Mickey Mouse In "Yodelberg"

Following some widespread fan pressure on Disney to release their new Mickey Mouse shorts on Youtube, the company has finally complied, releasing both No Service and the most recent short; Yodelberg to their Disney shorts channel. The short revolves around a precarious avalanche threatening to put an end to Mickey and Minnie's yodeling duet, with plenty of slapstick for those inclined.

Some noteworthy aspects of this short include the fact that the vintage backgrounds are styled after the work of Mary Blair, who's famous for her work on Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan and the It's A Small World ride at Disneyland and Disney World. Also, the Yeti who appears in the short is styled after the Yeti's that appear in the Matterhorn rollercoaster, another nice callback that will definitely please fans of Disney lore.

MYS by Lila Peuscet

This is by far one of my favorite animated shorts that I've come across in a long time. French school EMCA graduate Lila Peuscet created this bright, surreal, and definitely mythologically-inspired short MYS.  This short integrates a mixture of 2D animation and a unique pop up book style, which play well into the grand narrative.

It tells the story, similar to ones told before, of a recently deceased king and those who would fight over his crown. And in this case, the crown fight is quite literal.  The epic score also lends itself to the overall feel of conquest.

20 Stunning Food Miniature Creations By Shay Aaron

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At only 27 years old, miniature maker and jewelry artist Shay Aaron has made it his business to cater to a niche market with absolutely incredible miniaturized food items, which offer delectable visuals without the prospect of calories. The Israeli artist has spent the last few years honing his mastery of the medium after realizing that he could stand out from the already populated custom jewelery crowd by also mixing in his passion for food and cooking. This combination has allowed him to become the go to guy for 1:12 scale food items in the already niche dollhouse hobbyist realm.

Black forest cake: 5/8 of an inch.

In terms of materials, Shay mainly uses versatile polymer clays and adds metal, glass, paper, resins, acrylic paints, ceramics and more for finishing, while constantly looking for new materials to allow him to achieve a higher fidelity at the scale he's working with. While I initially ran into his work in 2009 and was amazed then, upon rediscovering his gallery in his Etsy store I was completely blown away by how much he'd managed to improve his pieces, finding a way to add even more detail and textural differences to the materials in his already miniscule creations, which max out at about 2 inches in size.

Whether you're savory or sweet, you'll find something that caters to your tastes after the break as we've assembled some of our favorite Shay creations. Be sure to follow him on Facebook for regular giveaways, or go get your hands on some of his pieces over at his well stocked Etsy shop!

Let's Check Out : The Swapper

Due to the craziness of E3 week, we had to take a week off from the Let's Check Out series, but we're back this week with Facepalm Games' The Swapper. This relatively (and when I see relatively, I mean that in the loosest sense) under-the-radar indie title kind of snuck up on us with it's quality. A quick look at the game reveals a perplexing puzzle platformer, with brain-punching puzzles and a gameplay mechanic in which you control and switch places with up to 4 clones. The game starts at a relatively slow pace, but as it picks up you'll find yourself spending quite a bit of time with each puzzle as you decide the best route to take.

Along with the game's brain busting puzzles, the true kicker of this title is the beautiful handcrafted visuals for the characters and the set pieces. Featuring some of the best claymation I've seen in a video game, I often had trouble understanding that I was simply playing a video game and not watching a pre-recorded stop-motion video. As the game progresses, a deep and dark narrative begins to unfold adding a new layer to the game's already tense atmosphere, telling a dark secret of the space station you explore

The Swapper is a game you definitely shouldn't miss which I believe to be a benchmark for puzzle platformers and claymation in video games. For $14.99 you can pick it up today through Steam or their website. 

Hong Kong In Miniature

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These photos of exquisite miniatures were taken at the Kowloon Bay miniatures exhibit that took place earlier this month at Telford Plaza, showcasing some of the best custom miniature work from the entire Asian hobbyist and professional market. Centered around capturing some of Hong Kong's most iconic stores and locations from the past and present (Like the now demolished 'Forbidden City,' pictured above) in miniature.



Local blogger Trevor Mingkei had a chance to attend the event, which he captured in film set to the tunes of Natalie Cole's L-O-V-E, which mirrors the way I feel about miniature making in general. The attention to detail is just stunning in these sets, with no detail spared in the making of. Check out some more photos of the Hong Kong In Miniature exhibit after the break.

Turquoise

Artist/animator Reza created this lovely animated short about a boy living in a drab world. He happens across a beautiful flower that leads him astray while ominous creatures pass judgement on him.  I loved the stylized, nearly cubist art style and the flowy animation, and along with the exotic music it adds to the overall dreamy feeling that the short encapsulates.

The Art Of KJ Kallio

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The recent trends in concept art in regards to gaming have definitely been moving towards photorealism, but I've always found stylized art to be much more appealing and timeless over the years. Finnish artist KJ Kallio embraces a more stylized, painterly approach to his illustrations and concepts, with a few thematic twists of his own. More than anything I love the dynamic nature of his pieces, typically featuring a hunt of some sort in progress.

Kallio's rendering style definitely reminds me of Blizzard illustrator Tully (Laurel Austin), who's work retains a similarly stylized aesthetic, for those of you unaware she was the main force behind the stylization of Brink. Kallio's love for hunters ultimately lead  him to create his own kickass huntress, Ladyhawk, whom you can check out after the break along with more art goodies. Keep an eye out for this one, he's definitely an up and comer.

