"BIG BANG BIG BOOM:
an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life ... and how it could probably end.

direction and animation by BLU
blublu.org

100 years of East London style in 100 seconds. Sept 13th 1911 - Sept 13th 2011. www.youtube.com/user/WestfieldStratford

Ryan Woodward explores drawing the human figure in a variety of creative approaches. Contemporary dance in 2d animation. He feels a graceful moving human form can communicate more emotion that any length of dialogue. conteanimated.com

In this RSAnimate, renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how our 'divided brain' has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society. Taken from a lecture given by Iain McGilchrist as part of the RSA's free public events programme.

Vicious Cycles a stop-motion motorcycle movie from 1967. You have to get past the one and a half minute mark to 'get it'. Thigh-crunching motorcycle mayhem.

Émile Cohl created Fantasmagorie in 1908.
To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions and the characters in the film look as though they've been drawn on a chalkboard, but it's an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.

One of the many stop-motion animations that will comprise a piece called 'TIme' which will projected onto Conwy Castle as part of the blinc Digital Arts Festival on 22nd October 2011. By Wendy Leah Dawson and Tim Pugh.

NASA scientists teamed up with a group of animators. 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.

This visualization was produced using NASA/JPL's computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.. ECCO2 is high resolution model of the global ocean and sea-ice. ECCO2 attempts to model the oceans and sea ice to increasingly accurate resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems which transport heat and carbon in the oceans.The ECCO2 model simulates ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov

For the 20 minute version: www.youtube.com

Stand by for an animated exploration of the famous Fermi Paradox. Given the vast number of planets in the universe, many much older than Earth, why haven't we yet seen obvious signs of alien life? The potential answers to this question are numerous and intriguing, alarming and hopeful. (Part of the series "Questions no one knows the answers to")

The fact that no one knows the answer to this question is what makes it exciting. The story of physics has been one of an ever-expanding understanding of the sheer scale of reality, to the point where physicists are now postulating that there may be far more universes than just our own. Chris Anderson explores the thrilling implications of this idea. (Part of the series "Questions no one knows the answers to")

The Secret of Kells is a welcome reminder of how warm, personal, and compelling traditional drawn animation can be. The story takes place in the eighth century, a perilous time when Viking raiders threatened to destroy Irish civilization. Since his parents were killed by Vikings, 12-year-old Brendan (voice by Evan McGuire) has lived within the walled monastery of Kells under the stern eye of his uncle, Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson). But his life changes when Brother Aidan (Mick Lally) arrives at Kells with a wondrously beautiful but unfinished illuminated manuscript, created to be "a beacon in these dark times." Brendan realizes he wants to become an illuminator and complete the book, despite his uncle's opposition. His decision helps him win the friendship of Aisling (Christen Mooney), a silver-haired wood fairy--and requires him to battle the monstrous pagan god Crom Cruach.

The creators of this film animated all the characters by hand on paper with pencils! A few scenes were done in flash (dream seqs) and blender etc was used for some ex animation - it was a mix of techniques but mostly handrawn on paper.

Order a DVD here: www.newvideo.com

The Secret of Kells is a welcome reminder of how warm, personal, and compelling traditional drawn animation can be. The story takes place in the eighth century, a perilous time when Viking raiders threatened to destroy Irish civilization. Since his parents were killed by Vikings, 12-year-old Brendan (voice by Evan McGuire) has lived within the walled monastery of Kells under the stern eye of his uncle, Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson). But his life changes when Brother Aidan (Mick Lally) arrives at Kells with a wondrously beautiful but unfinished illuminated manuscript, created to be "a beacon in these dark times." Brendan realizes he wants to become an illuminator and complete the book, despite his uncle's opposition. His decision helps him win the friendship of Aisling (Christen Mooney), a silver-haired wood fairy--and requires him to battle the monstrous pagan god Crom Cruach. The visuals in The Secret of Kells were inspired by the eighth-century manuscript the Book of Kells, which has been preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Fans of Samurai Jack will recognize another influence on the flat, angular figures and their stylized movements. Brendan's adventures are exciting enough to keep children entertained, while its graphic beauties will delight adult viewers. The Secret of Kells surprised many observers when it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, and it's a film no one interested in animation should miss. (Unrated: suitable for ages 8 and older: some scary imagery and violence.) --Charles Solomon 

Magic, fantasy, and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes in a sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times.

