Moved by type

Beautiful typography, thumping backbeats, retro aesthetic. Does it get any better? This "typographic orgy" from Sebastian Lange rocked my world when I first saw it. Clearly I'm a sucker for typography in motion. But this video experiment for the song "flickermood 2.0" by FORSS turned me into a full-blown junkie.

Viva Las Incabators

A friend recently told me that in film making you will spend roughly six hours in the editing room for every one hour of completed footage. Over the past two weeks I had the opportunity to test this theory, and found that it is extraordinarily optimistic. Last month Julie and I took our first vacation in five years to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and along the way we got about two hours of footage. Editing it down to a thirty minute movie took me at least twenty hours. Granted, I'm a film making novice with a computer not optimized for video editing. However, I prefer to convince myself that the reason it took so long was because I did such a damn fine job on it. I hope you enjoy the finished product.

Wanderlusting

I've never been a huge Bjork fan, but I am always impressed by the limitless, childlike creativity that shines through in everything she does. Her latest video, Wanderlust, is one of the most visually arresting experiences I've come across. Like walking into another person's lucid dream, Wanderlust is somewhat disturbing, highly ambiguous and completely overwhelming. The colors sizzle and the contours undulate as you travel through this amalgamation of Tibetan folklore and hallucination. This shouldn't be surprising. In the directors' words, the creative process "involved using psilocybin mushrooms…and going into nature in kind of a perturbed state."

Wanderlust, much like Bjork's early video for Human Behavior, evokes an intimate sense of place. Whether its stomping through a moonlit forest glen in the stomach of a life size teddy bear or careening down a river on the back of a Tibetan yak in the painterly Himalayan sunlight, you will certainly leave these videos with a sense of having experienced something profoundly unusual. You can view Wanderlust below, but I highly recommend watching the large format version here. And keep your eyes out for the 3D version to be released soon.

The Story of Stuff

After a two month blogging hiatus in the wake of a busy holiday season I'm finally back with Stuff to share. A friend of mine emailed me this video with the statement "Watch this movie when you have 20 minutes and an open mind." In all honesty, I have an open mind—very much so in fact—but I'm still weary of any call-to-action that requires it: Greenpeace representatives for example, standing outside of my local coffee shop hoping to accost unsuspecting passers-by. I avoid them at all costs. Nevertheless, I clicked on the link in my friend's email.

The video called The Story of Stuff is a "fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns." With well executed and witty animation by Louis Fox, and Ruben DeLuna, this film is entertaining, educational & powerful. Watch the full video by clicking here, or view the first chapter below.

Talent out the wazoo

Since the subject of type in motion has been on my mind a lot lately, I feel the need to point out a killer piece of work that I found via Design Observer. This class project was created by Jarratt Moody, a student at Savannah College of Art and Design, which reminds me—students who produce work this good piss me off. I don't know how long Jarratt has been has been designing for, but his resumé doesn't cite any experience prior to 2004, so I assume it hasn't been long. No student work should be this good. Granted, I haven't been designing much longer then he has, so I should probably shut up and create something genius to feel worthwhile again.

Thank you for perfect typography

Even though this has been written about on several other blogs, I'd like to give kudos to Shadowplay Studio for creating one of the most typographically perfect opening sequences I've seen in a long time in Jason Reitman's comedy, Thank You for Smoking. With smooth transitions, vibrant colors, and fabulously executed type they cleverly weaved together a sequence rich with vintage iconography that nearly upstages the very movie it opens.

Another often talked about opening sequence that I'd like to throw in for good measure is that of David Fincher's thriller, Panic Room. This is a case where, for better or worse, the opening does indeed upstage the movie. If you haven't seen it, or just haven't seen it in a while, you should give it a viewing.