The famous Looney Tunes cartoon gets brought to life thanks to Apache Pictures. Meep meep, and enjoy.
[Via Nerdist]
Tag Archives: short film
Music video/short film: 30 Seconds to Mars – “Hurricane”
This 30 Seconds to Mars “music video” is so many things. It’s creepy, disturbing, and rich in scope. “Hurricane”, a prominent song off 30STM’s latest studio album This is War, is epic by itself and it absolutely warranted an equally epic 13 minute long video to accompany it. Frontman Jared Leto (under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins) wrote and directed the video which he describes as a “very sexual…surrealistic nightmare dream-fantasy.” It’s split into three chapters (Birth, Life, and Death) and as MTV explains it “weave[s] three separate narratives together” by following the members of band “each battling their personal demons and unlocking secret fantasies.” Unfortunately many of the cut-away scenes are covered up by “CENSORED” banners because an unspecified network said they’d refuse to air the video if these overly provocative images were left in. Leto told EW that “We always knew there would be some images that would have a tough time getting through. But we didn’t expect this kind of pushback that we’re getting now.” If you’re interested, hop on over to Leto’s blog to browse the specific parts that the network found unsuitable. Hopefully Leto will be able to share an uncensored director’s cut with his fans through some other medium, but for now we’re forced to watch the edited version embedded above.
Short film: Gamer envisions Mushroom Kingdom activities IRL
College student plays way too much Mario 64. He goes for a stroll outside and the world around him begins to transform. Go.
My only complaint? It ends far too quickly.
[Via Gizmodo]
Review: Kanye West premieres short film ‘Runaway’, previews songs from upcoming album
Kanye West travelled to Prague not so long ago to film a 35 minute short film called Runaway. The film, directed by West & written by music video collaborator Hype Williams, plays like an extended and highly perfected music video. Nine songs from West’s upcoming fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy are interspersed throughout the film that premiered Saturday night simultaneously on MTV, MTV 2, MTV.com, BET, BET.com, and VH1.com. Watch it uncensored after the break.
The film tells a short story about a beautiful phoenix (played by model Selita Ebanks) falling to Earth and falling in love with a man played by Kanye. It opens up with a short introductory quip by Nicki Minaj (in her overzealous British accent) as she invites the viewer to “gather ’round children, zip it, listen!” Then the first beat drops. As Kanye drives his luxury car through a wooded area populated by grazing deer (who appear to be CGI), ‘Ye raps the title track “Dark Fantasy.” In the distance up in the sky a plume of fire quickly descends to the ground, crashing into Kanye’s car and forcing ‘Ye to come to the rescue. As the track goes “Can we get much higher? Oh, oh, oh oh…” we catch our first glimpse of the Phoenix injured on the pavement. Kanye picks her up and carries her away from the wreck, walking slowly towards the camera as the fire blazes in the background and “Dark Fantasy” winds down. The title card “Runaway” appears, the track ends, and the story resumes at Kanye’s home.
The Phoenix wakes up and finds herself disoriented in our markedly different world. Ebanks does a fantastic job throughout the film portraying this sense of feeling out of place in a foreign land–the ruffling of her feathers, the way she moves her claws and darts her head. All of these small but very distinct qualities add to her stranger in a strange land mentality that brings the film’s overall theme into focus when the conclusion rolls around. She is startled by a breaking news story shouting from the TV; Kanye appears and informs her, “First rule in this world baby: Don’t pay attention to anything you see in the news.” Take note: the film does not contain much dialogue (not including the songs, obviously), so listen carefully to what Kanye and Ebanks’ characters have to say. Kanye’s message is not hiding–it lives in the songs, the visuals, and also in what he (and the Phoenix) have to say.
Next up is “Gorgeous” — Kid Cudi sings the chorus and Kanye raps a verse as we watch the Phoenix interact with nature and animals. While she’s frolicking in the backyard and getting acclimated to our world, Kanye looks on from inside the house. He’s in love with the mysterious bird that fell into his lap. Quite abruptly the track ends and a distinctly new version of “Power” begins. Kanye plays with the beat on his sampler and the Phoenix twitches along with it. A wave of comfortability hits the Phoenix and so she fearlessly begins to seductively dance to the heavily sampled “Power.” Then as abruptly as it started “Power” ends and the signature horns of “All of the Lights” are introduced. Continue reading Review: Kanye West premieres short film ‘Runaway’, previews songs from upcoming album
Short film: Bits In Pieces
Dutch company OGD ICT Services has gone ahead and created this brilliantly intricate short film called “Bits In Pieces” with nothing but nylon wires, cardboard, and crêpe paper. No special effect whatsoever are included. When you think about it, this clip about computer malfunction and its bizarre ramifications must’ve been a crazy bitch to put together. But the creative team pulled it off in fantastic fashion. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the five minute short above, then peek after the break for a more lengthy behind-the-scenes video.
[Via Gizmodo; ThePresurfer] Continue reading Short film: Bits In Pieces
Flower Warfare
From the dude who brought us “Light Warfare” using the awesome technique of light painting comes “Flower Warfare.” Creator Freddie Wong has put together another masterpiece with weapons at the forefront; only this time they don’t shoot light, they spray their enemies with–you guessed it–flower power! The nod to the Internet’s latest meme in the final frame is perfect!
Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project
Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.
Life in a Day, a YouTube compilation video to be largely edited by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and executive produced by director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner), will attempt to tell such a story. It’s being hailed as a “historic cinematic experiment” that relies on you (yes, you) to contribute to the short film. If you want to participate in the effort, all you have to is capture events that happen in your own life on July 24 and upload your video to the Life in a Day channel by July 31. Here are some suggestions from Google: “You can film the ordinary — a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary — a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.” Head over to the channel for other ideas that may inspire you. So here’s the deal: If your footage is selected to be put into the film, you’ll be credited as co-director and if you’re lucky you’ll get to attend the premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with 19 others. If you don’t make the final cut, Google reminds you that your submitted footage will live forever on the channel “as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.” Sappy, but it’s true! It’s so easy to do these days, you might as well give it a shot. On the 24th, whip out your Flip cam and take your dog for a walk. Who knows, maybe you and Scrappy will make it big. Need some words of encouragement? Look after the break for a pep talk from Ridley Scott; the Nike shout-out aside, it should get some creative juices flowing.
[Via YouTubeBlog] Continue reading Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project
Short film: Something Left, Something Taken
Something Left, Something Taken. By Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata.
This beautifully designed animated short is a “dark comedy” that follows “a vacationing couple’s encounter with a man they believe to be the Zodiac Killer.” It’s funny, engaging, suspenseful, and smart. What’s the phrase again? Oh right–sit back, relax, and enjoy.
[Via @kpereira]
Short film: Cardboard Warfare
Cardboard Warfare is like Light Warfare, but replace the light painting with cardboard and lots of post-edits with After Effects and Photoshop. 427 manual frames to rotoscope, 59 layers of sound effects, and 254 program crashes later, this work of art was completed. Very impressive.
Short film: Mortal Kombat (A MUST WATCH)
On Tuesday this viral video hit the ‘Net and quickly garnered critical acclaim. After watching this extremely well produced short film based on the classic video game Mortal Kombat people everywhere began to speculate. Was this a teaser trailer for a reboot of 1995’s Mortal Kombat film or was it just a fan-made work of art? Shortly after its arrival it was discovered that the seven-and-a-half minute short was directed by Kevin Tancharoen (director of 2009’s Fame) and it was produced in an attempt to pitch Tancharoen’s vision for a reimagined Mortal Kombat movie to Warner Brothers (as confirmed by actress Jeri Ryan’s Twitter feed). Mortal Kombat: Rebirth was Tancharoen’s way of saying, “Hey WB, check out this video, see what I can do, and let’s talk about making a new Mortal Kombat flick.”
This mini-movie is nothing short of fantastic. Though it takes place in the MK universe, the characters’ origins are based in reality. Instead of attributing their abilities to the supernatural, each villain transforms into their malaligned selves due to psychotic breaks or hereditary disease. These characters have mental and physical “issues” and they know martial arts. That’s Tancharoen’s spin on the MK universe. And obviously he retains the overall plot which revolves around the tournament. From the intense fight sequence to the stunning camera shots and visuals, Tancharoen’s short deserves WB approval. As Jackson Briggs was trying to convince Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion to enter the tournament to kill Baraka, Reptile, and the other villains I was instantly imagining and anticipating how the story would continue. And then I remembered I was only watching a short clip on YouTube. I have no doubt this masterpiece of a short will lead to a feature-length MK movie sometime in the near future.
MK: Rebirth stars Michael Jai White as Jackson Briggs, Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage, Ian Anthony Dale as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Richard Dorton as Reptile, Lateef Crowder as Alan Zane/Baraka, and Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade. The fight sequence was choreographed by Larnell Stovall. Continue reading Short film: Mortal Kombat (A MUST WATCH)
“Light Warfare” paints a futuristic action genre through the process of light painting
Ho-ly crap. This is awesome. One Freddie Wong has created a masterpiece with “Light Warfare”, a short film of sorts that revels in the photography technique known as light painting. Wong explains:
The idea behind light painting is that if you open the shutter, you can draw lines by moving the flashlight around in front of the lens. So hold the shutter open, get in front, and try drawing something in the air. If you have a camera flash, you can have someone stand in place, and flash them. Then have them hold still and draw around them. Experiment!
Basically light painting can take place when you play around with slow shutter speeds captured in a dark environment as you move a camera around a light source. You might be thinking to yourself, “Haven’t I seen something like this before?” The answer is yes; light painting is also known as “light graffiti” and you can refer back to this post to jumpstart your memory. What makes this video so spectacular is that Wong takes things to a whole ‘nother level by grouping a bunch of stills together and making a video out of them in a process known as stop motion. If any of this intrigues you, head over to Wong’s blog where you’ll find a tutorial for light painting; also peek after the break for a behind-the-scenes look at how “Light Warfare” was made.
Now this is how you make a beer commericial
Canadian ad firm Dentsu, in collaboration with directors Mark Zibert and Gary Thomas, have created the utlimate beer commercial for Japanese beer company Sapporo. Titled “Legendary Biru”, the commercial/short film was shot on location for over a month in Guangzhou, China. It takes us on a journey through Japanese culture and the brewing process. Our Budweiser frogs and horses can’t touch this vertical time-warp through Japanese mythos.