Toolfarm Inspirations

JESS3 / The State of the internet

3/02/2010 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I just find this sort of data really interesting. I'm a bit of a data geek. Also, this makes me feel completely insignificant. I am one of 1.7 billion, and so are you.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

Labels: 2D, Documentary, Flash, Infographic, Technology, Typography

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Widescreen vs. Pan & Scan

9/30/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Via Oscar Dante

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Did you know? 4.0 Shift Happens

9/21/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I love these videos. So full of great information, flying at you a million miles per minute. The info graphics are lots of fun and it's one you'll want to watch a couple of times. Be sure to watch the HD.

Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura Bestler. Design and development by XPLANE, http://www.xplane.com.

Labels: Documentary, Film Short, Typography

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration

9/11/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This video was made for classroom use, I'm thinking for a 5th grade class. It's a nice collection of clips. Here's the rundown:

1900 - The Enchanted Drawing
1903 - The Great Train Robbery
1923 - The Ten Commandments (Silent)
1927 - Sunrise
1933 - King Kong
1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - The Thief of Baghdad
1954 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1956 - Forbidden Planet
1963 - Jason and the Argonauts
1964 - Mary Poppins
1977 - Star Wars
1982 - Tron
1985 - Back to the Future
1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 - The Abyss
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1992 - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1993 - Jurassic Park
2004 - Spider-Man 2
2005 - King Kong
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007 - The Golden Compass
2008 - The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Labels: Documentary, Film

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country

8/04/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A documentary about Burmese people and the Buddhist monks that lead a massive uprising in 2007. A group of undercover reporters struggle to capture those moments under constant threat of torture and being shot.

Although it may not be revolutionary in a graphical or stylistic way, it certainly is revolutionary in that it was footage that was captured via small handheld cameras and smuggled out of a closed country, and then piped back into the country via satellite to counter the government approved fare - a testament to how technology is changing the reporting landscape. This was the only available footage of the protests as foreign journalists were not allowed, and internet access was completely blocked for a time.

I felt very lucky to been able to see the brave director speak about his film in person at the Michigan Traverse City Film Festival. Unfortunately many of the camera operators are still in prison or perhaps worse. Website and more information.

Labels: Documentary, Film, Website

Posted by Alicia VanHeulen

Hellmann's short film (Eat Real. Eat Local)

7/06/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A gorgeous infographic piece on eating local.

Hellmann's short film (Eat Real. Eat Local) from Yoho Yue on Vimeo.

Labels: 3D, Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Moray McLaren - We Got Time (plus Making of...)

4/27/2009 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This one has popped up over and over on Twitter yesterday. All effects were done in-camera.

I found the Making of video even more entertaining than the actual music video. Here it is.

Labels: Documentary, Music Video

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Behind The Scenes: The Spirit

12/29/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

From Indy Mogul:

Labels: Documentary, Film

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene

8/19/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I swear I put this up a year ago but as a YouTube video... something very similar anyway. This is incredibly cool technology!

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.

Labels: Documentary, Technology

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Documentary on Pablo Ferro, Title Designer

8/17/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Pablo Ferro created hundreds of titles and designs that you've seen throughout your life. Who is he?

And here is a sample reel of some of his work:

Labels: Documentary, Retro

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

I Met The Walrus

6/05/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Animated by Josh Raskin, illustrations by James Braithwaite. An interview with John Lennon from John and Yoko's Bed-In in 1969. The animation is really clever.

Here's a wonderful film we sneaked in at the end of BUG 07 that I think withstood the crappy sound. It's called 'I Met The Walrus' and although it isn't strictly a music video it features the words of John Lennon and it's amazing so we hoped no one would object to us including it. The story behind it is that in 1969 when John and Yoko were in Toronto as part of their bed-in for peace tour, a 14 year old Beatles fan with a tape recorder called Jerry Levitan knocked on every door of the hotel where he knew Lennon was staying until he found him at which point Lennon was good enough to give him a 40 minute interview. The tape of the interview gathered dust for around 35 years until Jerry Levitan met a young animator called Josh Raskin whose work impressed him sufficiently for him to allow Josh to make a film to accompany an edited section of this Lennon tape. The result was nominated for an Oscar this year but remarkably few people seen it. Enjoy.

Hey, wait... I thought the Walrus was Paul? (Glass Onion - okay, I'm a Beatle geek, now you know).

Via Create Digital Motion

Labels: 2D, Documentary, Experimental

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

The Wishing Well by Rod Maxwell - Behind the Scenes

4/30/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

The Wishing Well is a short experimental one-man film by artist and actor Rod Maxwell. He shot the entire film by himself in his livingroom in a small 4'x4' homemade greenscreen. He did EVERYTHING including the script, directing acting, makeup, prosthetics, efffects. The video below is a trailer for the film and a 'Behind the scenes' video. The film has one several awards, too.... just check out the bottom of his website! It's really damn impressive. I was impressed.

