Posts tagged 'Space'

Bells

“The majority of the 3D models used in the video are based on real objects from Space; the Hubble Space Telescope, Progress and Voyager 1. The planets and moons in the video are generated using NASA imagery, and helped to create a formal aspect to an otherwise abstract piece.”

As anyone who frequents this site knows, I’m a big fan of ‘wormhole’ videos. That’s not a formal, industry term or whatever just a little tag I started attaching to any video with a significant portion dedicated to taking bringing the viewer on a journey directly towards (or away from) the center of the frame. The first one I can remember seeing is 2001’s infamous ‘Star Gate’ slitscan sequence and I disctinctly remember wishing it had been twice (or three times) as long.

Ever since the inception of this site over three years ago I’ve tried to collect the best examples of the form and my current favorites are Max Hattler’s Sync, the bizarre and whimsical Pelican by David Wilson Creative (for The Maccabees), Jesse Kanda’s psychedelic sea-punk music video for Arca’s Manners, Quantum Leap by Thomas de Rijk (for Slugabed), and Carl Burton’s supremely strange and intriguing short film, Shelter.

Attached above is a video – by Stuart Sinclair – that fits in nicely with the aforementioned watchables. The glitchy, looped-and-syncopated music by Suns is just-right for a dive through space and the wire-frame visuals heighten the futuristic, tech-drenched vibe.

Top-marks all the way ‘round. ENJOY!

Oh and be sure to check out our wormhole feed, it’s not-to-be missed.

[ BELLS MUSIC VIDEO ]

Spacetime Fabric Softener

More than two years ago I posted a delightful, playful animated short – Spirit Quest Journey – by Ryan ‘Professor Soap’ Mauskopf. His latest is just as charming; the undulating hand-drawn line work, bright-and-simple color palette and lazy pacing remind me of what an uninhibited eight year old boy’s mind might conjure up while idly scribbling on a rainy day. The soundtrack is a treat, too…ENJOY!

[ Spacetime Fabric Softener ]

Stardust

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the ships that opened the Solar System for the human species, trailblazing a path for future generations. Before their launch, in August and September 1977, we were almost wholly ignorant about most of the planetary part of the Solar System. In the next dozen years, they provided our first detailed, close-up information on many new worlds–some of them previously known only as fuzzy disks in the eyepieces of ground-based telescopes, some merely as points of light, and some whose very existence was unsuspected. They are still returning reams of data.

These spacecraft have taught us about the wonders of other worlds, about the uniqueness and fragility of our own, about beginnings and ends. They have given us access to most of the Solar System–both in extent and in mass. They are the ships that first explored what may be homelands of our remote descendants.” – from Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

I’ve always been rathered enamoured with the Voyager program – especially the Golden Record, which you’ll get a close-up of at 2:35 – and the fantastic visuals in the attached short by PostPanic do a great job of embroidering JPL‘s masterwork with an appropriate sense of reverence and wonder.

Stardust‘s director, Mischa Rozema, wanted to (among other things) create a film that showed what the universe looked like, “from a different point of view. For example, standing on the surface of the sun looking upwards or witnessing the death and birth of a star - not at all scientifically correct but instead a purely artistic interpretation of such events.”

As you’ll see, he succeeded and the end result (for me, at least) provided a much needed shift in perspective. It’s gorgeous; the perfect companion for a late-night, contemplative, solitary sesh. Enjoy!

[ Stardust ]

Let’s Go

File under: LOLWAT

Alexis Beaumont and Rémi Godin bring the bizarre for Parisian indie outfit Stuck In The Sound. Thanks for sending this our way, victor! Cheers!

[ Stuck In The Sound - Let's Go ( official music video ) ]

Manners

Yes, please. I’m a sucker for wormholes and Jesse Kanda‘s geometric, seapunk(ish), refracted-and-ray-traced slow-dive for Arca‘s Manners is an excellent example of the form.

Serving instructions:

  1. Get the attached loaded in HD on your largest available screen and position your head close enough to it so that the majority of your field of vision is filled.
  2. Put your headphones on.
  3. Stare directly into the center of the screen and keep your eyes fixed that way for the duration of the video.
  4. Enjoy the magic that happens in your peripherins.

Cheers to Peter Verner for passing this along on Twitter. Thanks!

[ Arca - Manners (HD) ]

The Ancestor

“Go on: bury me,
under stone or under sea;
Silent picture, keep the fishes company.
There is little else for me now…
...but I will find my way,
out of the dark some day,
into a crimson, yellow sun.”

An emotional cocktail of gorgeous visuals (by Crazy Lake Pictures) and poignant tunes (from Darlingside); this one’s a winner, folks.

