"In Lust III" - Get Hot And Bothered

We received an email with a link to a video and a small blurb: In Lust is available for rentals. And what we got is this rather amazing pseudo-music video starring the music of Health (Goth Star specifically). Featuring Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric fame and Yasmine Kittles, Lust III is a hot and heavy face off starring the two doing their best to express their lust for each other.

"Dip N' Dance" - What You Own Ultimately Owns You

Directed by Hugo Cierzniak, Dip N' Dance is a short about affluence and excess at it's most ridiculous, telling the tale of a fellow enamored with his fully automated household. When a malfunction causes this fellow to lose control of his body and voice, he comes to realize how over reliance can backfire spectacularly.

Using a fantastic cel shading technique with CG, the short ultimately feels like a really awesome short that could have been created by the likes of Disney back in their heyday. The color scripts alone evoke an awesome feeling of nostalgia, as well as the amazingly fluid animation. The short was created at Delapost Paris, which is an atelier dedicated to animation and post production work. Check out the awesome making of for Dip N' Dance after the break!

The Peach Kings - "Mojo Thunder"

Prepare to plunge into the lowest possible human depths with The Peach Kings' latest music video for Mojo Thunder, directed by Kris Merc and Benjy Brooke. Despite the hand drawn, chalky look appearing quite analog, the majority of the project was actually executed digitally with a very convincing emulation of a hand drawn feel.

We're made to witness one man's journey through cycles of abuse, pain, vice, lust and ultimately destruction in this gritty video, which evokes memories of Sin City (That protagonist looks like Marv, no?) and Bruce Timm's stylized work.

Scifi Camp Galore In "The Terrible Thing Of Alpha-9!"

Sent to a distant and strange planet in order to exterminate a terrifying monster, a certain bounty hunter comes to realize that this one creature is unlike anything he's ever faced before. And ultimately realizes that he definitely wasn't the first one to face off against this 'formidable' creature.

This animated short by Jake Armstrong employs a campy retro-scifi look to visually narrate the deadly duel between the hunter and the hunted. Props to Jake for taking some classic scifi tropes and turning them on their head for Alpha 9, you'll find yourself rooting for the completely wrong side. The short was created as a graduation short from New York's Sc hool of Visual Arts (SVA).

Plurabelle - "Our Fires"

It's all about the ominous vibes with Plurabelle's Our Fires, a track imbued with such an oppressive aural quality that it's kind of impressive. Couple that with the 2 tone music video by Mattis Dovier, who seems to be taking a few queues from Maruo Suehiro's muzan-e (A more violent ukiyo-e) stylings and low-fi PC graphics and you've got yourself one hell of a horror music video. The track is taken from Phantom Pyramid LP, set to release on June 16th via Stellar Kinematics.

Adolescence, embodied by the mutation into a monstrous beast, is a tribute to B-movies, drawing references from John Carpenter's or illustrator Charles Burns' universes. Symbolism in the transition into adulthood is seen as a rite of passage, requiring the death of a human being and the birth of another. The haunting mystical song immerses us inexorably into the intricacies of this transformation you can't avoid, whatever you do.

The Illustrations Of Tadahiro Uesugi

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At a first glance, Tadahiro Uesugi's work resembles more of the type of exploratory concept art pieces you'd see in a Pixar or Dreamworks art book. Long, elongated femmes that seem pulled straight out of a fashion designers book of ideas wandering about some truly European looking locales, either on their way to a rendezvous or simply sightseeing.

While on a first glance his pieces might seem a little light on detail, Uesugi's pieces showcase a masterful understanding of light and color all around. Over the last few years he's been privileged enough to have his work showcased internationally, as well as contributions to France's Elle fashion magazine and work on some of Laika's features, including promotional artwork for Coraline. Check out more of his fantastic work after the break.

Jérémie Périn Returns With "Fantastic Capote And Wonder Capote" (NSFW)

I have to say, French animator Jérémie Périn really tends to outdo himself in the NSFW meter with every animated short he puts out (With the exception of his amazing retro homage Starr Mazer). While his realm of specialty has typically been centered around more musical affairs, this latest animated promo is more in the PSA arena, promoting safe sex via 'capote' (condom) usage.

The idea seems pretty straight forward, but in the typical Jérémie Périn style he found a way to make it as unintentionally disturbing as possible. In a city inhabited by a whole slew of genitals, two heroes make it their mission to protect the populace from various nasty bugs with their message of 'play it safe.' If you're curious to check out some more of Périn's even more noteworth work, check out his incredible (And incredibly NSFW) music video for DYE's Fantasy.

Surreal Geometric Landscapes Pervade In "Mother"

Abstract, surreal goodness galore in Mother, a 3D short directed by Fabrice Le Nezet in collaboration with Benjamin Mousquet and an excellent ambient sound treatment by Azel Martinez. The black and white short has a simulated tilt shift feel to it, giving the viewer a God's eye perspective over this strange, constantly moving world.

Kind of feels like the beginning of a really cool indie puzzle title if you think about it.

Perturbator - "She Is Young, She Is Beautiful ... "

The newest music video for Perturbator's latest single She Is Young, She Is Beautiful is nothing short of a concentrated 5-minute shot of 80's infused euphoria to the optics. Is there a story? Hell if I know, but it sure is awesome! Jarkko Kinnunen and Sami Rämä have created a perfect visual companion piece to the track's retro-electronic vibe.