Out on the Tiles

Animator Anna Pearson so vividly reminds me why I am not a big club goer.  In her humorous slice of life stop motion short, a stereotypically intoxicated club patron finds herself stumbling to the ladies' room.  In need of a nicotine fix, she realizes she has one precious cigarette left.  So what's a drunk girl to do? Well, accidentally drop it in the nasty toilet, of course! Pearson really captured the not so subtle mannerisms of a drunk girl quite well (not that I'd know), which is pretty impressive considering the medium that he chose to use for his short.

Simone Rovellini's Exploding Actresses

I can't really say these videos are unexpected, they're exactly what the title implies, but dammit are they hilarious. Italian director has been putting together these amazing compilations the past week and I honestly can't get enough of them (maybe that says something about me). Each assortment of clips run a different theme, from Disney princesses to love movie and each assortment of clips are amazing. I'm fully expecting these to turn into a prolonged YouTube series, especially judging from the amount of views each has garnered in the past week, so make sure to keep an eye out for more. I doubt you'll regret it.

Bhead's Amazing Custom "Biogeneticist Dr. Paul" Toy

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Korean concept artist and toy kitbasher extraordinaire Bhead (Jung Yeon Gyun) just unveiled his latest entry to his ongoing Day After WWIII series, featuring a Biogeneticist called 'Dr. Paul' and his equally kitted out monkey sidekick. His backstory for Dr. Paul is that he was a scientist being held against his will in Imperial research labs, working on experiments in genetic engineering and chemical weapons before the apocalyptic WWIII made him a free man once more.

Clad in a retro futuristic containment suit with some mild Fallout vibes, I just love the contrast in materials and attention to detailing that Jung captured with this prototype, down to his sidekick having specially crafted boots for his outfit. If you're unfamiliar with Bhead's work, I'd highly recommend checking out our post on some of his other amazing creations for the series, which have only been released in his home country as limited edition kits. Check out additional eye candy shots of his latest creation right after the break. Here's to hoping that he'll someday make that transition to selling his beauties on an international market.

Teleglitch: Die More Edition

If you're looking to get your ass kicked, Teleglitch is the perfect game for you. With rogue-like being a popular keyword with a lot of indie titles these days, it's nice to see one as hectic and visceral as Teleglitch. With ten levels of procedurally generated content, no play through will be the same other than the guarantee that you'll be second guessing whether your ammo count is enough for the next battle. The Die More Edition will include 5 more levels, new weapons, and smarter AI which I can see leading to a lot trickier situations.

I'm actually surprised Teleglitch hasn't tried making it's way to Steam through Greenlight yet. It looks like the perfect game to get voted in, but until that day you can pick it up from the website over here.

JonTron Leaves Game Grumps, Subscribers Collectively Lose It

It's a sad day for Game Grumps, after working on the show for over a year JonTron is departing. Thankfully, the not-so-grump isn't leaving the internet for good, he's only refocusing his work to his personal channel, The Jon Tron Show. Like all good things, this is another that has come to an end, or so the subscriber base of Game Grumps seems to believe. 

In the place of JonTron comes Danny from comedy band Ninja Sex Party, who was worked with Egoraptor countless times in the past. Despite Jon's warm goodbye it seems that subscribers have gone off the deep end, refusing to give Danny a chance and leave the channel in hordes. After a whopping two episodes of Danny's appearance, fans have managed to complete their opinion for the sudden shift in this Let's Play series, which is truly a shame as this is probably the last thing JonTron would have wanted in response to his leave.

Still, there's no pleasing everyone and while I'm still iffy with Danny myself, I can't say he's terrible, he's got the jokes and I like the jokes so if he keeps giving me jokes he's alright with me. This is just another case of unnecessary rage in a fandom that believes everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. Reminds me of the backlash after their Naughty Bear episode...yeesh. Check out their newest episode featuring Danny above. Not a bad start.

Ash Thorp's Amazing Akira Tribute Pieces

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Ash Thorp is a little of everything, a veritable visual jack of all trades: An illustrator, art director, concept artist, motion designer, interface artist, graphic artist - The result of working in the highly competitive field of cinematic visual design, where versatility amounts to steady employment. Initially getting his foot in the door as a motion designer, the knowledge gleaned there helped him build a career in film, contributing to high profile projects like Xmen: First Class, Thor, Iron Man, Total Recall and more.



However, Thorp recently turned his attention to paying tribute to the anime that began a revolution when it came out; Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a movie that introduced millions of people to the cultural phenomenon of anime with it's hyperviolent, beautifully animated visuals. Down to the lineart, colors and presentation style, he absolutely nailed it with his take on Tetsuo and the light cycle driving renegade, Kaneda (After the break). Following the release of the illustrations, Thorp also collaborated with the Wisconson based motion designer John Fischer to create a sample motion comic of one of his earlier sketches.

With plans to render out more of the cast in this manner (With a Clown Biker in progress), I'm simply hoping that these illustrations will eventually come out in print form. Check out his take on Kaneda after the break!

The Epic Red5k Helicopter Journey - New Zealand

Directed by Mark Toia, this absolutely stunning beauty reel was crafted with the leftovers of footage captured over a 3 hour flyover of Southern New Zealand using a Red Epic 5k Camera mounted inside a custom built stabilization system designed for high speed movement called Shotover. The camera brain for the Red 5k itself runs over $25,000 without a lens, and it's not hard to see why once you full-screen the footage and take it all in.