[ "The Ancestor" by Darlingside – Official Music ]

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 ]

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 ]

Perpetual Ocean

“This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience…read more on nasa.gov

Know what’s a bummer? Military spending is on the rise while NASA funding has been on a steady decline since 1992. A big thanks is due to Erica for sending this in to remind us that they’re still doing great things and our boy Neil for some much needed perspective.

Click here to see moar NASA radness on The Tripatorium™.

[ Perpetual Ocean by NASA ]

We are stardust.

“If you take all of the iron from the hemoglobin of the people in the tri-state area of New York City, you can recover that much iron out of their blood and realize that the iron from that meteorite and the iron from your blood has common origin in the core of a star…as Carl Sagan has said, ‘We are star-stuff’ but there’s a more poetic – and I think more accurate – way to say it; it’s quite literally true that we are stardust. In the highest exalted way one can use that phrase.”Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Whoa. Deep, bro.

[ Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Greatest Sermon Ever ]

Help Your Friends

“When things go wrong, people need help;
lend them a hand, the best you can.
We can help each other out!
Team work is what it’s all about!”

We’re huge fans of Will Sweeney – he’s been an integral part of some of our all-time favorite music videos: The Parachute Ending, The Game and Goin’in – so we were thrilled to discover that he lent his unique visual style to a Yo Gabba Gabba jingle written by DeVotchKa. It’s an excellent way to ingest some sage advice. Enjoy!

Previously: Argyle The Octopus

[ Help Your Friends – Will Sweeney for Yo Gabba Gabba! ]

On’n'on

Oh shit, son!

OK, first off: NSFW WARNING! Boobies ahoy! And secondly: NEW JUSTICE!

The ON’N'ON EP is set to drop at the end of the month (pre-order here) and the fine purveyors of dope at Ed Banger Records were cool enough to fund this fantastic music video to promote the release. It’s directed by the super-talented Alex Courtes whom, you might recall, was one-half of Alex & Martin, the duo that won the best Short Form Music Video Grammy in 2005 for their fine work on Vertigo. Though they’ve since parted ways, I am happy to report that it hasn’t negatively affected Alex’s instinctual knack for creating radness. Oh, and DIVISION was hired to assist on production and they brought the same A-game talent that made No Brain shine.

I’m rather partial to journeys down the wormhole and this one is a non-stop-center-zoom ride from start-to-finish. It’s gorgeous; the perfect accompaniment to your Friday night sesh. Strap-in, crank the volume and get them HD bits loading full-screen, dawg. Enjoy!

A huge, massive thanks to Brent Burtoft for sending this one our way. We are in your debt, sir – cheers!

Related Radness: In addition to the aforementioned No Brain be sure to check out Civilization, also by Justice, and Baby I’m Yours, a deliciously catchy tune with some candy-colorful-bright watercolor visuals. Enjoy your weekend!

[ Justice - ON'N'ON ]

Change

“How will I ever change, if I am willing to just stay the same?
And if I make a change when will it feel like I’m not just the same?”

Yes, please. Mellow dub grooves of CHLLNGR? Check. Operatic psychedelia-laced abstract sci-fi fantasy visuals (as directed by Chad Turner and Ryan Todd) that leave a pleasing 2001-esque aftertaste on one’s spiritual palette? Check. Turn down the lights, load the bits full screen, turn up the volume and get comfortable; I watched this three times in rapid succession and odds are you might, too.

Special mentions are due to Mike Rodriguez, Efrain Luna and Laura Southard who, along with Chad, did a fantastic job on the animation: top-flight work, y’all.

[ CHLLNGR - Change ]

Dan Dan

Whoa. The needles on our patent-pending Dope Meters™ were pinned deep in the red for the entire duration of this fantastic music video for Misteur Valaire as directed/created by Corentin Bachelet, Gilles Cortella, Augustin Clermont, Adrien Jalade and Juliette Grandjonc, a.k.a. Paf Paf, a group of independent French CGI designers. Full screen and headphones, dawg; this one deserves your undivided attention.

Wait, it gets better: Misteur Valaire’s complete discography is available for whatever you feel like paying. So, you know, grab some spare change out of the cushions of your couch and pick up some great ‘choons. Enjoy!

[ MV (Misteur Valaire) - DAN DAN (Création collective) ]

Earth

“Time lapse sequences of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera by the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011.”

I have a new favorite video on the internet! It’s this one! You should check it out! Holy shit this is so dope; dim the lights, turn the volume way up and full screen this bitch immediately. Michael König took the contemplative, ethereal ambient breaks of the super-talented Jan Jelinek and combined them with high-definition (4K!) low-light time lapses that NASA took recently and were cool enough to give away for free online.

PRO TIP: Keep your eyes peeled for the minuscule thunderstorms and ribboning, neon auroras. Thanks again, internet.

P.S. To see a list of locations for each shot used in the film click here.

