunlight, Lovin In The Moonlight' ]

Metro

When I was a child I used to let my imagination run wild whenever I’d be in transit – whether by car or train or bus (I didn’t fly for the first time until college) – trying to picture any secret worlds that might exist parallel to our own. The subway was especially intriguing and, in between station stops, I’d envision all manner of underground dwellers who sat hidden just beyond the reach of the fluorescent light that streamed from the train’s windows as it sped by. The attached short film by Jake Wyatt explores similar territory and drips with an atmospheric mystery that holds your attention from start to finish.

The moody, ethereal, meandering George Winston-esque piano score compliments the visuals so well that I wondered if it was written specifically for the film or was one of the primary inspirations for its creation. Michael Wyatt is listed in the end credits as the composer and, since him and the director share a last name, I wouldn’t be surprised if both the film and it’s soundtrack were created in parallel. All-in-all, it’s very nice…don’t hesitate to dive in.

Oh and Jake is also a fantastic illustrator so definitely check out his Tumblr when you get a chance. (Primeape?! NICE.)

Last summer I got an email from someone claiming to be Pharrell Williams’ assistant. My initial thought was that I was getting trolled but I decided to respond anyways since I had been such a big fan of his since first discovering The Neptunes by way of N.O.R.E.‘s Superthug.

To my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be legit and a few weeks later I was on the phone with Pharrell himself asking if I’d be up for collaborating on something (an even pleasant-er surprise, for sure).

He had a new hush-hush project in the works called i am OTHER and thought The Tripatorium™ would fit in nicely with what they were up to. We’ve been kicking ideas back-and-forth since then and thought the logical place to start would be to put together some playlists of our favorite videos. Where it goes from here? Who knows…but if you’d like to see us do more together shoot i am OTHER a message on Facebook or Twitter and let them know. In the meantime, subscribe on YouTube to be the first to find out when our next collaboration goes live. (While you’re there, definitely check out Nardwuar’s interviews…they’re fantastic.)

The first playlist went up last night and is comprised of four videos that initially inspired the creation of the site (Zodiac Shit, The Parachute Ending, The Music Scene, Baby I’m Yours) and six other favorites that we think typify The Tripatorium™ experience (After the Rain, The Murf, Between Bears, Let Go, Baltimore Clap and Loom). It’s a distilled dose of what we’re up to and a perfect way to introduce the site to anyone who might be interested.

Cheers!

[ METRO ]

Hide & Seek

“My approach to illustration is about paring things down as much as possible.
I try and get to the essence of my subject by using as few lines and colours
as it needs to convey the core of the idea.”

Malika Favre, who wrote the above, has a distinctly minimal and dignified hard-edged style that’s reminiscent (to me at least) of Paul Rand‘s iconic logos, René Gruau’s figures and those muted-future illustrations you might see hanging faded in a dated hair salon’s street-facing window. That last bit of the preceding sentence might seem insulting but honestly, it wasn’t my intention.

Picasso famously said that ‘good artists copy; great artists steal’ which, like most hyperbolic statements, makes sense on the surface but doesn’t hold up to honest, measured scrutiny. Insecure assholes steal; a great artist internalizes the images that inexplicably resonate, leveraging them as a catalyst for iterative exploration until something entirely their own arises from the grind. And, though Ms. Favre’s work might remind me of something else – it is, make no mistake, wholly unique.

Strangely enough, the attached wasn’t made by her but was commissioned by Kemistry Gallery to advertise her upcoming exhibition, Hide and Seek. Maki Yoshikura did the animation while Luke Carpenter and Natural Self handled the compositing and music, respectively.

Credits aside, I like to see such tight, precise illustrations move and Maki did a stellar job bringing Malika’s work to life without compromising it’s rigid spirit. Oh, and the transition from one vignette to the next in stark black-and-white makes the eyes a bit dizzy (in a good way) so get this loaded full screen for sure. Enjoy!