A sample shot of an installed Shotover K1 System

I'd always wondered if it was possible to get this type of fluidity in aerial shots, especially following our article about the amazing advances in image stabilization with the MōVI, and the proof is finally here in video form. The shots are so fluid that it nearly doesn't seem possible without some form of  stabilization after the fact, but this was simply the result of Shotover's absolutely incredible tech developed for these types of shots. Check out Mark Toia's final commercial using the above footage after the break.

The Boy And The Monster

Created as a graduation film by Russian animator Julia Zhuravleva, The Boy And The Monster tells the story of a boy encountering a strange creature and realizing that despite their physical differences, a common passion ties them together. Partially inspired by Jim Henson's The Muppets with some fun background nods to characters like the Cookie Monster, the short retains a distinctly European flavor thematically with it's more soccer focused plot.

Executed in a pastel-like aesthetic, the short had some truly understated animation throughout instead of opting for pomp, a welcome contrast from the typical shorts we post. Uplifting and innocent, if you're looking to watch a colorful short about friendship today, look no further. Check out more production art from the making of Zhuravleva's short right after the break.

Pixel Pancho's Rusty World

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Pixel Pancho studios is an Italian street artist, illustrator and fine artist based out of Torino, Italy who grew up hopping between his hometown and Valencia, Spain during his traditional art education. This urban hopping lead to him becoming acquainted with the local graffiti and street art scenes in the respective cities, which ultimately influenced him to move away from the classic canvas and paper formula his peers adapted to using spray paint, markers, custom tiles, stickers and whatever medium he could get his hand on to leave his mark.

Ultimately this practice spread out to more European cities, and eventually he went international, participating in graffiti jams, gallery exhibits and more, evolving a simple concept into a full on identity that defines his work today. Pixel Pancho's visual aesthetic draws from the dusty, damaged, rusted and abandoned world that lies under a thick layer of dust, adding a sense of dented, robotic decay to every subject that he approaches. Be it superheroes,  decaying fast food mascots or his own original creations, Pixel Pancho's work retains an ultimately fun, colorful and whimsical vibe to it, bringing life to the abandoned buildings that his pieces typically inhabit. Check out a sampling of his gallery work after the break!

Reminder: Project X Zone Is Out Now And It's Awesome

Fans of massive crossovers rejoice, Project X Zone is out now for the 3DS and it's absolutely insane in all the right ways. With over 50 characters from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega games Project X Zone is the most fan service you'll probably ever see from the three. I recently picked it up and I have to say, it's pretty damn amazing, albeit goofy as all hell. There's something incredibly charming about Frank West from Dead Rising team up with Darkstalkers' Hsien-Ko to fight massive demons, especially with how well animated some of their special attacks are.

If you're a fan of JRPGs, in need of some fan service, or just want an insane experience than Project X Zone is definitely worth picking up. It's pretty rare we get to see these crossover games outside of Japan, and now is the best time to show the support they need to localize more. 

Metome - "Paper Moon"

Animated by Japanese animator Asami Ike, this music video for Paper Moon was created for Takahiro Uchibori's solo electro project called 'Metome,' starring a collection of blissful, zero gravity animals to accompany the chilled out synths underlying this track. The track is from Metome's EP Phreatic Surface, which is out now via the excellent up and comer label, King Deluxe.

Metome hails from Osaka, Japan.  First teaching himself to play the bass, his Marcus Miller styled funk now occasionally leaps into his current productions.  As well he shows some remarkable keyboard skills, especially on his favourite Rhodes piano, which he mixes seamlessly with sampled instruments and repitched vocals.

Besides music, he’s a student of design who creates his own cover artwork, inspired by artists like Saul Bass and Mario Hugo. Other inspirations include Kubrick, Hitchcock, and of course Cornelius.  

The Art Of Aaron Jasinski

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Absurd surrealism and pop culture make up the repertoire of Seattle based illustrator Aaron Jasinski, a traditional illustrator who's gained fame internationally for his distinct painting style and subject matter. Smattered with odes to pop culture, music, nostalgic references and strange, whimsical creatures, each piece bears it's own identity, while retaining a distinctly similar formula  unique to the whims of the artist.

Jasinski's work falls into the realm of Pop-Surrealism, a movement born in the 1970's as an underground art movement in California, a space inhabited by the likes of artists like Mark Ryden (Who most recently illustrated the cover of Tyler The Creator's Wolf), who follows the same absurdist formula to create some truly striking imagery. When I last saw his work publically, his pieces seemed to be tied together by a reoccurring theme of Abraham Lincoln and meat. Check out more of Aaron's surreal pieces after the break.

Marilyn Myller - Trailer

A quick trailer gives us enough glimpse into independent animator Mikey Please's stop motion short Marilyn Myller to make us eagerly await it's debut. Like all stop motion, it's a drawn out process just to produce a small amount of film, and this piece is no exception.

Taking about a year to create, this short utilized an array of hand carved characters (some even from foam!) and a little bit of long exposure help to achieve it's distinct, at time ethereal style. The choice of a monochromatic look adds to the dreamy nature of the short, and the nature includes an primitive but almost otherworldly track. Check out an uber quick behind-the-scenes clip after the break!

New Elysium Trailer Gives Us A Taste Of Two Worlds

As Neil Blomkamp's next big thing draws near, the hype machine continues to rev up for Elysium. It's shaping up to be a great year for scifi, with Pacific Rim hitting in two weeks and this movie coming out in early August. The latest trailer for Elysium offers us a taste of the sheer ruin that Max (Matt Damon) resides in, as well as some answers regarding his motives for heading to the pristine Elysium colony for rich people.

