Posts tagged 'Ethereal'

The Jump

I’ve technically already posted the attached – it was, after all, included in Late Night Work Club’s ultra-rad first release, Ghost Stories – but, considering that it was my favorite of the bunch, I figured this magical bit of animation from Charles Huettner deserved its own entry on the site. ENJOY!

[ The Jump ]

Hinode

Tetsuka Niiyama dropped a note in the suggestion bin with a link to some animation he created, “that depicts saltation and growth of life in the sea using jewelry as the motif for illustrating the theme ‘Jewels of Sea’”. It’s expertly done and über-chill...ENJOY!

[ HINODE ]

Caldera

“In states of delusion, my father has danced on the rings of Saturn, spoken with angels, and fled from his demons. He has lived both a fantastical and haunting life, but one that’s invisible to the most of us. In our differing understanding of reality, we blindly mandate his medication, assimilate him to our marginalizing culture, and entirely misinterpret him for all he is worth. CALDERA aims to not only venerate my father, but all brilliant minds forged in the haunted depths of psychosis.”

The attached runs over ten minutes in length, easily double (if not triple) most animated shorts I post here. As you probably gathered from the quote above, it tackles to pretty heavy subject matter and the extra time is used to full effect; CALDERA naturally blooms empathy as it steadily draws you in. It’s won a slew of awards and rightly so, each exquistely rendered moment – as directed/animated by Evan Viera and co-produced by bit films and Flicker Dreams Productions – is overflowing with visual touches that demand an immediate rewatch. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous stuff…ENJOY!

[ Caldera (2012) ]

infime

Dan Charbit (and the talented folks at Cut And Cook Studio) bring the WHOA.

Go watch Loom next.

[ infime ]

Kyonghwan Kim

'Stran' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)
'Stran' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)'Siflo' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)'Tor' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)'Liz' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)'DD' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)'Sicaf' by Kyonghwan Kim (http://www.tahraart.com/)

Kyonghwan Kim is a concept artist based in Korea with a portfolio that reminds me of both Yoshitaka Amano‘s muted, richly textured figurative illustrations and Miyazaki’s signature bright, cartoonish style. The six I’ve selected here are but an aperitif; check out Kim’s website for loads more. Enjoy!

[ KYONGHWAN KIM ]

Manners

Yes, please. I’m a sucker for wormholes and Jesse Kanda‘s geometric, seapunk(ish), refracted-and-ray-traced slow-dive for Arca‘s Manners is an excellent example of the form.

Serving instructions:

  1. Get the attached loaded in HD on your largest available screen and position your head close enough to it so that the majority of your field of vision is filled.
  2. Put your headphones on.
  3. Stare directly into the center of the screen and keep your eyes fixed that way for the duration of the video.
  4. Enjoy the magic that happens in your peripherins.

Cheers to Peter Verner for passing this along on Twitter. Thanks!

[ Arca - Manners (HD) ]

Ballpit

Kyle Mowat‘s thesis film, Ballpit, is a haunted toymaker’s fever-dream with its psychedelic tangle of fluid, soft-edged gizmos, trinkets, and doo-dads that spontaneously erupt into morphing, frenzied movement. The ethereal, echoing Fisher Price-instrument soundtrack by Lido Pimienta is a just-right accompaniment to the madness. ENJOY!

A big thanks to Mr. Sam Lillard, fresh back from his three-month Alaskan sojourn, for the suggestion. Welcome home Sam, we’ve missed you! Cheers!

[ BALLPIT ]

Giving Me A Chance

“You know I never want to let you down,
It cuts me up to see you sad.
And I wish that I could undo what I’ve done;
Give back the faith in me you had.”

Another day, another fantastic music video for a tune from Gotye’s Making Mirrors. This one’s packed with playful, surreal hand drawn visuals (directed/animated by Gina Thorstensen and Nacho Rodriguez with help from Giulia Bellunato) that do a great job fleshing out and exploring the themes of regret, longing, identity, forgiveness and hope presented in the song.

As alluded to above, we’ve posted loads of great music videos from Making Mirrors to the site that can be conveniently accessed via our Gotye feed. Happy browsing!

[ Gotye - Giving Me A Chance - official video ]

Metro

When I was a child I used to let my imagination run wild whenever I’d be in transit – whether by car or train or bus (I didn’t fly for the first time until college) – trying to picture any secret worlds that might exist parallel to our own. The subway was especially intriguing and, in between station stops, I’d envision all manner of underground dwellers who sat hidden just beyond the reach of the fluorescent light that streamed from the train’s windows as it sped by. The attached short film by Jake Wyatt explores similar territory and drips with an atmospheric mystery that holds your attention from start to finish.

The moody, ethereal, meandering George Winston-esque piano score compliments the visuals so well that I wondered if it was written specifically for the film or was one of the primary inspirations for its creation. Michael Wyatt is listed in the end credits as the composer and, since him and the director share a last name, I wouldn’t be surprised if both the film and it’s soundtrack were created in parallel. All-in-all, it’s very nice…don’t hesitate to dive in.

