What you see above is not a woman playing her cello to a bunch of pre-recorded tracks. What you're hearing is live. As the video demonstrates, she is controlling how her computer loops what she's playing with some software and a pedal board.
Almost miraculously, Zoë Keating has learned how to use some really cool tech to compose and perform entire songs by herself. And the result is absolutely gorgeous!
If you like what you hear, check out her website. zoekeating.com
]]>So... Avatar...
This is one of those movies that I have an extremely difficult time talking about, because there are essentially two aspects of the movie to talk about: The technical mastery on display in the film, and the story itself.
The story? Well, its a take it or leave it kind of thing for me. I am a huge fan of the universe James Cameron created. The world of Pandora feels fully realized. Creatures and plants make sense on this planet. But the story itself... well, it's a thinly-veiled Hollywood love story, with a tinge of environmentalism. Pretty standard stuff in Hollywood these days.
And then there's the technical side of things. Holy cow does this movie look amazing! The Na'vi characters all look astounding, and it's, by far, the best motion captured performances I've ever seen. The environments are bursting at the seems with life, and it's very easy to get wrapped up in what's happening on screen instead of how it's happening.
Which brings me to the other thing I wanted to say: 3D is not a fad. Right now it seems pretty much split down the middle, the number of people who either love 3D or hate it. Lots of people I know call it a fad or a gimmick.
I'm sorry to say it, but I think 3D is here to stay this time. Sure it came and went in the 1950's, but with Digital Projection and Polarization systems, 3D looks better, brighter, and more colorful than it ever has before. In fact, the only way 3D can get any better is if they find a way to recreate the effect without the glasses. (I know there are some prototype television sets that can supposedly do this, but I keep hearing their tech is ultimately flawed.)
Personally, after I've seen a film in 3D, I have a very difficult time going back and watching it again in 2D. I feel like there's a whole dimension to the film that I'm missing, mostly because, in fact, there is.
So there's a long, rambling collection of thoughts from my brain to yours. Again, no guarantee I'll be able to keep up the blogging, but, hey, I need to justify paying for a Squarespace account somehow! Oh yeah, and here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Avatar, for your trouble:
]]>Surprisingly, I'm not bitter about this fact.
And though my taste in music has improved greatly since I began exploring the world of "secular" music, there are still a few, choice, Christian albums that I listen to every now and then. I call them "guilty pleasures".
I am convinced that all Christians have certain old Christian albums they still pop in and enjoy from time to time. Albums that they know they would be ridiculed for listening to, were any of their music-snob friends to find out that they still do.
A couple of my "guilty pleasures" are Amy Grant's "Lead Me On" and DC Talk's "Free At Last".
What are some of yours? Go on, don't be shy. This is a safe place.
]]>There are very few directors who I would say have a distinctive style. One they can call their own. Tim Burton is one of those directors. Another is Wes Anderson.
Now, it seems, Anderson is taking his style and applying it to a stop-motion animated movie. Namely, Fantastic Mr. Fox. While the animation isn't quite as silky smooth as, Coraline, the other stop-motion animated movie that was released this year, Anderson's penchant for wide-angle lenses, profile shots, and quirky dialog is clearly evident in the trailer above.
I'm not sure if I'll walk away loving this movie, but it is now guaranteed at least one ticket sale from this moviegoer.
]]>What you see above is an example of why it's vital to bring bug spray on location shoots. I was sucessfully able to remove the flies that were buzzing around Jud Wilhite's head, but it was a tedious, frame-by-frame paint job. I don't wish it upon anyone.
]]>The video above represents nearly four weeks of my life. Overboard: The Story Of Jonah was a labor of love by Justin Jackson, Chris Sattel, and me. It coincides with the series that we're about to kick off at Central Christian Church down to the look that was originally created by our graphic designer, Paul Mudd.
I think it turned out pretty swell (if I do say so myself). What do you think?
Credits:
Writer, Storyboards, Sound Design, and Director - Justin Jackson
Storyboards, Artwork, Animator, Editor - David Tate
We're about to launch a new series at Central Christian Church called "Overboard: The Adventures Of Jonah (And A Really Big Fish)". And with said new series comes a new creative video go to with it. Since it is the summer and the number of projects decreases significantly, we decided to make a super-ambitious animated re-telling of the story of Jonah.
The project is nearing completion (after three and a half weeks of work) and to celebrate, I decided to share a time-lapse of the creation of two of the shots in the upcoming video. The video above represents 16 hours of my life presented in 2 minutes and 38 seconds.
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Click to visit mariomarathon.com
I don't know how much of a geek you are, but there are some blokes who've been playing Super Mario games all weekend for charity. I find there's something strangely compelling about watching people play Nintendo games. But the fact that these guys are doing it for charity (and that, at this particular point in time, they've raised over $15,775 for Child's Play) makes it extra awesome! Go check 'em out, and donate some money while you're at it!
]]>Conan's Twitter Tracker is probably the funniest thing they do on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien these days. That's not to say the rest of the show isn't brilliant, but there's something about the over-the-top VO guy and the ridiculous graphics that just gets me every time.
But don't take my word for it... Check the video out for yourself!
]]>Rock-afire Explosion is a band you've likely never heard of. That's probably because, technically, they don't exist. They were/are the robotic, in-house band of Showbiz Pizza, a precursor to today's Chuck-E-Cheese's.
The other day, my buddy Eric and I were sending each other YouTube links, and I stumbled upon some videos of old Chuck-E-Cheese and Rock-afire Explosion acts that I actually remembered from my childhood. Turns out there's an active community of people nostalgic for these robotic performances of old. I sent a link of one of these to Eric and he sent me the link you see above.
Yes, the video above is a custom performance for the robotic band set to the song "Electric Feel" by MGMT. Turns out the guy who originally produced the shows for Showbiz Pizza, Aaron Fechter, still has a soft spot in his heart for the robotic band, and frequently creates custom performances of current popular songs, as evidenced in these other videos.
As weird as it is seeing characters from my childhood performing moderns songs, it's not without it's charms. In fact, when MGMT found out Aaron Fechter was still producing custom performances for the band, they featured the characters in their official "Electric Feel" music video.