Citoplasmas

A friend of mine who's currently in a medical school in Poland has sent me this fun little clay animation from the Spanish studio Citoplasmas. Using the strength of claymation, this short tries to demonstrate the "terrible and funny consequences of a boring class" by deforming and defacing its clay characters. I really have to wonder if this is what that medical student friend of mine feels during all his classes?

我一個在波蘭讀醫學院的朋友寄給我了一個還蠻有趣的黏土動畫. 由西班牙的 Citoplasmas 製作, 這個動畫充分使用了黏土的特性, 盡情的把裡面各種黏土角色的臉弄得扭曲變形, 來表示大學裡有些課堂的無聊程度. 我好奇的是, 這動畫是不是反映出了那個醫學系朋友在課堂裡的心聲了呢?

Thanks, Dallas!

Carousel

Stink Digital has created this epic promo for Philips' Cinema 21:9 HDTV. The pitch is to create something so cinematic, that it can match with Hollywood's best theatric experience, and they did just that. The spot depicts a a single, frozen moment in the midst of a battle between the cops and the robbers, through a single camera that moves across the entire scene, Matrix style. The reason why this is titled "Carousel" is because, like an actual carousel, its end connects seamlessly with its beginning, and can be played in an endless loop.

Stink Digital 為飛利浦最新的電視 Cinema 21:9 做了一個宣傳廣告. 客戶的要求是, 製作一個可以和好萊塢動作片相競的戲劇性體驗, 而 Stink Digital 也的確辦到了. 這影片秀出了警察和帶著小丑面具的強盜對持的一瞬間. 攝影機在這時間被凍結的場景裡四處穿梭, 感覺很像駭客任務的拍攝手法. 這影片名叫 "Carousel" (旋轉木馬) 的原因是它也是在自我循環. 短片結尾就是它的開頭, 跟一個旋轉木馬一樣, 可以不停的, 無間隙的重複播放.

Carbon Footprint

Jellyfish Pictures has made this haunting commercial for Discovery called "Carbon Footprint" to promote environmental awareness and the importance of recycling. The spot shows a time-lapse footage of a can slowly deteriorating and eventually breaking apart, with a message at the end that reads "It takes a second for you to recycle a can. It takes 50 years for a can to recycle itself." Quite a simple yet powerful idea that conveys its message clearly.

Jellyfish Pictures 為 Discovery 製作了一個名叫 "Carbon Footprint" (碳足跡) 的廣告, 為了宣傳環保及資源回收的重要性. 廣告以加速快轉影片的方式呈現, 秀出一個鋁罐, 在時間的流逝下, 慢慢的生鏽腐爛, 直到消失. 影片最後寫 "回收一個罐子只需要你一秒, 要罐子回收自己則需要50年." 真的是一個簡單卻又強烈的訊息啊.

The Lady And The Reaper

There is one other animation that I really like on the Oscar nominated shorts this year, and that's "The Lady and the Reaper" by the Spanish team Kandor Moon. Even though it's dealing with the theme of death, (why do I see so many shorts like that these days?) the animation is really fast-paced, fun and humorous. Especially when everything just gets so weird and surreal near the end. Click here to check out the concept art and character designs.

這次的奧斯卡最佳動畫短片提名裡另一個讓我覺得很有趣的動畫是由西班牙來的 Kandor Moon 所製作的 "The Lady and the Reaper" (婦人與死神). 雖然這是有關死亡的故事, (怎麼最近常常看到這種短片?) 不過卻相當的幽默搞笑, 步調輕快. 尤其是在結尾時, 故事變的越來越瘋狂, 越來越有想像力. 按這裡看它的草圖和角色設計.

Slo-Mo Surfing

BBC has shot this super slow motion HD footage of a surfer in some huge waves. Seeing the motion of the water and how the surfer glides through them is absolutely stunning. I feel like certain things always look more beautiful and dramatic in slo-mo. (remember the bullets and the fire?) If your connection speed is fast enough, I highly suggest you turn it on to 1080p HD and watch it in full screen.

BBC (英國最大的新聞電台) 拍了一個超慢速的 HD 衝浪影片. 這些水流優雅的變化, 以及衝浪手輕鬆的滑越過由水形成的通道那瞬間真的很驚艷又美麗. 我覺得有些事物以超慢速播出感覺真的比較優美, 有戲劇性, 會讓你發現平常不會看到的事. (還記得子彈跟火焰的影片嗎?) 如果你網路夠快的話, 我建議你把影片調成1080p HD 高畫質, 並以全螢幕欣賞.

Greedy Boy

"Greedy Boy" is a graduate project by Flew that is quite similar to my previous post "Moonboy", except the main character here may not be as sympathetic as the other one. The story is quite simple, described in one line by the creator as "A boy eats everything he can and doesn't know when to stop." The ending of this short can be a little shocking and may gross some of you out, so don't say I didn't warn you!

之前介紹了 "Moonboy" (月亮男孩), 那今天就介紹一下"Greedy Boy" (貪婪男孩) 吧. 兩部短片感覺相當類似, 但是這片的主角可沒那麼令人同情. 作者 Flew 就說了, "這是個有關一名什麼都要吃掉, 不知何時停止的男孩." 看到他張開的血盆大口也是不難想像. 結局有點驚人加噁心, 所以要看的人請有自知.

Guerre Naïve

Although it is probably a bit too late, but I still want to wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year! For this reason, I'm posting this short inspired by the mask-wearing children on the streets in China during the new years, called "Guerre Naïve", which translates to "Naive War". Made by the students in the world-famous French animation school Supinfocom, this short is very stylized: sometimes giving the look of paper-cut stop motion, other times it looks like live-action or video game footage.

雖然有點晚了, 但是我還是要跟大家說一聲, 新年快樂! 虎年行大運! 因為這原因, 我打算介紹這個短片 "Guerre Naïve". (幼稚的戰爭) 話說這是由在新年的時候, 在中國街道上帶著面具玩耍的孩子們身上所取得靈感的. 由世界知名的法國動畫學院 Supinfocom 裡的學生製作, 這短片可說是十分有自己的風格: 有時候感覺像是用紙做出來的逐格動畫, 有時後又有點像真實影片, 又有時候則像是電玩畫面, 相當有趣.