Similar to District 9, I think this movie will have a strongly relatable protagonist- An everyday man placed in extraordinary circumstances against his own will. In Wikus' case it was the accidental exposure to alien gas without proper precautions, and in Max's case it'll be a workplace accident that ends up being the catalyst to taking some extraordinary measures. Can't wait till this hits on August 9, synopsis below.

In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet's crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium - but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens' luxurious lifestyle. 

The only man with the chance bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission - one that pits him against Elysium's Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces - but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well. 

The Art Of Rabbit Eyes

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There is something indistinguishably retro about the work of Rabbit Eyes (Keun-Ju Kim), a Korean concept artist, illustrator and art director based out of Seoul for the last 9 years or so. His concepts take me back to an era when games like Halo and Call of Duty were unheard of, and RPG's were king. The main reason for this comparison stems from the mixture of scifi and fantasy elements in his work, a style that we rarely see these days in the videogame industry. It's either one extreme or the other, rarely a mixture of both. Even the companies that championed this hybrid style back in the day have gone too far in the wrong direction, as the scars of Final Fantasy XIII still linger (Although Bravely Default gives me hope).

That tangent aside though, Keun-Ju's beautifully rendered work shows an amazing attention to detail and understanding of materials, as well as a fun mix of eastern and western influences typical with illustrators from the region. Enjoy a full sampling of his character, environment and illustration work after the break.

Nathan Barnatt Celebrates Upcoming Slurpee Day The Only Way He Knows How

If you reside somewhere in the United States or Canada, you've most likely heard of Slurpee day (7/11); a day in which you fight hordes of 10 year olds and their mothers to receive your free next step towards diabetes. To celebrate the upcoming event, Nathan Barnatt has slipped his dancing shoes back on, dancing for your pleasure and hopefully your Slurpee money. Things like this don't usually work on me, they're entertaining but they don't usually convince me to go buy anything, although I suddenly have a strange urge to buy Lisa Frank school supplies.

Music Video Roundup - A-Trak, MØ, Mumbai Science, Breach

Following A-Trak's excellent collab with Tommy Trash for Tuna Melt, the folks return with an equally fun, bizarre track and music video for Jumbo co-created by Galantis and directed by John Miller. Starring a full gym of A-Trak clones in a gym doing their thing with size shifting basketballs, it's all rather bizarre, but ultimately hypnotizing to watch.

Pacific Rim's Exclusive Limited Edition Posters

The hype continues to grow as Guillermo Del Toro's Kaiju/Mecha rock 'em sock 'em feature premiere draws nearer, the promotional, limited edition posters have begun to emerge with two amazing prints being premiered for IMAX theaters and Odd City Entertainment. The above poster is by LA artist Sergio Grisanti, which will be offered in select theaters to people who attend first showings of Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D. Check out this official list here to see if your local theater is participating in the promotion when the movie comes out July 12th.

The second poster is my preferred one for it's understated tone and retro monster flick sensibilities, created by Grzegorz Domaradzki (Gabz) for the collectors club Odd City (Similar to Mondo), which will be premiering July 2nd as part of a limited release of standard, wood, metal and gold foil variant prints. 

This is actually the first time I had an opportunity to work on something this big, so I was both excited and slightly overwhelmed at the beginning. Until now, I had worked on movies with plenty of references to be found on the Internet. In this case, I was mainly limited to the first teaser trailer that came out (pretty mind blowing by the way). 

I focused on Gipsy Danger, but instead of putting him in some type of massive sea battle, which was quite tempting, I proposed something inspired by World War 2 propaganda posters; something where the giant robot symbolizes the last stand of humanity. To better show the scale of the threat, I added a glimpse of the giant Kaiju hidden in the skyline. I’m pleased with the outcome and particularly with my version of the poster title, clearly inspired by Japanese apocalyptic cinema posters.”

Routine - Developers Embrace The Oculus Rift

Following a brief teaser last year, the developers behind the scifi survival horror project Routine have finally released a brand new trailer showcasing the incredibly atmospheric world they've created. The developers at Lunar Software have already confirmed that Routine will be 100% Oculus Rift enabled at launch, which will allow a level of immersion previously unheard of in games of this caliber. If you thought games like Amnesia and Penumbra were terrifying, just imagine the type of fear these games will elicit when you can't look away from what's hunting you.

Routine is a first person horror exploration game set on an abandoned Moon base. Your job is to find enough data to uncover the truth behind the strange disappearance of everyone stationed on the Lunar Research Station. 

• A non linear experience lets you explore any part of the fully open Moon base and find out secrets that other players may not!
• Be immersed with Full body awareness, Deadzone aiming, no HUD, no health bars or points system... you must run, hide and survive the best you can against what lurks in the base.
• There are no health packs or multiple lives, in Routine there is a Perma death system that will keep you on the edge!

The Illustrations Of Yao Xiao

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Yao Xiao is a female illustrator based out of New York City with a name meaning 'boundless freedom' in Chinese, a testament to her life's mission to never settle. Born and raised in the harbor city of Tianjin in Northern China, she came to the US at age 16 as an exchange student and never quite left, pursuing a slew of visual degrees in cities like Rockford, Seattle and Memphis before settling down in NYC.

Since venturing into the field of illustration, her work has been published in multiple anthologies, featured in the prestigious Society Of Illustrators and American Illustration. Her distinct work carries her passion for telling stories, with each colorful image being imbued with a visual narrative that truly piqued our curiosity. More of the talented illustrators' works after the break.