We've got fast cars, sun-kissed beaches, derelict oil rigs, necromancer panthers, hover-bikes, towering cybernetic metropolises, light katanas, sun glass-totting cyber-zombies; And strobe lights, don't forget strobe lights. What's not to like?

"Brutus The Bound - The Infinite Gladiator" - An Upcoming, Blood Soaked Animated Series

Brutus The Bound is another short from Exit 73 Studio, the same folks who brought us the amazing, retro animated rampage short Coin last year. With a narrative and stylistic premise similar to Samurai Jack with the time traveling warrior premise, Brutus is one over the top, violent bastard.

While Studio 73 didn't specifically mention what this was for other than a 'Winter 2014' note at the end, it sure feels like a pitch animation for an animated series we'd find on a channel like Adult Swim. Either that or a promo for the IP development services that the New York based studio is capable of. Either way I enjoyed loved it from start to finish, including the amazing ending credits.

Brutus, a great warrior from a distant planet, is ripped from his past and taken to the future of an evil Overlord. The Overlord holds Brutus' family hostage, and binds Brutus in a temporal harness, forcing him to become an Infinite Gladiator, fighting opponents throughout time and space.

"Escarface" - A Senior Heist Short

Over a game of Scrabble, two grannies come to the realization that some drastic actions must be taken to activate their trip to their favorite stool museum. The word 'Braquage' gets spelled out (French for 'stickup') and their plan goes into effect to raid a bank in order to get what they need in this fun CG short about a pair of truly unlikely robbers.

Co-directed by Eva Navaux, Burcu Sankur, Vincent Meunier, Lionel Arnold, Dario Sabato, Pierre plouzeau for their Supinfocom graduation project.

"When Marnie Was There" - A First Look At Studio Ghibli's Upcoming Feature

Studio Ghibli's next project will feature Hiromasa Yonebayashi (Arrietty) resuming the directors post in this adaptation of Joan G. Robinson's novel by the same name. This premiere trailer seems to indicate that this will be another understated feature following a trend that the studio has adopted since 2008's Ponyo, which was probably their last 'fantastical' feature. Not that we mind, The Wind Rises (2014) was probably one of the best movies the studio's ever put out. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Anna hasn't a friend in the world - until she meets Marnie among the sand dunes. But Marnie isn't all she seems...

An atmospheric ghost story with truths to tell about friendship, families and loneliness. Anna lives with foster parents, a misfit with no friends, always on the outside of things. Then she is sent to Norfolk to stay with old Mr and Mrs Pegg, where she runs wild on the sand dunes and around the water. There is a house, the Marsh House, which she feels she recognizes - and she soon meets a strange little girl called Marnie, who becomes Anna's first ever friend. Then one day, Marnie vanishes.

Worth Checking Out - "Gods Will Be Watching"

Seriously developers, keep the point-and-clicks coming, they're only getting better! Deconstructeam's Gods Will Be Watching is an interesting and brutal take on the point-and-click adventure formula, putting players in the midst of multiple moral dilemmas. Every choice you make has consequences, and as seen by the above trailer, some of those consequences are a bit brutal. 

The narrative based puzzles in Gods Will Be Watching aren't to be taken lightly, as each choice will directly effect you and your team. What's interesting is the game's focus on you and your teams relationship, creating tense moments that will force players to decide to save the lives of your team members or the lives of thousands more.

Gods Will Be Watching is an incredibly intriguing take on moral choice in games, and while it's difficult to judge the game's focus it's characters the in-game choices shown provide plenty of potential for experimentation for different outcomes. Gods Will Be Watching is set to release on steam July 24th. If you're interested in giving the demo a go, check out their website over here.

The Character Art of Warashiz

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Not much can be found in terms of info for the Japanese artist, Warashiz, but what can be found is an amazing assortment of character portraits. With part cyberpunk and part pure punk style, Warashiz's collection of characters is a damn awesome thing. Made up almost entirely of female characters, Warashiz's style, while unique, holds a vibe similar to that Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl with a bit of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell tossed in for good measure.  

If you're in need of a little inspiration to get you the motivation needed to keep up the art Warashiz's pixiv, is an awesome evolution of their style and artist ability. Starting from a relatively limited color palette to the bright and colorful work found in this post, Warashiz has grown immensely as an artist. After the break is more of Warashiz's work, take a peek!

"Fight!" - A Stop Motion Beatdown

Last year Emma de Swaef and Mark James Roels directed an awesome felt stop-motion trailer to introduce the 2013 Festival National du Film d'Animation, based in France.  Two rotund men wrestle to victory, but end up finding some common ground.  It's short, simple, to the point, yet I can only imagine the work put into it, as is the case with all stop-motion work.  The use of felt was a great touch, something not seen often.

"When You Broke My Heart"

For all it's bright colors, and whimsical, stylized design, the animated short "When You Broke My Heart" is sad tale indeed.  A king of sorts is left by his queen, due to his gaming.  He sets on a quest to win her back, but of course, comes across obstacles on his way.  It's another fantastic animated short from a group at Supinfocom.