Scarygirl: 2d needn't be a bore

Scarygirl Game Trailer from Touch My Pixel on Vimeo.

What a job. Part of my work right now involves Unity3d a gorgeous gaming engine. As a result I've been kicking around in gamedev circles more than ever, especially indie games. Some of my favorites are those with 2d graphics that pull out all the stops. This trailer for Scarygirl showcases an endless variety of stylish designs. The characters are lovingly detailed and produced, the colors incredible. I'll be posting some more of my faves this month so stayed tuned if you're into that.

Nerd Music

I found myself thinking recently about how to integrate science and art. Honestly, I think scientists do it better. Well, put it this way: I can forgive imperfect art better than bad science. If an artist wants to make art about science, they'd better know their stuff. Sloppy, goofy, off the cuff art is merely expressive, and that's an asset in the arts.

Fantastic Planet

Topless Robot - 7 Essential French Sci-Fi Films
This groovy article in Topless Robot brought up an old favorite. I remember coming across Fantastic Planet in the middle of the night on some odd TV station when I was in high school. The stylish yet clunky animation and ominous tone of the film was compelling. I didn't realize it was French, but I'm not surprised. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth the energy to look it up. The soundtrack is something too. So not Disney.

A Fairy Tale Ending, Sort of.

Here's a nice piece of work; not too long, not overworked, and the score is evocative. The sketchy technique keeps it light.

Paper Animation

Part of me thought, he's cutting up a book! But it's worth it. Art begets art in this charming video. Check out other work by the artist at this site: 6 Die
I loved the interplay between the paper and the form. Elegant.

The Future of Music

Dig this video from Beeple There's an interesting article in Create Digital Motion where he talks about his process. I loved that he admitted to struggling with the software. A lot of people don't realize that even geeks don't automatically absorb new software. You just buckle down and keep working with a program until you have the hours to know it. I just finish a book by David Levy titled 'Love and Sex with Robots'. One of the things he discussed was progress in developing emotion in artificial intelligence. It might be easier than you think, and someday, robots will have their own feelings, feelings we don't have and they will express them with their own art.

The Joy of Vids on the Net

Here's a vid where the animator by far upstages the musicians. When the manatids hit it, you have to go along. Check out this beautiful collection of animated shorts:
10 surreal animated short films
I found on StumbleUpon. I'm liking that network quite alot, actually. It's like having someone steer my surfing, and I never come up dry.

Spacious Thoughts

I don't do much double posting, but I put this on facebook a few days ago. Tom Waits in a vid that showed up on Boing Boing; mad animation makes a brilliant display, and the tune is over the top. Rap and all, I loved this thing. The project is NASA, North America, South America: a collaboration. The interview with the animators on Boing Boing was a trip too! They used every technique they knew, and learned some new ones in an effort to animate the voice of Tom Waits as a dark cloud, a hollering spere!

Muto, by Blu

I started babbling about this at work: astounding animations painted on public walls like graffiti art. The artist has been traveling all over the world working on his projects. There's a groovy portfolio and flash site at his link.

Alice Cohen imagines Three Girls

Electric Literature just released a new single sentence animation on YouTube. I'm a bit twisted as to where to post it: generally, book news goes on my other blog, but I just posted a trailer over there for Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and besides, these always strike me as groovy technology, more than literature. I'll link again, though, to an article in Slate critical of the rise of book trailers. The author, Troy Patterson, laments the practice as degenerate, literary commercialism. Somebody should show him the single sentence animations.