Rubix

Created by architect Chris Kelley, Rubix is a conceptual demo simulating the equivalent of a world that could be manipulated in the style of a Rubick's cube yet still retain it's functionality after being modified and rotated, Inception style resulting in a large amount of new combinations of one world. All that came to mind while watching this was ideas for some mind bending new videogame that could mix puzzle elements with exploration. Hey Valve? Here's your gameplay hook for Portal 3.

Learn How To Make Russian Dressing With Tim's Kitchen Tips

I don't know about you guys, but I love Russian dressing, the creamy tartness really accentuates the salad. The first episode of Tim's Kitchen Tips is the first cooking show I've been able to follow at home without feeling like an utter failure. In the expected flavor of Tim & Eric skits, Tim's Kitchen Tips is filled to the brim with awkward pauses, noises, and dialogue that's pure cringeworthy. I'm looking forward to see where this series goes, especially after the climatic ending of the Time & Eric GoPro show.

In all honesty though, that dressing is looking hot, I might have to try it myself later tonight. 

Pokémon Modeling Should Probably Be A Thing

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There are quite a few high points in one's modeling career, from magazine covers to fashion shows; but nothing will ever compare to the majestic nature of wrapping a Flareon around your neck. Let's face it Eevees and their Eeveelutions are basically the designer brand Pokémon of the Pokémon world, so it only seems natural to implement them into modeling shoots.

Tumblr user xfreischutz, has created a set of Pokémon infused modeling images mixed with everyone's favorite set of evolutions. I'm thinking this needs to catch on, because I could see myself turning into a teenage girl and posting these around my room so I can fantasize about wearing nice clothes while draping Pokémon around my neck. A guy can dream right?

After the break 8 more Eeeveelutions reside for your viewing pleasure.

Motivational - Inspiration, Whisper

This week brought us two inspirational shorts, so why not start your week with a healthy dose? First off, Rafe Galeano's personal piece, titled Inspiration features an artist experiencing the inception of a new idea via the work of others, and the process of assembling it into something tangible with the help of personal tools specific to every artist. In Rafe's case: Coffee, cigarettes and some great tunes.

 

Whisper is a beautfilly crafted ad by Gioacchino Petronnice for the Young Director's Award that shows us when directing is in our bones before we know it, there's no need for a camera to craft beautiful moments. Beautiful and to the point.

Movie Hipster Kits By Alizée Lafon

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French filmmaker and graphic designer Alizée Lafon created this delightful series of posters, deconstructing movies into their most iconic accessories, presented in a manner reminiscent of men's fashion magazine style guides, and vintage ones at that.

These minimalist posters were inspired by movies with cult followings: Vintage 007 movies, the Cohen brothers most memorable piece: The Big Lebowski, the works of W.S. Anderson like Moonrise Kingdom and of course, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Check out the rest of her amazing posters after the break, and don't forget to pick up a print over on her Curioos storefront!

Love on a Thursday Afternoon

Artist Jon Saunders decided to spend his afternoon one day making a short film starring his dog.  Yes, yes, there are plenty of dog and cat videos on the internet.  But this, this one not only has a narrative, but an adorable one at that.  It's the story of a fickle lover, one who loves then destroys the relationship.

Perhaps it's a theme that will strike the heart of one of you romantics out there.  I mean, whatever, I could possibly be reading into it a little much.  Maybe.  But either way, for an attempt to make a project to occupy an afternoon, Mr. Saunders' project put a smile on my face.

Die Antwoord - "Cookie Thumper" (NSFW)

The South African rap-rave group continues their descent into madness with their latest narrative, starring vocalist Yolandi Visser as an orphan approaching her crush, a recently freed 'Ugly Americans' (A real gang in S. Africa) gangster called Anies and inviting him back to her orphanage. What ensues is a surprise ending bound to draw some interesting reactions from fans of Die Antwoord and critics alike.

The track features the typical groups signature take on the South African Zef counterculture, which embraces trash fashion, and the entire culture of glorifying living above your means to look like you're better off than you actually are. You're poor, but you rock that faux glam aesthetic however you can. The term has it's equivalent elsewhere- See also Bogans in Australia, Chavs in the UK, Hipsters in the US, an so forth. The track is from their upcoming 'Donker Mag' album, which is set to release in February 2014.

Movie Travel Posters By Studio Muti

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The Cape Town based illustration collective called MUTI (Clinton Campbell, Miné Jonker and Brad Hodgskiss) collaborated with South Africa's leading cinema house to create a series of vacation posters for 4 iconic movies: namely King Kong, The Shining, Avatar and Lord of the Rings.

The colorful posters beckon to the wonders of locales like Skull Island, Minas Tirith, Pandora and the surreal Overlook Hotel in a deceivingly colorful mid-century poster style that would really make these locations seem appealing to the uninformed. Check out the rest of the posters after the break!

TONIGHT I STRIKE

Director Dan Gaude has crafted a truly engaging short film, telling the story of one brother's quest for revenge and redemption. Don't be fooled by the robot (but seriously the robot is amazing), this is one dark and gritty story about the darkness of humanity, so prepare yourself. For a 13 minute short, I had a tough time pulling away from it, the pacing is perfect, and the action is well choreographed. I would honestly love to see this expanded on somehow, but as a standalone it's fantastic. 