Thanks to Diannah Morgan for posting it to the AE List.

Labels: 3D, Documentary, Film Short, Movie Trailer

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

The Star Wars Computer Animation

4/26/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This was posted by Pete Kirn at Create Digital Motion. This kind of stuff fascinates me. Enjoy.

Labels: Documentary, Retro

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

The Culmination of Consumptionism by Natsuki Kato

4/22/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

In honor of Earth Day, I bring you The Culmination of Consumptionism. Natsuki Kato is my former student and created this clever animation about plastic bags. I did bring my own bag to the grocery store this morning, as well as my own mug to snatch a free cup of coffee (no foam!).

Okay, back to the video... The V.O is by AJ Hamilton. Music: Lucas Schurkamp. Natsuki says "I got this idea from what my little sister Jenelle told me in a grocery store: 'I won't take any plastic bags so that I can save polar bears.' I am excited to see how far the message of the green organization at a high school in Bay City will go. My friend, A.J. did such a great job with the voice over by adding his humor based on a lot of info that I gave from my research."

Check out Natsuki's other work at her web site.

Labels: Documentary, Film Short, Student Work

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Web 2.0 - The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version) and the response

2/29/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

The first, Web 2.0 - The Machine is Us/ing Us, really makes me want to redo Toolfarm in XML. Boy that would save time!

Here is the response to the video: Health 2.0 Version 2 response to The Machine is Us/ing Us. They're similar in style but different in content (obviously), so is it really a response? I don't think so. Its an interesting video none the less.

Labels: Documentary, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

A History of Evil by Ole-Magnus Saxegard

2/28/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This is "Animated Documentary-Mockumentary about Evil in western civilization from Ancient Greece to present day." It was animated frame by frame in Flash and composited and textured in After Effects. It was designed and animated by Ole-Magnus Saxegard as a student project. It is lots of fun. I really thought it would end with Dick Cheney ;-)

Labels: 2D, Documentary, Film Short, Humor, Student Work

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Broadcast Standards

2/17/2008 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

I thought you all would appreciate this. It's a short documentary on the difference between professional video standards for television and standardless anarchy known as the web. This was done for the Independent Film Channel and is pretty funny.

Labels: Documentary, Humor

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Adobe's Magical 3D Lens

2/14/2008 • Permalink • 3 Comments •

This is just cool.... and now the right video is up here. Sorry about that. I've had the flu and this cold medicine is fogging my brain.

Via Flowseeker

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

'Seam carving' photo resizing now for video

12/04/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

'Seam carving' photo resizing now for video shows an incredible new technology for making photos larger. You just have to see it to believe it. I can't imagine the complex algorithms that went into that one.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

The Inner Life of a Cell

10/24/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Beautiful animation of cells. Fascinating. No idea what it is exactly, but its gorgeous. This was made by Biovisions at Harvard University.

There's a larger, cleaner-than-YouTube version at Studio Daily.

Labels: 3D, Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Cosmic Zoom

10/12/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Take a trip from Venice, Italy to the far reaches of space. Yes we're very small. Take 10 steps from St. Marks Cathedral (well if they're Power of 10 steps) and you're looking at the universe.

Via Axiom Sun

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Loading.Ready.Run. - Halo: The Future of Gaming

9/22/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This is kind of funny. I admit, I've never played Halo. I'm not a gamer. I used to kick major ass at Q*Bert and Tetris on Nintendo. I'm a bit old school when it comes to gaming.

This faux documentary of Halo taking over the world uses a lot of bad video effects. I was hoping in the future, we would no longer have bad video. Hehe.

Labels: Documentary, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Voila! Create Your Own Furniture Out of Thin Air

9/18/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Okay, so this isn't exactly video effects, but it sure looks like it. This is really amazing technology.

Read the WIRED article about the process

And thanks, Jim G., for the link.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Imagining the Tenth Dimension

9/16/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

A nice animated explanation by Rob Bryanton of a very complex theory.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Content Aware Image Resizing

8/27/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

The rescaling and removal tools are mindblowing. I wonder if Adobe will buy this technology and incorporate it into future versions of Photoshop? One can wish.

Labels: Documentary, Experimental

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Designer//Slash//Model

6/13/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

"Design can change the world. You just need the right plug-in." That is Toolfarm's mantra! I guess it's catching on. Awesome.

You've probably seen Designer//Slash//Model by now. It's been on several blogs and list-servs. I'm hopping on the bandwagon a little late. It's very clever and very well done and contains some very hunky men and some lovely ladies. It's a mock documentary about a group of models who are also artists and they talk about their craft. Do they create beauty because they're beautiful or are they beautiful because they create beauty? Haha.