Oh and Jake is also a fantastic illustrator so definitely check out his Tumblr when you get a chance. (Primeape?! NICE.)

Last summer I got an email from someone claiming to be Pharrell Williams’ assistant. My initial thought was that I was getting trolled but I decided to respond anyways since I had been such a big fan of his since first discovering The Neptunes by way of N.O.R.E.‘s Superthug.

To my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be legit and a few weeks later I was on the phone with Pharrell himself asking if I’d be up for collaborating on something (an even pleasant-er surprise, for sure).

He had a new hush-hush project in the works called i am OTHER and thought The Tripatorium™ would fit in nicely with what they were up to. We’ve been kicking ideas back-and-forth since then and thought the logical place to start would be to put together some playlists of our favorite videos. Where it goes from here? Who knows…but if you’d like to see us do more together shoot i am OTHER a message on Facebook or Twitter and let them know. In the meantime, subscribe on YouTube to be the first to find out when our next collaboration goes live. (While you’re there, definitely check out Nardwuar’s interviews…they’re fantastic.)

The first playlist went up last night and is comprised of four videos that initially inspired the creation of the site (Zodiac Shit, The Parachute Ending, The Music Scene, Baby I’m Yours) and six other favorites that we think typify The Tripatorium™ experience (After the Rain, The Murf, Between Bears, Let Go, Baltimore Clap and Loom). It’s a distilled dose of what we’re up to and a perfect way to introduce the site to anyone who might be interested.

Cheers!

[ METRO ]

Save Me

“And you gave me love
When I could not love myself
And you made me turn
From the way I saw myself
And you’re patient, love
And you help me help myself
And you save me,
You save me, you save me…”

What a great fuckin’ song. Cheers to Peter Lowey for the fantastic visuals and to Gotye for explicating, via woven words and sounds, the transformative magic of love. Enjoy!

Click here for some moar Gotye goodness on The Tripatorium™.

[ Gotye - Save Me - official video ]

Lazuli

Beach House has a just-out-of-reach enigmatic quality to their music; I don’t ‘get’ what they’re trying to say but then I do…kinda. I’m OK with it – I’ve never needed meaning to be force-fed down my gullet (in fact, I prefer the opposite) – and their tunes often leave an aftertaste of mystery that never quite resolves.  In those moments the lack of lyrical clarity is preferable; it frees me to power-down the analytical modules of my brain and relax into the pure ethereal atmosphere of their instrumentation.

It’s rather nice, really.

Allen Cordell, who directed the attached, seems to get this too as he’s peppered the whole affair with oblique, mysterious visuals that fit together in style and tone but not much else. It’s bizarre in the best of ways, a fitting first course for a late-night, solitary sesh.

What are you waiting for? Get in there.

[ Beach House - Lazuli ]

Nature Regulate

“All emotions are disease, worn down like rotted teeth;
I run a hundred miles an hour, to try and get free.
But to stained dollars we obey, ease the military away.
What happened to making the most of it?
What if one life – one roll of the dice – is all you get?”

The visuals in this music video for Birdpen (by Pooya Abbasian) are, at first glance a bit random and disconnected which, if I’m honest, initially put me off. I was like, what’s this all about bro? But the song itself – with its earnest description of the anxiety-riddled self doubt that chaperones our search for significance – speaks to the indeterminate, ultimate open-ended-ness that flows beneath us as we grow up. In that light, something connected and I watched it a few times in quick succession. Maybe you’ll like it too?

Thanks for taking the time to send this in Pooya, cheers!

[ BIRDPEN-Nature Regulate ]

The Rifle’s Spiral

“Good night to these wretched forms; all them gray eyes on the subway.
So long before you were born you were always to be a dagger floating…
...straight to their heart.”

Jamie Caliri conjures up an ethereal, bizarre and magical gumbo of visuals (with stylistic nods to Edward Gorey and Tim Burton) in this excellent stop motion music video for The Shins. It’s a treat friends, don’t hesitate to dive in.

A big thanks goes to Benjamin for sending this our way…cheers!

[ The Shins - The Rifle's Spiral ]

Trichrome Blue

“Other companies may offer you paint, clothes, makeup, or any other range of objects to give you the experience of a color. A red convertible, blue wallpaper, yellow flowers, There are endless products to choose from. But at the end of the day, these are just objects, mere things. Trichrome can give you more…”

From the looks of it, Lois van Baarle intended this to be the first in a series of three films. There hasn’t been any new activity on the project in about two and a half years so I’m assuming she’s moved on. Bummer. The attached is a short, moody and ethereal sci-fi exploration into what types of products and services could soon be available in a future where technology continues to rapidly progress. Enjoy!

In addition to her animation chops Lois is also a fantastic illustrator whose work is definitely worth checking out.

[ Trichrome Blue ]

Weird Fishes

I was sick recently – the flu, I think – and the fever dreams that gripped me as I tossed and turned during my first attempt at sleep were truly bizarre. I would describe them as neither pleasant nor nightmarish but simply visions; strange, poignant and fleeting glimpses into another world. They were rooted in reality but wholly separate from it; vague narratives populated by people, concepts and places that I knew but presented in an entirely new context, overflowing with cryptic, I-can-almost-grasp-it-but-not-really messages.

