Trusts and Estates (NSFW)

Based on an overhead conversation a few years ago, Trusts and Estates is a pen and ink animated short by recent CalArts graduate Jeanette Bonds.  Four lawyers sit around boozing it up and shooting the sh*t after a long day of work.  What starts off as some casual banter turns into a full vulgarity fest.  A one-up contest of a rather graphic nature, this is a conversation I really would have loved to hear in real life. NSFW for language, the visuals are G-rated.

Joe Han's Animation Reel : What 14 Years Of Experience Looks Like

I'm baffled that Joe Han is currently looking for a job, as I've never seen a reel this good since starting this blog. Joe was one of the employees affected by the Valve layoffs, which seemed to affect a significant number of former movie industry folks. Gabe Newell alluded to his dissatisfaction with movie industry folks in his recent Reflections Of A VideoGame Maker talk, just a week before that strange layoff.

Joe has had a chance to work at WETA and Valve on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, King Kong,TinTin, iRobot, Left4Dead, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, including the amazing shorts for Meet The Medic, Meet The Pyro and Mann Vs Machine. This really begs the question, why did he get laid off, considering his stellar contributions to all of Valve's key franchises? We'll probably never know, but I doubt he'll have a hard time getting a new job at one of the best studios out there in no time.

IRL - In Real Life

There have been many documentaries created over the years to study the addictive effect of MMO's on certain people, but rarely one as intimate as IRL, directed by the player himself. Over a seven minute span you'll experience the arc of Anthony Rosner and his 6 year experience with the game through his alter ego, Severin.

Hammer & Hand

It's short, but definitely pretty sweet.  From the work of Creative Director/Animator Colin Hesterly comes the animated short about a man, just a regular man. But one who sets out to create something, well, let's say it's larger than life (like all good innovators, eh?). This short kinda gets right to the point, and ends on an interesting note.  I'd love to see a longer version of this!

Squirrel Away

While on the hunt for a light-hearted, fun animated short, I came across Mark Sheard's 'Squirrel Away'. From the thumbnail it looks like a cute, bright animation, so I think "Jackpot!"  And that it is: A cute story about a squirrel who gathers all of his nuts and stores them inside of a hollow tree.  He works hard all year long, even through snow.  When he finally has his cache all set, that's when things get... Weird.  And a bit surprising.  Watch for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

Doctor Who: In 5 Minutes

60 years of history is a lot of ground to cover, I hear you. If you're anything like me, you might be a tad on the lazy side. It's why I have a Dachshund dog: I don't do effort. However, I've seen pretty much most of Dr. Who..If you're interested in Dr. Who and can't be bothered to watch 60 years worth of episodes, Then watch the show summed up in this 5 minutes. You won't miss much, apart from the entertainment of the episodes themselves.