Before we even get to the amazing animation, lets talk about the creative use of paper cut outs with screenshots and video of the making of + animatic. If you ever wanted to learn how to make something truly inspirational, read about the project:

It started with Saulo Jamariqueli – Nearly Normal founder – writing a short narrative about a wolf’s life change. Everyone has their own interpretation about what The Wolf means to them. It can be seen as a reflection of modern life. The grass always seems greener in the other side, but as is often the case in real life, it isn’t.
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Jaime Kiss – Nearly Normal founder – introduced us to Cintia Bertaccini – paper engineer – and we loved her and her portfolio! She was actually the catalyst for the project…
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It was an experiment that took on a life of its own. Some artists were involved throughout while others would come in sporadically, and some contributed just for a few days. We wanted a full “hands on” experience, and to make nearly everything on the set, leaving almost nothing to do in postproduction. Even the soundtrack was composed entirely at Nearly Normal Studio, arranged by Luca Samuri and played by himself, Derik Yau and Saulo Jamariqueli. All the editing and Post Production was also done at the Nearly Normal Studios.

The Wolf I Used To Be… from Nearly Normal on Vimeo.

ANIMATIC – The Wolf I Used To Be… from Nearly Normal on Vimeo.

THE WOLF I USED TO BE… Making OF from Nearly Normal on Vimeo.

Check out the website of NearlyNormal
Or follow them on Twitter

Their music is, like their videos, is surreal, and after watching, I often question my sobriety.

Somebody That I Used to Know

This video is really quite simple, and yet greatly complex to make. It uses stop motion to create a “picture” that is representative of “his” world and the creation thereof. As Kimbra quite nicely displays, she disintegrates from his world by slow removal of the paint, till she is no longer in his world. I really enjoy this video a lot, and as you can see by the near 50 million youtube views in the past 6 months, everyone else does too. Although, I wonder if that is not partially due to Kimbra, but that might be my own little world! (Shush, I already get made fun of for being attracted to Natalie Portman!)

Bronte

Bronte has a unique yet familiar style to it’s animation, it makes me think of what Ponyo would look like if made in Canada. It was animated by Ari Gibson, an Australian illustrator and Animator. The style however, makes me think Canada, as opposed to Australia.  Anyways, here is a qoute from Ari on the film:

A fairy tale, dream-like. A world of bright sunlight and vibrant saturated colour, that matures as time passes, becoming harder, more real, until finally only fragments remain of the world now lost.
Within this vanishing world, a herd of creatures: quiet, ancient and wild. Creatures forgotten by time, alive now only in the memories of a young woman.

Thanks For Your Time

I will leave you all with this video, completely surreal. It was put together by Lucy Dyson, who i think did a great job creating the atmosphere and frustration of calling for help from customer service!
To View more, visit their youtube channel! You will not be disappointed!
Feel Free to comment! I hope you enjoyed this videos as much as I have!

There are more ways of killing a man than there are of making bread, or making love. And while the latter two are quite limited in scale, Man has gone beyond his imagination for his capacity to destroy life with one push of a button

Truer words have never been spoken within the first 2 minutes of a major movie. Guy Moshe’s imagination has brought us the eclectic and amazing film Bunraku: an age old tale of strife. Check out the amazing opening animation cinematic stills as well as the entire video below.

Credits:

Directed by Guilherme Marcondes

Produced by Hornet Inc.

Executive Producer: Michael Feder
Producer: Hana Shimizu

Animation
Producer: Jan Wohrle
Lead Compositor: John Harrison
Compositors: Yussef Cole, Julien Koetsch, Arthur Hur
Storyboard Artists: Tom Lintern, Carlos Ancalmo
Character Design: Rafael Grampá, Mike Luzzi
Background Design: Morgan Schweitzer
Character Animation: Mike Luzzi
Additional Animation: Frank Summers, Keng-Ming Liu
Editor: Joe Suslak

Live Action
Director of Photography: Toshiaki Ozawa
Live Action Producer: Joel Kretschman
Assistant Director: Jeff Lazar
1st Assistant Camera: Scott Maguire
Gaffer: Michael Yetter
Best Boy: Rich Ulivella
Key Grip: Joe Mandeville
Art Director: Ryan Heck
Asst. Art Director: Andy Byers
Set Design: Andrezza Valentin
Puppet Fabrication: K&Z Studio Inc., Adam Parker Smith & Carolyn Salas
Puppeteers: Adam Pagdon, Ulysses Jones, Megan McNerney, Celli Clemmons
Production Assistants: Matthew Churchill, Rick Matera, Connie Li Chan

“In the west, it’s all about the decisions you make; and if there is a choice to be a chicken; there is also always a chance to become…a legend.”

Henrique Barone has stroke metaphorical gold with his existential wild western piece “Tough West”. He produced this flash film during his Classical Animation course at Vancouver Film School. What struck me about this piece was that not only did it encompass the wild western aesthetic, it touched on the hardboiled nature of 1940′s noir.

Take a look at some of his concept art below followed by the video at the end.

Want to learn more about Henrique Barone?

Check out his portfolio
Find him on twitter
Take a peek at his resume
Or just email him directly here: henriquebarone@gmail.com

Rome – Two Against One from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

Find more information about Chris Milk here.
Find more information about Anthony Francisco Sheppard here.

Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

“Alice in Wonderland” has always been a bizarre story in a bizarre world on it’s own, and coming from the head of Tim Burton, it’s difficult to know anymore what exactly to expect. All I can say is any Tim Burton fan would be almost maniacally eager at this point about the film.

[Images via Huffington Post]