[ Earth -Time Lapse View from Space/Fly Over -Nasa, ISS (vid by Michael König @ koenigm.com) ]

Countdown

It took two years for Celine Desrumaux to complete this short film – the care and patience invested shines through – and she cites Chris Ware, Hans Richter, Len Lye, Stanley Kubrick, Godfrey Reggio and this iconic speech by John F. Kennedy as her primary sources of inspiration. The visuals are amplified considerably by the haunting, urgent sounds of Apparat, a musician whose tunes I highly recommend you start acquiring. Especially his entry in the DJKicks series and Orchestra of Bubbles, a timeless and transporting collaboration with Ellen Allien.

Celine’s visuals do an excellent job of teasing out the inherent warmth of Granulard Bastard, highlighting the seemingly contradictory tension of how technology, often times cold and distant, can be a tool for achieving something as natural/instinctual like the humanity’s need to explore. It’s fantastic.

If you’re diggin’ the Apparat then don’t miss Warm Signal which we posted back in January.

[ Countdown - HD ]

The Murf

A story about growing up in the universe.

Oh shit! This might be, no joke, my new favorite video on the site. Scott Benson (he did episode 8 of the Animation Tag Attack) crafted this gorgeously animated music video for UK-based progressive electronic act, Rendezvous who were rad enough to give him complete creative freedom. PRO TIP for bands/clients who will work with Scott in the future: do the same, the man knows how to make some engaging watchables.

The overall narrative of human evolution is built through a series of brief, tightly edited vignettes (some lasting only a few seconds) that each inject a new unique dimension to the story while simultaneously advancing the overarching theme of how religion, spirituality and technology have the power to amplify and/or diminish our inner animal nature. Each one is polished to a high-sheen and a delight to take in (especially the gorgeous ‘shines’, bursts and abstracted geometric particle effects); this is one of those videos you’ll re-watch immediately after it ends.

If your reading this post in a dark room with nothing to do tomorrow: great! Click full screen, grab your headphones and enjoy. If you’re at work or have other stuff to do then do yourself a favor and bookmark this or leave yourself a note to watch it when you have the time to really enjoy what Mr. Benson has created. Enjoy!

Oh, right! I almost forgot! If you’re into process then don’t miss this write up on Scott’s blog where he goes into detail behind his thinking and motivation behind how and why he created The Murf.

P.S. If you liked this (which of course you did), I think you’ll also enjoy Thursday.

[ Rendezvous - The Murf ]

End of an Era

“There’s plenty of housework to be done here on earth – and our commitment to it must be steadfast – but we’re the kind of species that needs a frontier for fundamental biological reasons. Every time humanity stretches itself it receives a jolt of productive vitality that can carry it for centuries.”Carl Sagan

Reid Gower was commissioned by NASA to create a series of films that would pay tribute to Carl Sagan, the brilliant mind the center of Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, one of my all-time favorite documentary series produced by PBS. The video attached above is part six of (currently) seven of The Sagan Series so click the previous link to see the rest of them. Oh and Cosmos is getting a reboot courtesy of Seth MacFarlane (of Family Guy fame) and Neil Degrasse Tyson, the host of NOVA scienceNOW (another fantastic PBS property that you can watch for free online). Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to it.

[ The Sagan Series (part 6) - End of an Era: The Final Shuttle Launch ]

Capsize

Cheers to Chloe Hayward for the top-notch direction on this abstract, futuristic and monochromatic video for DELS, an Ipswich-based graphic designer/producer/MC. He was plenty busy churning out videos/tunes before signing a three-album deal with Big Dada this past May so our expectation is that DELS has lots more fantastic collaborations in the works. Enjoy!

[ DELS - 'Capsize' (Official Video) ]

Meteorites

“I don’t know where your from but I know you’ve come far. Look at your eyes: they’re meteorites.”

Hospital Records has been a reliable source for high quality electronic music for the past decade-and-a-half, consistently powered by their deep stable of talent like London Elektricity (featured in this video) and High Contrast (my personal favorite) whose uplifting, harmonic and driving production style has earned him a dedicated playlist on whatever portable music player is currently powering my headphones. The videos they release are of similar quality: well produced, original and fitting visual accompaniments to the songs they represent. ‘Meteorites’ takes you on a colorful high-definition journey through space, peppered with numerous references to sci-fi properties that are near and dear to both Tony Colman and Chris Goss (Hospital’s founders).

I don’t know who’s responsible for the visuals but if you do then please drop us a line and we’ll update this post to give the proper credit where it’s due. In the meantime: click full screen, make sure HD is on and grab your headphones for a journey through the stars. Enjoy!

A big thanks goes to Lieutenant TD for the heads up! Cheers!

[ London Elektricity - Meteorites ]