External World

I really like David OReilly's work. His latest film External world is as brilliant as it is insane:

Hello again

Wow, I never really intended to leave those slightly gross x-rays of people talking up for so long. Oh well, so it goes.

In the next few weeks I intend on making posts about inspiration. Things that inspire me and drive me forward. Stuff I feel like is a "must see." Mostly to sort this stuff out for myself. I feel like I've been seeing a lot of articles and books about how to be inspired and how to make your own work better. A lot of it seems to have the same theme and I'd like to explore that idea.

Fist up is an interview with Frances Ford Coppola that my friend Ben turned me on to. It's a fantastic interview:

http://the99percent.com/articles/6973/Francis-Ford-Coppola-On-Risk-Money-Craft-Collaboration

What I really like his is drive for taking risks and telling personal stories. Telling a personal story is a risk so you can not have one without the other. I also really like his idea of self financing his own films. He's absolutely right about money for art. We are entering a new era where it will be hard to make money for producing art. We have had it good for the last 100 years, things are changing weather we like them or not.

Anyhoo, I highly recommend the article. Back with more next week.

X-Ray of People Talking

Go to this link to see X-Ray Video of people talking. They're very short videos, but it's still cool to see how active/inactive the tongue is. Also to notice how the flesh moves around the jaw.

http://hundertmarkblog.de/christine-ericsdotter-x-ray-analyses-of-speech/

Great Shot

Check out the first shot in this trailer, it's one of the best moments captured on film in a while:

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/11/anne_geddes_the_movie.php

I love how entertaining it is. How the kid on the left jut goes back to doing his business like he didn't do anything wrong. How old are those kids anyway? I may be getting weak in my fatherhood days but I found that down right entertaining.

Oscar's Animated Shorts Preview

"The Wrap" was nice enough to compile a website with video links to all 10 of the animated shorts that are on the short list for the Oscar. Some of the video clips are the shorts in their entirety, others are just previews. This is the short list, five will get nominated, “A Matter of Loaf and Death” and "Partly Cloudy" are obviously going to be on the Oscar list. I have to say really hope Cordell Barker's “Runaway” gets the Oscar. His short is great, great pacing, great characters, a nicely told story. I can't say I'm a big fan of the teaser they put on this site, trust me it's a lot better then this teaser. I'm hoping the Oscar voters get a chance to see the short before they vote.

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/preview-oscars-animated-shorts-10530

This is the Greatest Video Ever Made!

Video Refrence for Fantastic Mr Fox

Here's a interesting look at Wes Anderson doing video reference for Fantastic Mr Fox. I can understand how Wes Anderson wanted to make sure he got the performance that he needed for each take this was probably the best way for him to do that. I've seen video of Nick Park doing the same thing for Chicken Run, although he had his animators do the same thing. I wonder how much of the film Wes acted out, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't cut the film together three or four times using live action and story boards. He probably felt more comfortable that way and it probably kept Wes off the set when they were shooting the film. Anyone know the budget for this one?

I'm looking forward to seeing this film. I don't care much for the character design but I've really enjoyed Wes Anderson's films up tell now.





If you haven't seen this, this is a great video about Bill Melendez, I include it in this post because it has a great comparison of Bill's work to Wes's work. It's really a must see.




See even more Making Of Stuff here, man I wish I could have worked on this one!