The attached reminds me of those sweat-soaked, unsettling hallucinations so I thought it was only fitting to share it here on my webzone.

It was created by Tobias Stretch – who we’ve featured before – as an unofficial music video for a little group called Radiohead (have you heard of them?) whose tunes, for me at least, are always a bit perplexing so the pairing is just right. Enjoy the ride!

Cheers for sending this one in, Kelsey Guerra!

[ Weird Fishes by Radiohead ]

amalgamation

Micaël Reynaud, a webdesigner, animator, illustrator, photographer from Montpellier, created this animation with portraits from Michael Jang‘s Summer Weather series. The way the images blend, morph, evolve and interact with each other is deliriously hypnotic which, when combined the spacey, ambient synths of Memory Tapes, amplifies the vibe considerably. It’s gorgeous, trippy business friends so do yourself a favor and watch this in full-screen 1080p with a nice pair of headphones on. Enjoy!

Previously on The Tripatorium™: Yes I Know by Memory Tapes

[ amalgamation ]

The Lullaby

This time lapse video of Joe Fenton drawing is a bit deceiving; since the lighting remains consistent and his wardrobe only appears to change a few times you might think he completed The Lullaby in a matter of a few days.

It took two months.

As I was watching full-screen – the progress bar and UI conveniently hidden away – I kept thinking the video was about to end; how much more detail could he possibly add? What else was there left to do? Just graphite on Arches would have sufficed but Joe pushes it to some next-level shit when he busts out the airbrush, white gouache and muted water watercolors to further enhance its three-dimensionality.

The backing music by his brother, Julian, is a nice compliment to the visuals: mysterious, ethereal and subdued. Full screen and headphones, y’all.

To see see more of Joe’s work head on over to his Behance page or website.

[ The Lullaby - 2011 - By Joe Fenton ]

The Murf

A story about growing up in the universe.

Oh shit! This might be, no joke, my new favorite video on the site. Scott Benson (he did episode 8 of the Animation Tag Attack) crafted this gorgeously animated music video for UK-based progressive electronic act, Rendezvous who were rad enough to give him complete creative freedom. PRO TIP for bands/clients who will work with Scott in the future: do the same, the man knows how to make some engaging watchables.

The overall narrative of human evolution is built through a series of brief, tightly edited vignettes (some lasting only a few seconds) that each inject a new unique dimension to the story while simultaneously advancing the overarching theme of how religion, spirituality and technology have the power to amplify and/or diminish our inner animal nature. Each one is polished to a high-sheen and a delight to take in (especially the gorgeous ‘shines’, bursts and abstracted geometric particle effects); this is one of those videos you’ll re-watch immediately after it ends.

If your reading this post in a dark room with nothing to do tomorrow: great! Click full screen, grab your headphones and enjoy. If you’re at work or have other stuff to do then do yourself a favor and bookmark this or leave yourself a note to watch it when you have the time to really enjoy what Mr. Benson has created. Enjoy!

Oh, right! I almost forgot! If you’re into process then don’t miss this write up on Scott’s blog where he goes into detail behind his thinking and motivation behind how and why he created The Murf.

P.S. If you liked this (which of course you did), I think you’ll also enjoy Thursday.

[ Rendezvous - The Murf ]

The Tale Of Mr. Rêvus

“The challenge of this movie was to reproduce the entire production process of an animated 3D shortfilm by myself including story development, concept design, modeling, rigging, directing, editing, animating, rendering and finally compositing.”Marius Herzog

The Tale Of Mr. Rêvus was created almost entirely by Marius Herzog as his final graduation project from University Of Applied Sciences, Nuremberg. It’s stunningly fantastic stuff – just an all-around treat to experience – so set aside some time to give it your full attention. We’re especially fond of it’s excellent score which was penned by Simon Scharf and then performed by the Hochschule für Musik orchestra as conducted by Guido Johannes Rumstadt. If this is what Marius is capable of now, just imagine what he’ll be creating the future; needless to say, our expectations are justifiably high.

[ The Tale of Mr Revus (HD Movie) EPIC & Nominated 3d Movie ]

Alsatian Darn

“Found a way and I feel like I shouldn’t let go;
Drop a bomb on the spots where my doubt streams grow.
What to do when the things that I want don’t allow,
For the handful of mouths that I’m trying to feed.”

Ori Toor – the super talented dude behind Lion in a Comawrote in to let us know about another ‘unofficial’ video he just created for the fantastically ethereal Alsatian Darn by Panda Bear. It’s chock-full of abstract undulating organic shapes that serve as a wonderful soup to the tune’s dreamy, meandering sandwich. In other words: a multi-sensory feast for the eyes and ears. Make sure this shit’s not just full-screen but 1080p full screen. Grab your headphones, too.

We love what you’re up to, Ori; thanks so much for writing in! Oh, and a big thanks goes to one of our regular readers/contributors, Sam Lillard, who also suggested we check out this same video. Cheers!

[ Panda Bear - Alsatian Darn (unofficial video by Ori Toor) ]