Posts tagged 'Ocean'

Against Time

I possess a near-superhuman ability to ignore everything that resides outside the scope of whatever infatuation currently occupies my mind grapes. This is an amazing trait to have if your day job is to dictate, in exhausting detail, exactly what a computer should do but becomes a burden when nearly everyone you care about wonders why your focus is eternally elsewhere. I, like the protagonist in the attached, would do just fine in a post-apocalyptic lonerverse as long as I had something to focus my obsessive attention on.

In my pre-dad anxiety I told a good friend, in near tears, that I was terrified of being a bad father. His response was, “As long as you want to be one, you will.” Essentially, if that voice is consistenly in your quivver of instincts all that’s needed is to listen (and act on) what it tells you.

In the past year and a half I’ve found myself in many similar moments – though certainly less extreme – to the one that takes place at 4:24: typing away, figuring shit out and riding high on the supremely satisfying buzz that accompanies the Sacred Act of Making Shit™ only to be unexpectedly interrupted. Writing an application is like building a house of cards; you know, before writing a single line of code, what the final functional outcome will be but the act of actually constructing it takes a long stretch of continuous concentration.

When a toddler wants your attention it is near-impossible to do anything else. Either you are present or you are not; as someone who has been both a child and an adult I’m all-too-aware that there’s no in-between. But attention can be deflected and, in the moments when I’d rather be absorbed in me, my natural tendency is to hand her my phone (or some other suitable distraction) instead of seizing the opportunity to revel in the peculiar magic that accompanies interacting with another human life.

Luckily, that’s typically when the ‘be a good dad’ voice rises up and – even though my preliminary, lazy and selfish instincts often wish it would shut up – I force myself to listen.

It’s graduation film season and Jérémi Boutelet, Thibaud Clergue, Tristan Ménard, Camille Perrin, Gaël Megherbi and Lucas Veber of Supinfocom Arles have set a high standard for any shorts to come. Special mentions are due to both Nathan Blais & Sylvain Livenais (of Spectral Approche) for the killer sound design; headphones are a must.

ENJOY!

P.S. Our Supinfocom feed is pretty rad.

[ Contre temps ]

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) ]

Belly

“I think you should go. I don’t want you here.”

File under: LOLWAT

Cheers to Mickey Gral for sending this potent dose of bizarre by Julia Pott our way. Enjoy!

[ Belly ]

Perpetual Ocean

“This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience…read more on nasa.gov

Know what’s a bummer? Military spending is on the rise while NASA funding has been on a steady decline since 1992. A big thanks is due to Erica for sending this in to remind us that they’re still doing great things and our boy Neil for some much needed perspective.

Click here to see moar NASA radness on The Tripatorium™.

[ Perpetual Ocean by NASA ]

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 ]

‘Sup

Whoa.

[ Best pic I ever found here. ]

The Lighthouse Keeper

Another fantastic, oozing-with-style animated short from the talented students at Gobelins. This particular gem – by David François, Rony Hotin, Jérémie Moreau, Baptiste Rogron, Gaëlle Thierry and Maïlys Vallade with music from Romain Gauthier – about a lighthouse keeper who is unexpectedly awoken in the middle of the night was created in 2009 and won the ‘Best Graduation Film’ in 2010 at Annecy. Watch and see why. Enjoy!

[ Le phare ]

Datamosh

“Now that television transmissions have gone completely digital you have probably seen this effect before.  You’re watching TV and then suddenly the image freezes.  Then, instead of glitching back to the next shot, its as if the next shot appears to be wearing the information from the previous shot.  It’s a surreal effect that can be hard to explain.”

Don Whitaker (of Squircle Zoom fame) wrote in to tell us about a video mashup technique called ‘datamoshing’ that, “uses video compression artifacts as a composition tool”. If you’re interested in trying it for yourself be sure to check out this three part tutorial that utilizes free, readily-available-on-the-internets software.

The attached music video – for the tune Mande Burung by Odelia – was created by Charlie Visnic and is an excellent application of the technique. Mind-bending, mellow and trip-tastic – enjoy!

Thanks for the heads-up, Don!

