The Atmospheric Concept Art of Christopher Balaskas

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It's been a couple weeks since we've gotten a chance to feature an artist here on Awesome Robo, things have been unfortunately crazy for all of us. Today, when I stumbled upon the work of Christopher Balaskas' work I knew it had to be shared. Balaskas' work has an amazingly grandeur scale, showcasing both the natural world and an advanced future.

Each of Balaskas' created worlds showcase a deep understanding of it's topography, creating a vivid environment one can build from. Rather than providing a piece of the world, each piece makes it clear that there's more to the world behind the scenes. After the break is more of Christopher Balaskas' work, if you like what you see I definitely recommend heading over to his DeviantArt page in order to get the full view along with loads of more of his beautiful work.

Ad LXXIX - A Tale Of Gladiatorial Combat

Animated by Weiss Leo as part of his final year at L'@telier's three year animation program, Ad LXXIX is a really cool short about a gladiator realizing he's way out of his league. Upon entering a foreboding arena, a blood thirsty warrior approaches with no intent of showing mercy. Little do they know that nature itself is conspiring to deliver a cruel fate to them all.

Aside from the awesome animation, Leo's look is one of the coolest things I noticed about the short, employing a really distinct animated graphite look to his characters and the backgrounds. There were occasional, subtle hints of 3D with projected 2D textures (Like the door slamming at the beginning), but nothing distracting overall. Absolutely loved the atmosphere he captured in this short.

"Alien: Isolation" And The Lo-fi Scifi Aesthetic

At this point I'm convinced that the Aliens franchise has been cursed, as the last half dozen videogame adaptations of the franchise have typically been bad at best to absolutely atrocious. Alien: Isolation seems like another attempt to give the series a little justice, taking the retrofuturistic world of the original 1979 feature and adapting it into something a little more in tune with the vision of the original.

My main hopes is that they don't deliver an experience that is 6-8 hours of straight jump scares, hopefully opting for a more subtle, lasting tension that was present in the original feature. While the graphics look nice, a source told us that the current footage is still 'gameplay target' or prerendered footage that captures the mood they want to accomplish. Once October rolls around we'll hopefully get a better idea of how this game will play, but so far we're cautiously optimistic.

Omega - Scifi And Stop Motion Collide

Omega is an epic stop motion short directed by Eva Franz and Andy Goralczyk, fusing high-end CGI and photographic images, miniature sets and traditional stop-motion puppet animation to narrate a post apocalyptic tale about evolution. If there's one subset of scifi we don't see often enough, it's the bio-mechanical kind that artists like Geiger and Tsutomu Nihei have popularized over the years. At close to 20 minutes long, Omega is a highly atmospheric journey that takes us across various barren landscapes, inhabited by bizarre creatures and relics of a long extinct civilization.

The end of evolution awaits in a wasteland dominated by bizarre trash formations, dust and rock. From the scattered remains of a long forgotten culture an electric ecosystem rapidly evolves into the ultimate form of existence...

The mechanical life form Ohm inhabits a bleak and devastated planet. The thousands of mechanical creatures of this world share a single cycle of energy. In this cycle, Ohm is a rogue element. His nature is to devour and absorb others. When one day a gargantuan foreign object appears in the skies. Drawn in by mysterious creatures of light, the Ohm tracks them across the planet, changing the known order of matter, time and space.

Road, Poison, Angel - High Fashion Films By Ruslan Pelykh

Ruslan Pelykh is a Russian filmmaker and director based out of Moscow, and man does he have a knack for doing some truly amazing high fashion videos. Fantastically art directed, his most recent videos for Road and Poison are sultry in their own way yet immersed in a shroud of total darkness.

Forms mesh, flow and meld into all new amalgams and possiblities with an incredible fluidity enhanced by fantastically paired Massive Attack tracks. Check out the similarly themed Poison and the more light hearted Angel after the break.

The Atmospheric Art Of Danny Burgress

(Via)

Danny Burgess is a freelance artist with fingers in many pies- Working in the animation, game, apparel and general illustration industry. His personal pieces really got my attention though, as he's got a knack for selling atmosphere with his smoky, hazy pieces that make really good use of negative space to imply additional detail.

Aside from a reoccurring theme of wolves, Danny also has a thing for giant robots lumbering across stretched out landscapes. Check out more of his work after the break, and you can pick up prints of his work over on his Society6 page if you're so inclined.

Suns - "Bells"

Who's up for a weekend afternoon astral trip? Digital animator Stuart Sinclair was approached by electronic music duo SUNS to create a music video for their track Bells off their upcoming debut EP. Safe to say, Sinclair delivered on all fronts because the final product is exceptional.

The video flies headfirst through a hypnotic kaleidoscope of sparsely outlined cosmic bodies and outer planets. The perfect compliment to what feels and sounds like a trippy long lost b-side from the Akira soundtrack.