[ Hide&Seek - Malika Favre ]

Nature selects from 1x.com

'Thirsty' by Risquillo (http://1x.com/photo/39149/category/nature/popular-ever/thirsty)
'Thirsty' by Risquillo (http://1x.com/photo/39149/category/nature/popular-ever/thirsty)'The Gateway to Iceland' by Skarphedinn Thrainsson (http://1x.com/photo/46607/category/nature/popular-ever/the-gateway-to-iceland)'Barn Owl' by Robert Adamec (http://1x.com/photo/50042/category/nature/latest-additions/barn-owl)'Halleluja' by mathieu irthum (http://1x.com/photo/43291/category/nature/popular-ever/halleluja)'Dessert' by Alexander Taranin (http://1x.com/photo/49663/category/nature/latest-additions/dessert)'Folding Lava' by Justin Reznick (http://1x.com/photo/41985/category/nature/popular-ever/folding-lava)

I spend the majority of my time staring at a screen which, honestly, has been my primary goal since adolescence; no complaints here. But, like with anything having to do with our in-built desires, balance is necessary and recently my life has sorely lacked it. I’m going away to the mountains this weekend for some much needed relaxation and the closer it gets the more I’m anxious to reconnect with nature – ergo this post. OK, so it’s still taking place via a computer but, whatever…baby steps, right?

Anywho, if you want get a dose of the great outdoors via assembled grids of red, blue and green pixels there’s no better place than 1x.com. All of the attached photos are from there.

One more thing: you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the suggestions; I still can’t believe how much cool shit gets sent to my inbox er’ryday. Keep ‘em coming. Cheers!

P.S. Click here for moar nature-goodness on The Tripatorium™.

P.P.S. If you haven’t seen Nature by Numbers yet you should probably get on that shit.

[ Nature on 1x.com ]

Save Me

“And you gave me love
When I could not love myself
And you made me turn
From the way I saw myself
And you’re patient, love
And you help me help myself
And you save me,
You save me, you save me…”

What a great fuckin’ song. Cheers to Peter Lowey for the fantastic visuals and to Gotye for explicating, via woven words and sounds, the transformative magic of love. Enjoy!

Click here for some moar Gotye goodness on The Tripatorium™.

[ Gotye - Save Me - official video ]

With My Umbrella

Takashi Ohashi‘s animation in this music video for cokiyu reminds me of both bleeple’s 2D moving collages and Ori Toor’s layered undulations. They all share a foundation of smooth, psychedelic abstraction but Takashi’s shapes veer away from pure form to conjure an alien landscape of playful, swimming organisms. It’s smooth-as-fuck, too – clearly he sweats the details, something I always appreciate.

Speaking of which, I’m a big fan of the ‘color-echo’ effect that makes it’s first appearance from 1:41-2:06, reappears at 2:47 and spools up to a crescendo from 3:17 to 3:47. It probably looks good on your phone, sure, but it’s one of those bits of subtle animation that’s magic on a big screen in a dark room so, if you’ve got access to a similar environment, I suggest you experience it there.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you’re diggin’ this, definitely watch Chunkothy next.

[ cokiyu - With My Umbrella ]

Getaway Tonight

This song by OPOSSOM – with its big swells of lush, layered chords and surgical syncopated stabs of percussive rhythm – hooked me right from the jump. I kept turning it up to the point where Ms. Tripatorium looked over with concern from across the room because she could hear it blaring out of my earbuds with a tinny intensity. I just smiled and said, ‘It’s a really good tune.’

It is. You’ll see.

Anyways, the psychedelic visuals are a bit scattered and bizarre but that’s always been just fine with me. They’re by Special Problems (Campbell Hooper and Joel Kefali) and the attached fits in nicely with the other two out-there music videos we’ve posted by them, The Sun and MmmHmm.

Load it in full-screen HD, get your headphones out and enjoy. Oh and a big thanks to Bryan for sending this one our way. Cheers!

[ OPOSSOM - Getaway Tonight ]

Mountain

“The seemingly random elements tell the tale of a day in the life of three different characters who live in Seoul - all of whom are watched over by the ever present Mountains which ring the city.”

This one reminds me a bunch of Thursday. The attached and the aforementioned both sport hard-edged, bright, geometric and graphic visuals with some tight, complimentary sound design. Gorgeous stuff.

P.S. Go watch Thursday next.

[ SICAF 212 ''MOUNTAIN' ]