Big Brother Can't Watch You - Disruptive Typeface For Jamming Optical Character Recognition

Based off of the recent privacy nightmare that has unfolded over the last few weeks with the revelation of the Orwellian PRISM initiative about various large companies involvement in the whistle-blown program, I'm not the least bit surprised about the types of counter movements that have sprung up overnight in order to battle the ever growing invasion of privacy that governments have deemed to be justifiable as a means of protecting us. Personally I had an overnight change of heart regarding Google Glass once Edward Snowden revealed some details about the extent of the surveillance, leading me to ponder the permutations of wearing a pair of data broadcasting glasses.

Late last night an individual by the alias of Sang Mun contacted us with an example of his counter movement, a typographic face designed to scramble any type of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) interface via the introduction of a mixture of foreign elements to characters similar to bot disabling captcha codes present when registering for websites. While his claims of being an NSA agent are unfounded at best, I expect to see many more examples of this counter surveillance movement pop up in the near future. Sang's personal take on the ZXX project, below, and if you're curious about the fonts you can download them here.



Over the course of a year, I researched and created ZXX, a disruptive typeface which takes its name from the Library of Congress’ listing of three-letter codes denoting which language a book is written in. Code 'ZXX' is used when there is: 'No linguistic content; Not applicable.' The project started with a genuine question: How can we conceal our fundamental thoughts from artificial intelligences and those who deploy them? I decided to create a typeface that would be unreadable by text scanning software (whether used by a government agency or a lone hacker) — misdirecting information or sometimes not giving any at all. It can be applied to huge amounts of data, or to personal correspondence. I drew six different cuts (Sans, Bold, Camo, False, Noise and Xed) to generate endless permutations, each font designed to thwart machine intelligences in a different way.

Dr. Easy - An Unsettling Future

Created as a collaboration between Warp Films, Film4 and Shynola, Dr. Easy is a fantastic scifi short centered around the future of robotic involvement in hostage scenarios and crime. Starring a specialized medical robot with a soothing voice designed to empathise with desperate people, the plot revolves around a tense situation starring a broken man called Michael and his standoff with the police.

The short is based off of Matthew De Abaitua's novel, a futuristic affair focused on technology gone mad in the hands of digital facsimiles of rich and power corporate entities called The Red Men, which happens to also be the title of the book. At which point is it acceptable to have the human element completely removed from the equation? We've already seen this philosophy applied in real life, with creations like the 'last moment robot' designed to comfort dying patients. Is it appropriate, or humane?

The short itself was fantastically acted and directed, and thanks to the efforts of Jellyfish FX, the robotic assistant in this distinct scenario was truly believable and excellently composited into the bleak futuristic world that De Abaiuta crafted. This 'slice' of the movie was created as a proof of concept for a possible feature length treatment, so be sure to share it to help this get made.

Goofy Is Kind Of An A**hole In Disney Short "No Service"

In this risqué Disney short, not only do we get Goofy being a complete and total asshole, but we're treated with some nudist shenanigans from the likes of Donald and Mickey Mouse. No Service is the second Disney animation made solely for online purposes and I'm pretty impressed with the overall quality, especially compared to the first.

It's nice to see Disney going back to more of a slapstick direction with their mascots, as it seemed that Donald and Mickey Mouse were quickly losing that shine of what made them special.

The Art Of Pochi

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Pochi is a Japanese animator and illustrator based out of Tokyo with a contemporary anime style which really reminded me of Mamoru Hosoda's The Girl Who Jumped Through Time. Pochi has recently posted a lot of her work online, but has remained anonymous in regards to details about where she works and what projects she's been formally involved with, but my guess is Madhouse studios, considering the similarities to one of their many house styles.

Pochi's illustrations are colorful, at times dynamic and full of narrative, with each image feeling like a still out of a sequence in an actual animation. Check out more of the artist's awesome work after the break!

A First Look At "The Dam Keeper" By Pixar Artists

Pixart Artist Dice Tsutumi and Robert Kondo are currently busy working on their independent animation project called The Dam Keeper (Working ittle), which was revealed as under development sometime in February via a newly created Facebook page. I've enjoyed following the progress of the short, with their production being funded by a series of sketch auctions.

In terms of experience, Robert Kondo is currently a senior art director at Pixar, with a total of 11 years and countless projects under his belt at the studio whereas Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutumi has around 6 years of experience at Pixar following a 7 year stint at Blue Sky studios on the Ice Age, Robots and Horton Hears A Who franchises. The talent on this project is absolutely stellar, and I'm hoping for an output similar to the Oscar nominated Adam and Dog short, which was the product of Disney animators working on a project on their free time. Check out an in depth look at the current production below.

Ori Toor's Vial of Sound Music Video Is A Trip

This animated music video starts off seemingly simple but quickly evolves into a hand animated music visualizer. With a catchy beat, Ori Toor's A Lifetime Passed is a beautiful collection of colors, waves, and faces that perfectly sync into complete organized chaos. If you're in need a Friday afternoon trip, this music video might be right up you're alley. It captured my attention at this hour, and that's saying something.

The Art Of Goro Fujita - Giving Color To Emotions

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Goro Fujita currently resides in Redwood Shores, home to Dreamworks Animation where he's resided as a Visual Development artist over the last 5 years or so. Fujita's role? Creating color keys for franchises like Madagascar, Megamind and unannounced projects. Color keys serve the purpose of establishing the colors and mood of a certain sequence, a color storyboard of sorts that goes hand in hand with the emotional aspects of any particular scene.

One of Goro's color scripts for Madagascar 3.