Hound

Created as part of Olivia Marion's graduation film from the French animation school EMCA, Hound is a highly atmospheric short which is impressive both in it's aesthetic and choice of lighting and color, which must have been pretty damn complex to pull off.

In Hound a man travels through a dark forest aided with nothing but a flashlight and his senses, seemingly hunted by a predator out for blood. While the setup seems to indicate some rather sinister events are bound to unfold, the final result is thankfully quite cheerful. Man's best friend

Le Castle Vania - "Prophication"

Directed by Evan Viera, this music video/teaser for the Atlanta based one man electro/dance army known as Le Castle Vania promises some rather epic things to come with Prophication. Featuring a ship with a mysterious traveling into a mysterious, monolithic fortress, the teaser somewhat reminded me of the type of narrative that groups like Justice like to setup to accompany their new releases.

The upcoming titular EP will be dropping on September 2nd via Mau5trap records, the label founded by Deadmau5 himself back in 2007 before becoming part of Universal Music Group just recently. If you're into EDM, stay tuned for the debut of this fresh talent.

Stubborn Heart - "Penetrate"

UK-based electro soul duo Stubborn Heart is a relatively new act, with their debut album out last fall. Their single, "Penetrate," is a funky, moody track with a fantastic sense of atmosphere.  The accompanying video is equally moody, with a sense of loneliness and desolation, yet somehow doesn't come off as too terribly dark.  While some scenes are sadder than others, quite a few really just give off that "My life isn't always terrible, but tonight is just one of those nights" kind of vibe, which can be related to easily.

Hiku

Created by Tristan Domenjus & Adrien Fromenteil as their graduation film at France's Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d'Animation (School of Crafts And Animated Film), Hiku is a wonderfully atmospheric short centered around one man's struggle to survive in an inhospitable environment. Throughout his multi-day journey he's haunted by images of a ghostly woman and a creeping chill, implying a strange trauma that lingers about the sullen protagonist. Yet at the end of the day, there's a silver lining to his ongoing struggle.

Really enjoyed Tristan and Adrien's choice to do more with less in the dialogue-less Hiku, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret and give meaning of these surreal spells. It's definitely a bit of a rarity these days to see shorts and films leave important plot elements to the imagination, so I definitely appreciated them taking the path less traveled with Hiku. Loved it.

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!

Tavistock 516 By Alberto Mielgo (NSFW)

For fans of illustrator Alberto Mielgo, best know for his work on Tron Uprising, the Harry Potter series, Corpse Bride, and the Beatles Rockband, come a series of amazing, yet distinctly NSFW shorts featuring the wonderfully appealing style of the now London based Spanish director.

Featuring the equivalent of moving paintings thanks to his distinct stroke laying technique (Fat and angular), applied frame by frame. Perhaps there's some use of rotoscoping involved, which might remind some folks of movies like Scanner Darkly, but that is Mielgo's secret to keep, bottom line is that as an entire package, these shorts are nothing short of amazing little bites of atmosphere. Check out another short created for Pinkman.TV after the break.

Jojo In The Stars

From the BAFTA winning Studio AKA comes this beautiful debut film from Director Marc Craste. JoJo In The Stars is an atmospheric 12 minute story of love, self-sacrifice, and jealousy played out against a monochromatic world that is both nightmarish and hauntingly beautiful at the same time.

Do Computers Dream of Electric Sheep?

Sent to us by French filmmaker Benjamin Bardou, I was absolutely amazed to find out that this experimental short was created using a mixture of found footage and shots captured in Grand Theft Auto IV (With some Aftereffects treatment).

The title, a play on Philip K. Dick's massively influential Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, best known for beign the literary foundation for 1982's Bladerunner. The short is an absolutely stunning, atmospheric affair, accentuated by a minimalist electroacoustic score created by Steve Moore.

Guilt By Tobias Larson

Following a tease back in November last year, Swedish animator Tobias Larson's Guilt is finally out, narrating the story of a truly disturbed protagonist losing all control. The highly atmospheric short features some truly gorgeous watercolor backgrounds and a simple, yet beautifully animated art style, accented by some wonderfully subtle animation.

If you're familiar with Team ICO's games, this short might evoke some familiar feelings. The fact that the short left so much open to interpretation narratively is something I truly can appreciate. Absolutely loved it from start to finish.

Lorn - Diamond

In conjunction with the arrival of Lorn's 'Ask The Dust,' which is now out (Check it out on Spotify), we've been treated to a variety of excellent music videos with similar aesthetics. And this distinct look matches the heavily atmospheric, haunting sound that the producer evoked from a nether dimension for his latest album. Following a similar visual narrative as 'Weigh Me Down,' Diamond follows a man on the run from an entity and the long shadow it casts that he can't escape, perhaps an allegory for the inevitable result of trying to run from your problems. Loved the simulated VHS artifact look, and I really hope to see a continuation of this series.