[ Mande Burung by Odelia via The B-Roll ]

Argyle The Octopus

“Argyle The Octopus lived in the sea, his skin was different than you and me…”

Today’s timeless life lesson comes courtesy of the always-excellent, Yo Gabba Gabba. It was made for kids but I think it should be mandatory viewing for adults, too. Illustrations by Colt Bowden, animation by Keri Rainock and adorable narration via Ollie Schultz (‘udder’ ftw). A big thanks goes to Lori for posting a Yo Gabba Gabba video to our Facebook wall – we watched it, loved it and then saw this in the sidebar which is what led to this very post. Ahhhhh, internet.

[ Colt Bowden - Argyle The Octopus - Yo Gabba Gabba ]

Nightlife in Tulamben

Alex of Global Dive Media shot this gorgeous underwater footage at Tulamben in north eastern Bali. The backing music by Tom La Meche adds a peaceful and contemplative atmosphere to the proceedings so why not dim the lights and relax for a while?

[ Nightlife in Tulamben ]

The Lynx Nudibranch

“The lynx nudibranch only dines upon hydroids, and is especially fond of Myrionema amboinense. In the video we observe the lynx nudibranch on the hunt. With sight limited to only the detection of light and dark, the nudibranch relies on touch and ‘smell’ to detect its surroundings. By sweeping its two oral tentacles open wide as it moves, it maximizes its likelihood of coming into contact with a hydroid. When they touch, the nudibranch reacts abruptly from the hydroid’s sting. Once the hydroid has been detected, the nudibranch is challenged with the task of eating it…continue reading

A huge thanks to MORPHOLOGIC for this fascinating look into the delicate ecosystem that exists on the shell of an oyster.  Check out their Vimeo page for lots more HD underwater vignettes.

[ The Lynx Nudibranch ]

On Melancholy Hill

You can’t go wrong with Gorillaz...this video is top-notch.  If you haven’t listened to Plastic Beach yet you really need to make a point to check it out…it’s fantastic.

Sit back, relax, dim the lights and keep your eyes peeled for the Snoop Dogg cameo.

[ Gorillaz 'On Melancholy Hill' ]

Giant Octopus Cake

'Giant Octopus Cake' by

This two-hundred pound confectionery creation was expertly crafted by The Highland Bakery.

[ Giant Octopus Cake ]

Jellyfish

What’s better than watching peaceful hypnotic high-definition footage of jellyfish you ask? Watching peaceful, hypnotic high-definition footage of jellyfish expertly edited and set to a tune by Tycho.  Thanks for putting this together and sharing it with the world, Anthony...cheers!

[ Jellyfish ]

Life As A Fish

So while the federal buildings blow, below, fish glow
How lovely that must be
You should-a listened to Jacques Costeau, don’t say, you know
Stop sending your trash to sea…

From No-one Ever Really Dies’ new album ‘Nothing’.  The music video for ‘Life As A Fish’ was shot and directed by Doug Spangenberg.  Let’s all agree to stop being crappy to the environment, ok?

[ N.E.R.D. - Life As A Fish via Devour ]

Underwater Art

Step one: Create life-like sculptures of human beings. Step two: submerge those sculptures in ocean water. Step three: watch nature do it’s work.

All in a day’s work for Jason de Caires Taylor

[ Drowning Beautiful ]

Swimming with sperm whales

Eric Echeng swims with sperm whales in Dominica

Eric Echeng gets up close and personal with sperm whales.  See more incredible shots in this Flickr slideshow.  To read about why people call Eric the whale whisperer check out this article on grindtv.com.

“Once I’m in the water I try to reach them acoustically by making this noise in the water, and it’s the same noise all the time so they know it’s me,” he says. “So I’m talking to them all the time in the water, and they start coming.”

[ Sperm whales in Dominica ]

A real-life Pokémon

eastern emerald elysia (elysia chlorotica)

Meet the eastern emerald elysia (elysia chlorotica) a sea slug that gains some of it’s energy via photosynthesis from chloroplasts, genes and cell-parts it has integrated into it’s body from the algae it routinely dines on. It’s a water and grass type!  Read more about this fascinating creature on the mother nature network.

FUN FACT: If you live near salt marshes in New England or Canada you could go and catch one yourself.  If you keep it in an aquarium that has light shining on it for 12 or more hours a day you’ll never have to feed it.

[ Bizarre sea slug is half plant, half animal ]