Goro's really amazing in this regard, possessing an intimate understanding of color theory and their effect on viewers. As an unrelated example, ever notice how restaurants typically always have warm, inviting colors like rich oranges and reds, while most fast food restaurants possess desaturated colors and cold, blue fluorescent lighting? Warm color schemes increase your appetite and help you relax, whereas the latter color scheme example was formulated to prevent loitering in restaurants by making people feel uncomfortable.

There are psychological aspects associated with different colors, and anyone with an intimate understanding of such can use them to their advantage. Goro is one of these people, and plays a key role in making sure that the 'color script' is appropriate with the story. The result is an artist who isn't overly focused on painting detailed environments, but focusing on mood and color. Check out some of Goro's personal work showcasing these principles after the break!

Postino - "I Love It"

Having a bad day? Week not exactly shaping up the way you expected? Annoyed that it's not Friday yet? Well hell, here's an amazing music video feautring a girl in an adorable deer costume jamming her way around town with her posse of fellow deer/elk/moose monsters. Directed by Will Kindrick of Mummy Space Island Productions, he mentioned that the process of making this music video was so fun that it canceled out the fact that him and his cinematographer were sick as hell during production.

Fantastic energy to it, colorful and pretty much to the point in it's message, the entire funky affair is feel-good all the way, and strangely reminiscent of Where The Wild Things Are. As a London based South Korean DJ, Postino (Junho Lee) is definitely noteworthy for being one of the first producers to top European charts in history. And regarding his name and background, Postino means 'Postman' in Italian, an alias that Junho explained he was inspired to pick based off of his vision that electro music could be as warm and full of meaning as a hard written letter. I can get behind that message, because this video definitely put a smile on our faces.

Olly Moss Offers Video Game Doodle Prints At Random

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We've featured Olly Moss more times than I can count, but the dude never ceases to impress us with his varying styles and projects. Over the past few months, Olly Moss has been doodling video  game characters in his spare time and after multiple requests he's finally offering each doodle as a print, but there's a twist! Through Olly's store you can purchase either one print or three prints at a time, but they're all random, so you'll never know what you'll get!

The above image shows your chance for getting each print, and some of those are looking nigh impossible to get, but keep your fingers crossed. You can head over to Olly Moss' Bigcartel here and purchase a single 5x5" print for $15, or a pack of 3 for $40.

Check the break for a better look at each print and decide how much money you're willing to drop to get the ones you want.

La Huida: A Masterfully Crafted Heist Short

La Huida, also known as The Runaway is a fantastic short film, in the similar vein of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's popular Amélie and Delicatessen. Telling the story of a small heist, La Hudia is an incredibly charming tale that completely captivates throughout all ten minutes. With showings at over 200 festivals and 77 awards, director Victor Carrey has crafted a short with something for everyone. Keep an eye out for Carrey in theatres, he's definitely an up and coming contender in the film space.

About Blank's Glitched Out Madness

Based out of Brussels, the About Blank design collective has tapped into a very interesting niche within the motion design field, opting to tap into specializing in glitch visual creation. Using techniques like data corruption, codec glitching and compression artifacting in conjunction with some of the best noise artists out there, About Blank has already begun to draw attention from music creators and other folks interested in distinct visuals for their marketing campaigns and music videos. Check out a few examples of their awesomely distorted work after the break!

Worth Checking Out - Jake Wyatt's "Necropolis"

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Artist, animator and illstrtor Jake Wyatt has just begun posting a series of pages fo an upcoming, as of yet unnamed web comic going under the monicker of Necropolis, featuring a heroines adventures across landscapes inhabited by strange creatures seeking to 'claim her.' Somewhat of a mix between Berserk's cursed protagonist and Ico's Yorda, I've really loved what I've seen so far in terms of her personality, and am really itching to find out the mystery behind her journey and what these creatures seek from her.

Jake Wyatt has commented on his various art spaces that these prototype pages are the test bed for a website he'll be launching sometime in August, so stay tuned for more updates on his official Jake Wyatt Riot Tumblr. A few more pages of Necropolis after the break, featuring the conclusion of the heroines battle with those strange skeleton creatures.

Aurora

Well, I can safely say that in terms of films (even short films) that decide to take a complete 180, this is probably in the top 5.  Eh, okay, maybe top 10.  The animated short Aurora was created by Dutch animator Aimee de Jongh, and tells the story of a woman seeking something mysterious in a forest.  Something rather... otherworldy.  From there, a short series of revelations come into play that are guaranteed to catch you completely off guard. The art style and darker mood was definitely interesting, reminding me of early rotoscoped features that were prevalent during the era of Ralph Bakshi.

Hotline Miami 2 Teaser Trailer Released; I Cry Tears Of Indie Joy

The first Hotline Miami was balls-to-the-wall insanity, pushing players to commit horrible acts of violence to the beat of a pulsating 80's-style sound track. Out of all the games released during Winter of last year, Hotline Miami continues to stick out as one of the most fun and engaging titles in recent memory. It's been nearly 7 months since the release of the original, and after months of teasing we're finally being teased (they really like to tease us) with a teaser trailer for Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. 

I can't say I'm not excited to bash more pixelated heads in, and that's exactly what the guys at Devolve Digital want from me. You sly bastards. While the sequel was originally intended to be DLC for the first, the team decided they had so much content that expanding into a full-length sequel would be the best for everyone; no disagreements there!

Enjoy The First 9 Minutes of Ghost In The Shell Arise

We're a mere three days away from the release of the first film of four in the Ghost in the Shell: Arise series. While a bit of controversy has stirred in the anime community over the redesign of characters (mostly Kusanagi) I couldn't be more excited to get more GITS action in my life. To celebrate the upcoming release the official Ghost in the Shell: Arise channel has posted the first 9 minutes from the film, Ghost Pain. The series is sporting some seriously sexy animation, which at this point should be expected from Production I.G.

