Posts tagged 'Science Fiction'

Rick & Morty

“I do for sure. I don’t like going places and sitting around for twenty hours waiting for them to reset a shot. I made the conscious decision a long time ago: I’m done with live action. ‘Cause I can just sit in my agoraphobic darkened room and create worlds, and now I’m doing it with a bunch of awesome, talented animators and designers and we can go anywhere we want. Anywhere…more – Justin Roiland in response to the question Do you find writing for animation more creatively liberating than, say, writing live action?

Last year, after reading that Dan Harmon would no longer be the showrunner for Community, I got super bummed-out. My love for the show is well documented and to confront the reality that it would no longer be nurtured with nutrients from its central, creative teat was pretty depressing.

A few weeks before Sony axed Mr. Harmon, adultswim announced it had picked up a pilot of an animated show he co-created with Justin Roiland (who you probably know best as the voice of Lemongrab on Adventure Time) and I distinctly remember feeling giddy at the news. Community, in many ways, already felt like an animated show – with its insane, truly far-out plotlines and laser-focused visual execution – and I figured that without any need for cameras, Dan Harmons creative vision could flow out, unencumered.

I’m happy to report that Rick & Morty is as bizarre as I had hoped it would be. Attached above is the second third episode (you can watch the first two at adultswim) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Cheers!

[ Rick and Morty: Watch "Anatomy Park" now ]

Delta

CRCR – with help from the talented crew at WIZZ – turn out yet-another winner, this time for French turntablist collective C2C. ENJOY!

For more CRCR-created goodness just follow this hyperlink.

[ C2C - Delta (official Video) ]

Golem

“In this endless freedom of thought you found no answers to these basic matters of human being, only a myriad choice of ideas lost in a deep dark hole of uncertainty.”

My first thought after watching the attached was, ‘this could have easily been in The Animatrix,’ so prep yourself for some late-night, cerebral, sci-fi shit. It was inspired by GOLEM XIV, a short story by Stanislaw Lew, and its visuals, atmospheric soundtrack and cold, sterile narration all pay proper homage to the deep, apprehensive spirit of his writings.

Co-directors Patrick Mccue and Tobias Wiesner said that their creative intention for the film was to inspire others to, ‘face [their] own process in this world with reflection and self responsibility, to stay curious and create, look for new ideas and stay keen,’ so get your mind shifted into the proper gear for maximum absorption.

For me, that means full-screen-in-a-dark-room with a nice pair of headphones on.

A big thanks to Dave Hughes – the man behind [adult swim]‘s deliciously bizarre Off The Air – for sending this one our way. Cheers, Dave!

[ GOLEM ]

Midnight City

This music video was put together by some of our favorite creatives: Fleur & Manu (No Brain) provided the decidedly Spielberg-ian direction, DIVISION Paris (No Brain, On’n'on) handled production and Machine Molle (The Greeks, Sur Le Quai, Goin’in) delivered the visual effects.

I’m a big fan of M83‘s lush, layered, shoegaze-but-synth-heavy sound and the dream-team listed above delivers some enigmatic, atmospheric visuals that serve as a pitch-perfect accompaniment.

Truth be told, we first saw this back in October when one of our regular contributors, Sam Lillard, dropped it in our inbox. We liked it then, too! So much so that we filed it in our ‘_POST NOW BRAH_’ folder which, in light of today’s latent response time, should probably be renamed. Anyways, we decided to finally get this up on the site when we saw that its sequel, Reunion, was recently released. It’s just as great as the attached so, when you’re done here, definitely give it a watch next. Enjoy!

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for No Brain‘s brief cameo at 0:27.

[ M83 | Midnight City ]

SyncBody

Lights down, full-screen and the volume way up. Strap in and enjoy the latest (seventh) installment in the excellent BRDG series from +MUS.

Choons by Yaporigami; visuals by Daihei Shibata + Hiroshi Sato.

[ [BRDG007] PLMS_IV_D (SyncBody) ]

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 ]

Future Girl

Whoa.

No idea who made this so if anyone knows hit us up and we’ll update the post so credit is given where it’s due. Found via Peter Berkman’s fantastic tumblr.

[ Cyber Girl (GIF) via FMTOWNSMARTY > PEEEETER BERRRKMAN ]

Davyd

I first saw A.I. at the movies in the summer of 2001. I distinctly remember enjoying it. I haven’t watched the film since but in the past 10 years I’ve heard people talk about how they didn’t really like it. Not that it was bad, mind you, but just that it didn’t knock their socks off; overall just not especially memorable, you know?

I’m trying to remember the plot points now and, honestly, am having a difficult time. There’s that kid from Sixth Sense and he’s a robot but he’s unhappy, right? Does he want to be a ‘real boy’ or something? I feel like there’s definitely some Pinocchio similarities or some shit.

Anyways, what I do remember are the visuals. I was always into watching stuff from a young age but 2001 was towards the beginning of when I started to set aside time to appreciate culture. When I realized art isn’t just Vivaldi or Rembrandt (though they both most certainly are); that it’s anything people create that inspires them; that the things I love – movies, music videos, electronic music, video games etc. – are worth admiring and paying attention to.