Make sure you check out the whole site. The behind the scenes of Chaz are especially funny with some nice Photoshop work at the end.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Photosynth demo

6/08/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This is some amazing new technology from Microsoft that will connect images from around the web to create multidimensional images that you can zoom in and out to unbeliable closeups and detail. You have to watch the video to really understand what that means. It's impressive stuff.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene

5/31/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This is freakin' amazing stuff. The future of visual effects if you will. This just makes it all look so easy. Color me impressed. The website of the project is Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene

The work presents a system for automatically producing a wide variety of video enhancements and visual effects. Unlike traditional visual effects software (e.g., After Effects, Shake, Boujou, etc), the system is completely automatic and no manual labor is required from the user. The major limitation of the work is that it can currently handle only videos of static scenes (i.e., videos shot with a moving camera but containing no moving objects in the scene). Efforts are being made to lift this restriction in future work.

Applications of the system include:
High resolution/definition video,
High dynamic range video,
Removing objects from a video,
Creating painterly (NPR) videos,
Video stabilization,
Easy video editing

Via Flowseeker

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Floris: Metalosis Maligna by Microbia

4/10/2007 • Permalink • 1 Comments •

Floris: Metalosis Maligna, which came out last year, is a scary documentary slash short film about medical implants gone crazy. There's lots of cool 3D and some stellar compositing and tracking work. The man with the metalosis maligna, with his body being replaced by "metal tissue" and the stop motion portions are really impressive. Wow. I'm blown away.

The Dutch duo called Microbia, Floris Kaayk and Sil van der Woerd, produced this amazing piece.

Labels: 3D, Documentary, Experimental, Film Short, Stop Motion

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Broken: How to Make Video Look Like Film

4/04/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

This link was in the Red Giant newsletter and reminded me of a film that I was an extra in many years ago called LAM, a film by Justin Woiwode. They both take place in mental institutions where the staff is nuttier than the patients. I'm digging the shaky cam effects in Broken.

The best stuff is here:

Magic Bullet Editors helped Alex Ferrari create three signature looks for the indie short, Broken, an action suspense movie that has been accepted at over 90 film festivals around the world. The DVD includes over three hours of helpful tips on production design, costume design, lighting, color correction and props. Magic Bullet is covered in the section called How to Make Video Look Like Film.
Read the Broken user story
Watch the Broken trailer

Labels: Documentary, Film Short

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

LightWave makes it real... hyper-real

3/31/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

"300" Smashes Box Office Records

Visual Effects in Frank Miller's 300 is an interesting mini-documentary on the LightWave effects in the film. It's really interesting stuff. They used boujou for their match moves and moved between boujou and LightWave.

See more stills and information about the CG here.

Labels: 3D, Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Last Best Hope by Erik Lauritzen

3/26/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Last Best Hope: A True Story of Escape, Evasion and Remembrance is another example of zooming through 3D space with the camera, through 2D photo scenery. This one has played at film festivals, won awards and showed on PBS. This one will make you say wow.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Contribute to Toolfarm Inspirations

3/09/2007 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

We're looking for a few good animators, editors, students or even just fans of visual effects to contribute to this blog. Not HTML skills necessary, but a good eye for the most ground-breaking and rule-breaking techniques and styles out there. We want eye candy! Yes, we do.

Interested? Drop me an email and tell me why you should be considered. You would be expected to make one post per week, but you can post more, as long as they're quality videos. You're welcome to add your thoughts and opinions about the video, too.

Labels: 2D, 3D, Bizarre, Commercial, Demo Reel, Documentary, Experimental, Film Short, Interview, Movie Trailer, Music Video, Podcast, Stop Motion, Student Work, Television, Titles

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Yael Staav - Dove - Evolution

10/16/2006 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

My friend Alicia sent me this engaging video transformation. At first I thought it was a makeover video but it's nothing like that. Watch in amazement. The tagline "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted" says it all.

The video was done by Reginald Pike director Yael Staav for Dove's campaign for real beauty. This is exactly the type of thing I was showing to my Photoshop class last year.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Roto and Paint in Post Production Diary: Kong is King

11/06/2005 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Check out this mini documentary for Kong is King. I really feel sorry for these guys.

From the site: "These guys and gals are the ones who intricately remove all the 'real world' stuff that is in a shot. They also paint over things that need to disappear to make the movie as realistic as possible. We get to see some amazing blue and green screen footage, lots of running and falling shots of Naomi Watts, and a super close-up of Jack Black's head (no whale for you Jack)."

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Paula Scher, Type is Image

11/20/2004 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Paula Scher is a logo designer and type artist. She creates incredible type designs and some of the most recognizable logos around (citibank, anyone?). "Adobe Studio Presents" has an interesting interview with her as well as some beautiful examples of her work.

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki

Van Helsing: Monsters, Magic, and Macs

8/24/2004 • Permalink • 0 Comments •

Van Helsing: Monsters, Magic, and Macs is a 10 minute documentary on how a major effect - the Frankenstein monster and an angry mob of villagers - came together in After Effects. Industrial Light Magic's Todd Vaziri shows you some amazing work.

Now let's see how much bandwidth this guy has ;-)

Labels: Documentary

Posted by Michele Yamazaki