Animation

MUSIC VIDEO: THE WEEKND’S “THE KNOWING”

On my list of top ten culture for 2011 would be the woozy morning-after soul of the mysterious Canadian vocalist/producer team, The Weeknd. For a song from an album, House of Balloons, in which every other track sounds like the music from the final five minutes of a Miami Vice episode, this science-fiction opus, directed by Mikael Colombu and originally posted by Drake on his site, is not what I would have expected. Dim the lights, go full screen and check it out. (Hat tip: Pitchfork.)
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 26, 2011
MARK ROMANEK’S ANIMATED DANCE-OFF

Mark Romanek’s KIA ad, which was debuted on last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, got a lot of online buzz today. Just caught up with it now, and it is somewhat… weird. From Entertainment Weekly: With the help of choreographers Rich & Tone, a group of “great dancers from the East and West coast” and computer animation, Romanek had the resources to bring the latest chapter of those jamming hamsters to the small screen. “The key was making the dance great,” said Romanek. Of course, they’d need a great song to dance to. Romanek explained that while there were a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 29, 2011
KATE MOSS: BEHIND THE SCENES, AND WITH SNAKE

The fashion and culture site Nowness has been generating some cool design-oriented videos lately, including this one — “Everglade,” the first of a four-parter based around surveillance camera footage of Kate Moss shot during a recent photo shoot. From a single side angle, Moss is captured while modeling the 2011 Balmain campaign by filmmakers Inex Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. They brought in artist and animator Jo Ratcliffe to work with the footage and set it all to music by Antony and the Johnsons. Said Van Lamsweerde, “Surrealism is always there in our work, whether it’s in camera or through […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2011
“THE BEAST PAGEANT” ON KICKSTARTER

Just because it looks kinda nuts… From an email I received: We’re making an independent film called The Beast Pageant, a surreal adventure with giant machines, exploding heads, and a tiny singing cowboy. We’re almost done and we’ve got a trailer up here. We need help getting the word out there so if you know anyone who might be interested pass it on! The Beast Pageant – Trailer from Albert Birney on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 6, 2010
THE SAFDIES WIN OUR CREATIVITY IN MARKETING AWARD

Who says there is no clever independent film marketing? As Eric Kohn observed, Daddy Longlegs‘ Benny Safdie this weekend wore a sandwich board in midtown that, underneath the come-on, “We Buy Gold,” proclaimed, “This movie exists!” Has there ever been a more honest cry for attention from any independent filmmaker? And now, directors Josh and Benny Safdie have created a charming animated trailer, posted below, that in a completely different filmmaking medium captures some of their movie’s madcap energy. If you haven’t guessed, I love this film and urge you all to see it at the IFC Center this weekend.
by Scott Macaulay on May 10, 2010
Tatia Rosenthal, $9.99

ALBERT (VOICED BY BARRY OTTO) AND THE ANGEL (VOICED BY GEOFFREY RUSH) IN DIRECTOR TATIA ROSENTHAL’S $9.99. COURTESY STRAND RELEASING. Being an independent filmmaker is difficult enough without adding the further challenges of animation, so it’s always a pleasure to see the emergence of a visionary talent like Tatia Rosenthal. The Israeli writer-director and stop motion animator was born in Tel Aviv in 1971 and explored some very diverse avenues before deciding on her current profession: Rosenthal was in the Israeli Defense Force for two years, spent a period of time at medical school and then studied photography in Paris […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 19, 2009
SUPER CRITICAL

I haven’t seen The Incredibles yet, but when I do I’ll be parsing its politics like some sort of Frankfurt School flunky because of a number of conversations I’ve been drawn into recently about the film. My brother calls it the best animated movie he’s seen, but at my Gotham Awards table the other night, a publicist and editor attacked it for what they read as its regressive politics. For a sort of Incredibles study guide, check out this piece in The Guardian’s newsblog that deftly summarizes the various critiques of Brad Bird’s Pixar creation. The piece begins by evoking […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 8, 2004

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