Oh right, about that: the visuals! Just rich, colorful and all ‘glow-y’. Great costumes, make-up and set design too. Spielberg is a wizard at atmosphere. Speaking of which, that’s why I’m diggin’ hard on this, the latest from our good pal Pogo. He leverages all the little visually-rich moments that stand out, mining them of their audio and then reassembling it back together again, creating an entirely unique experience. It’s all mood and feeling and I fucking love it. So much so that I’m going to give the movie another go in the coming weeks and then starting disseminating my thoughts in 140-character increments over on Twitter. Do you have an account there? Wanna talk about movies or something?

Oh and just wait til 2:01 when the Jude Law melody kicks in. Nice.

Lights down, volume up and enjoy!

[ Davyd (A.I. Mashup) ]

Change

“How will I ever change, if I am willing to just stay the same?
And if I make a change when will it feel like I’m not just the same?”

Yes, please. Mellow dub grooves of CHLLNGR? Check. Operatic psychedelia-laced abstract sci-fi fantasy visuals (as directed by Chad Turner and Ryan Todd) that leave a pleasing 2001-esque aftertaste on one’s spiritual palette? Check. Turn down the lights, load the bits full screen, turn up the volume and get comfortable; I watched this three times in rapid succession and odds are you might, too.

Special mentions are due to Mike Rodriguez, Efrain Luna and Laura Southard who, along with Chad, did a fantastic job on the animation: top-flight work, y’all.

[ CHLLNGR - Change ]

Song of Los

A robot is born, escapes, learns love and dies. This is the story of her memories.

Some fantastic work from Saman Keshavarz, a young director with a talent for teasing out surprisingly intricate narratives in the music videos he creates. You’ve probably seen the one he did for Cinnamon Chasers (it won best music video at SXSW 2010) and the attached is further proof of his instinctual understanding for the cinematic qualities inherent in good electronic music. Saman utilizes a style of quick, thoughtful cuts to establish the story while leveraging the emotional cues provided by the music (we loves us some Apparat) and some fantastic art direction to further draw you in.

We’re diggin’ it. Enjoy!

[ Apparat - Song of Los (Director's Cut) ]

Meteorites

“I don’t know where your from but I know you’ve come far. Look at your eyes: they’re meteorites.”

Hospital Records has been a reliable source for high quality electronic music for the past decade-and-a-half, consistently powered by their deep stable of talent like London Elektricity (featured in this video) and High Contrast (my personal favorite) whose uplifting, harmonic and driving production style has earned him a dedicated playlist on whatever portable music player is currently powering my headphones. The videos they release are of similar quality: well produced, original and fitting visual accompaniments to the songs they represent. ‘Meteorites’ takes you on a colorful high-definition journey through space, peppered with numerous references to sci-fi properties that are near and dear to both Tony Colman and Chris Goss (Hospital’s founders).

I don’t know who’s responsible for the visuals but if you do then please drop us a line and we’ll update this post to give the proper credit where it’s due. In the meantime: click full screen, make sure HD is on and grab your headphones for a journey through the stars. Enjoy!

A big thanks goes to Lieutenant TD for the heads up! Cheers!

[ London Elektricity - Meteorites ]

All is Full of Love

This Chris Cunningham directed video for Björk‘s 1999 single, ‘All is Full of Love’ has, “won multiple awards, including two MTV Video Music Awards for Breakthrough Video and Best Special Effects. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video (it lost to Korn’s “Freak on a Leash”). It is on permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York…read more After giving it a watch you’ll see what all the fuss is about.

A big thanks goes to Aaron Smith for sending it in – cheers, sir!

[ Björk - All is Full of Love (HD 720P) ]

Digital w/ Dan Luvisi

Digital artist Dan Luvisi combines many of my favorite things in his artwork: robots, comic books, dinosaurs, sharks, jets shaped like sharks…I could go on and on. His coloring and shading is top notch, and his original characters stand out in a very unique way. it appears Dan is currently working on his own graphic novel titled “Last Man Standing: Killbook of a Bounty Hunter”. Right now he’s mainly working on developing characters, but I am VERY excited to see where this thing goes.

[ adonihs on deviantART ]

Blast Off

Great Science Fiction By Scientists

After some quick sleuthing with Google Goggles I discovered that the origin of this fantastic illustration was as the cover of ‘Great Science Fiction by Scientists’.

[ fukung: Blast Off ]

Codehunters

Codehunters was broadcast as both a standalone short film and as branding for the MTV Asia Music Video Awards by Ben Hibon and super-talented crew over at Axis Animation. It’s one of my all-time favorite animated shorts and won the Golden Nica for Computer Animation/Visual Effects in 2007. Enjoy!

[ Codehunters ]

Straight up Wallin

Generation Kill by Andree Wallin
Generation Kill by Andree WallinWanna Play by Andree WallinRobots Inc. by Andree WallinMobilize by Andree WallinDuel by Andree WallinWar Cry by Andree Wallin

Why, oh why, couldn’t I have been born with the gift to be a terrific illustrator? Instead, I am forced to search the interwebs for artists such as Andree Wallin. Wallin uses just the right blend of traditional illustration and oil painting with digital retouching for my tastes. Plus, his works include a lot of robots, demons, and general sci-fi carnage, plus a few landscapes for good measure. Something for everyone! Full gallery at the link below.

[ andreewallin's deviantART gallery ]