The creators of this film animated all the characters by hand on paper with pencils! A few scenes were done in flash (dream seqs) and blender etc was used for some ex animation - it was a mix of techniques but mostly handrawn on paper.

Order a DVD here: www.newvideo.com
Children's Workbook: www.thesecretofkells.com/pdf/educpdfprimary.pdf

Best Animated Feature Nominee:
2010 Academy Awards
2010 ASIFA Annie Awards

2010 Irish Film and Television Awards

Netflix Streaming: www.netflix.com

This animation involves the group from Patrick Henry School of Science and Art and is roughly 100 or so of their creatures, with their own unique ending to the animation- the Ice Age.

Tyler Rhodes, a student in the animation program at Virginia Commonwealth University, wanted to create an evolution animation that wasn’t simply linear, but instead represented the true ‘tree-like’ process. So he enlisted the help of elementary school students and involved them in a type of game. They made sketches based on one original sketch, and allowed the resulting diversity to dictate survival of the fittest to future generations.

So he enlisted the help of elementary school students from William Fox Elementary School and the Patrick Henry School of Science & Art, and involved them in a type of game.

“Much like the whispered game “telephone” where one person whispers a message down the line until it’s very different by the end due to small “mutations” along the way, I would create a game of telephone using visual imagery.”

Tyler began the game by sketching a nondescript salamander-like creature:

He then had various groups of students make copies of this sketch, knowing that the copies would contain subtle differences. He scanned the images and cut them out in Adobe Photoshop, used Adobe After Effects to animate using the "puppet tool" on the drawings to give them that rubbery look. Read the full story here: blogs.scientificamerican.com

Inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, "Morris Lessmore" is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation), award-winning author/illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. "Morris Lessmore" is old-fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

"Morris" is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards.

morrislessmore.com

'When a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we're left to wonder which one is the real city slicker...'

STUDIO AKA is pleased to present the trailer for a new short from Director Grant Orchard. Based loosely on a real life event recounted in Paul Auster's book 'True Tales of American Life', 'A MORNING STROLL' tells the story of one New Yorker's early morning encounter with a chicken, an event that plays out over 100 years.

BAFTA WINNER for Short film Animation 2012, and winner at SUNDANCE 2012, A MORNING STROLL is also nominated for the short animation OSCAR 2012...!

Now playing at festivals worldwide.

www.studioaka.co.uk/#/work-amorningstroll

Screening Schedule: bit.ly/uVp05W

Using pioneering animation techniques to create a look never seen on film before, this 10-minute award-winning film tells the true legend of history's most challenging cipher. Professor White, cryptographer extraordinaire, is on the trail of the notoriously uncrackable Thomas Beale cipher—a century-old riddle hiding the location of a fortune in gold that has tormented its pursuers since inception. But White is not alone—shadowy forces are tight on his tail.

The film contains 16 hidden messages that hold clues to the characters' secrets. Eight are fairly easy requiring only a close eye. Six are moderately difficult using various encryption methods. Two are extremely difficult requiring a genius mind to decrypt.

More about the film,
thomasbealecipher.com

Distributed by Short of the Week,
shortoftheweek.com

Animated music video by Of Monsters and Men performing Little Talks. (C) 2012 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

Directed by WeWereMonkeys.

For Valentine's Day, Google created an animated short set to the song”"Cold, Cold Heart" performed by Tony Bennett. Courtesy of Columbia Records and Sony/ATV.

Une vie de chat.

Our tale's hero is Dino, a common house cat who lives a double life. He's the loyal pet of Zoe, a lonely little girl who lives with her busy single mother Jeanne, a police officer. But after sundown, he clambers over the rooftops of Paris in the company of Nico, a skilled thief with a big heart. Eventually, Zoe discovers what Dino is up to and becomes drawn into a thrilling, adventure involving jewels, gangsters and capital-T trouble.

A Cat in Paris is a completely refreshing and unique throwback to the traditional form - every cell of the film has been hand-painted, and its highly stylized, colour-saturated design looks absolutely gorgeous on the big screen. A must-see for animation fans of all ages.

Nominated for an Emmy.

Directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol.
Written by Alain Gagnol and Jacques-Rémy Girerd.

Sean Ohlenkamp and his wife spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating books at Type bookstore in Toronto at 883 Queen Street West.

Everything you see here can be purchased at Type Books.

Grayson Matthews (www.graysonmatthews.com) generously composed the beautiful, custom music.

But none of it could have been done without all the volunteer hands who shelved and reshelved books all night, every night.