The first films title, Ghost Pain is eerily similar to the subtitle of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which I'd attribute to taking place early in Major Kusanagi's career. I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say I'll be expecting a more in-depth look into Kusanagi's transition into a cyborg, perhaps a little phantom pain should be expected.

Unfortunately, the above subtitled version has only been posted in measly 480p (despite the subtitles being phenomenal), so if you're wanting to get the full 1080p experience, Sony's Playstation channel has been kind enough to post a non-subtitled version on their channel found below. What do you think of Motoko's redesign? I'm still confused with what all the fuss is about, I personally think it's an awesome alternate direction.

On Departure

As a means to express director Eoin Duffy's loss of a brother, On Departure is a soft, ambient short that conveys a sense of loneliness while simultaneously offering a feeling of ease. Presented with a soothing track, On Departure perfectly encapsulates what we all hope our loved ones experience upon their journey through death. The unique style of animation makes for a peaceful journey through an empty airport as the lone traveler makes his way to his end, which showcases the cinematic mindset of Eoin Duffy's direction style.

The Wonderful Poster Illustrations Of Laurent Durieux

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With the red sky looming over metropolis, Soundwave exploded through the corner record store that once stood proudly, leaving a trail of despair and destruction behind. Such was the nature of the chaotic Decepticons.

That is the retro-futuristic narrative that played in my head upon stumbling onto Laurent Durieux's latest Transformers flavored piece, a definite thematic departure from his more retro cinematic tributes to classics like The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Dracula and Boris Karloff's The Mummy. With over two decades of experience under his belt as a designer and instructor, the Belgian illustrator was just recently discovered by the poster gods over at Mondo, and it's been an upward spiral into prominence ever since.

What struck me the most about Durieux's pieces was the perfect balance of elements, as if the illustrations contained a perfect ratio of visual elements to function, no more, no less. His compositions are entrancing and filled with narrative, nearly boundless, showcasing the level of mastery and sophistication that he's achieved after all these years. Enjoy a small sampling of his recent work after the break.

The Lego Movie Trailer - Hell Has Frozen Over

Lego Movie has long been rumored as a pet project of Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs fame, but I think many people (Myself included) simply had no clue as to what a movie based off a toy franchise could possibly entail, or how it would look. The release of this trailer was so unexpected, and ultimately turned out so baffling that a few of us were simply left in shock as to the reality of this movie. It's actually happening.



Can you blame me for being so unsettled at the sight of the Lego versions of Michaelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Shaquille O' Neal in his now retired #34 Lakers outfit, Superman, Wonder Woman and a Morgan Freeman voiced Gandalf look-alike under the same roof? My sleep deprived brain shattered at this licensing nightmare presented in a scene lasting less than 30 seconds. Just imagine what the rest of the movie has in store for us.

While the story seems to follow the basic journey of the hero format, with an average Joe Lego minifigure being bestowed with great responsibility to stop a Lego Tyrant from gluing their entire universe together, what I actually see through that thin veil of plot is one of the most diabolical product placement schemes since The Wizard; A true slurry of surreal franchise-bending eye candy that I will inevitably end up paying $15 to watch in 3D, followed by dumping my life savings into purchasing the absolutely insane Lego set tie ins for this movie. Those Danish brick warlocks have done it yet again, and I pray that your minds (And wallets) will be ready to assemble in 2014.

Accord Perdu

Created by Pierre Antoine Naline as part of his Supinfocom 2nd year short, Accord Perdu (French for 'Lost Agreement') is a fun, musical themed 3D short about a piano technician caught in the midst of a performance and forced to improvise. One of the coolest aspects of the short is the simulated low poly, angular art style reminiscent of early CG, mixed with a really cool usage of color patterning to drive the abstract narrative. As the technician begins to play his music, his world transitions from a cool color scheme to a warm one, and vice versa.

The Uncanny Resemblance Between Disney's "Frozen" Teaser And A 2009 Student Animation

Shortly after posting the teaser to Disney's upcoming Frozen feature earlier today, it was brought to our attention by a concerned individual that there were some striking similarities between the teaser and a short written, produced and directed by Kelly Wilson in 2009 called The Snowman, which featured an identical scenario, down to the resolution. While we initially wrote it off as coincidence, after comparing the two shorts closely it did raise some suspicion as to whether some ideas were borrowed without Wilson's knowledge.

We initially assumed that Frozen's scenario might simply be based off of an event that happened in the fairy tale it was based off of, but following some research about the Danish fairy tale we realized that there was no comic relief snowman in the original story (The Snow Queen), just a reindeer that accompanies the ice princess. We did a comparison between the two plots, and if you watch the shorts you can judge for yourself whether Disney might have lifted some ideas from the student animator. Considering Disney's history of borrowing ideas, like the infamous Lion King/Kimba The Lion controversy, we wouldn't be terribly surprised.

• Both shorts feature a clumsy snowman that loses his nose, which lands on a frozen lake that gets the attention of a carrot eating creature. Rabbits in The Snowman, a reindeer in Frozen.
• In both shorts the carrot lands on a frozen lake, and a struggle ensues in which the snowman and creature struggle to get the carrot back.
• Both shorts feature the creature getting the carrot instead of the snowman, nearly eating it, and changing their mind last minute before handing it back to the snowman.