Tag Archives: viral

New ‘Prometheus’ viral video introduces Michael Fassbender’s David the robot

So I guess Ridley Scott didn’t mind letting this cat out of the bag before unleashing his pseudo-Alien prequel Prometheus unto the world. Turns out Michael Fassbender’s character David is a robot! Specifically, he’s an android built by Weyland Industries that’s headed by Guy Pearce’s character Peter Weyland. Is it Weyland’s plan to “change the world” by inventing “technological, intellectual, physical, and emotional” sentient beings? That is still being kept under wraps, as are major plot details of the highly anticipated sci-fi action movie. In the video embedded above you’ll meet David; it’s his birthday so be kind.

Prometheus is out June 8.

Trailer round-up: ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Frankenweenie’, ‘ParaNorman’, ‘Prometheus’ [Update: ‘MIB 3’]

The Minions are back in Illumination Entertainment’s sequel Despicable Me 2. Check out the teasiest of teasers above and anticipate the film’s July 3, 2013 future release.

Now jump after the break to watch trailers for Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, and Prometheus. Continue reading Trailer round-up: ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Frankenweenie’, ‘ParaNorman’, ‘Prometheus’ [Update: ‘MIB 3’]

Jedis, ninjas, and Sith lords, oh my!

Check out this kick-ass viral video starring Team 2X, a collective group of professional martial arts performers. Watch as a lone Jedi takes on a hoard of ninjas and a vengeful Sith Lord. Stay for the end–it’s unexpected and absurdly humorous.

Jedi Ninjas was developed as a passion project to recreate the current style of Star Wars action seen in video games into live action. This style often combines elements of Force powers with the use lightsaber combat. As there are no upcoming live action Star Wars movies to this date, this was a project to make many of the fans’ dreams into a reality.

Short film: ‘Address Is Approximate’ (using stop-motion & Google Street View)

A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View.

Address Is Approximate is produced by director Tom Jenkins of London-based commercial production company The Theory. The stop-motion animation short, shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, quickly went viral and has garnered over 1.8 million views in fifteen days. The story it tells is so simple yet unbelievably captivating. And the idea of taking inanimate objects for a “drive” cross country in front of a computer monitor using Google Maps is utterly ingenious. In case you’re wondering, the soothing track that plays throughout is “Arrival of the Birds” by The Cinematic Orchestra.

The clip was a pet project for Jenkins who was recently signed to the talent agency WME with his partner Simon Sharp. Hopefully this means that we can expect more from Jenkins in the future, perhaps on the feature side of things.

[Via Deadline; Vimeo]

YouTube musician Kina Grannis has fun with jelly beans in new stop-motion music video

Have you ever heard of jelly bean art? Well it exists. And now so does a jelly bean music video. YouTube star Kina Grannis wrote a song called “In Your Arms” and developed a music video with director Greg Jardin involving 288,000 jelly beans. The insanely impressive stop-motion video, which includes a total of 2,460 individual frames, took 22 months (1,357 hours) to complete. Sure the song is catchy and Grannis has an infectious charm about her, but it’s the sheer level of dedication put into this music video that has elevated to viral status. In under a week it has amassed about 1.5 million well deserved views. After you wipe the saliva off your mouth when the video ends (and that’s either because you’re so impressed or you’re craving Jelly Belly jelly beans, or both) make sure you jump after the break to watch a seven minute making-of video that shows just how much hard work and patience was required to make the music video a reality. With “In Your Arms” Grannis has proved she’s a creative force to be reckoned with, and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Continue reading YouTube musician Kina Grannis has fun with jelly beans in new stop-motion music video

Bloodthirsty kids deal fake drugs in this spectacularly animated music video

You may not have heard of London-based pop group Is Tropical, but I guarantee you will get a kick out of their music video for their latest single “The Greeks.” Directed by Megaforce (the man behind the trippy Cudder clip “Pursuit of Happiness“), the video follows a bunch of bloodthirsty kids who indulge themselves in murdering each other in the most spectacularly disturbing of ways. The cartoonish animation is provided by Seven and it helps spin the rather graphic nature of the music video into an enjoyable visual feast.

The band describes the video like this: “Part Rumblefish, part Die Hard, part Akira, we wanted to work together to create something both visually appealing and aesthetically relevant to the band. We like kids, we like gangs, we really like daydreaming and imagination; the video straddles the line between nostalgia and the visual death-porn of our generation – the action film. Don’t get carried away by politics – this is a straight-up kid brawl the way it played out in your head when you were stealing your mums mascara to be like Arnie in Predator. It isn’t a shocking rebuke to our drama queen, populist news culture either – just naive, blissful shoot-yr-mate until he’s definitely dead war-games – the way you wish it still could be.”

Sure the video is great and all, but do you also like what you hear? The single “The Greeks” is available to download for free right here, and Is Tropical’s debut album Is Native is out now in the UK.

Super 8 in theatres now, get a glimpse of the creature here

The J.J. Abrams / Steven Spielberg production Super 8 is in theatres now. Leading up to the film’s release, Paramount has been adding snippets of video to this official website. On June 9, one day before the film hit theatres nationwide, the studio brought it all together and the final black-and-white video sits above. The “Full Editing Room Film” gives those anticipating Super 8 a small glimpse into the mystery behind the creature that lands in the small Ohio town the movie takes place in. If you’ve seen the movie already, you’d know that bits of this video are included in a pivotal scene.

I attended a midnight premiere screening of the movie, and without giving anyway away I will say this: Super 8 is a perfect summer movie filled with action and healthy doses of emotion & sci-fi. All of the kid actors nailed it, especially the young lead Joel Courtney. It’s truly a must-see. Whether or not it is a veiled Cloverfield prequel remains to be determined; I’d like to think it is. Also, beware of so much lens flares–alas, it is the Abrams touch (see Star Trek).

Improv Everywhere implements the mute button in a crowded park

The fellas at Improv Everywhere are at it again. Here are the deets…

The mission: 23 actors and 2 dogs infiltrate a public space and go on “mute” at coordinated intervals.

The location: The northern entrance to Prospect Park in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

The result: Curious and confused passersby and a heavy douse of hilarity for us!

First look: Nolan’s Bane revealed

The third and final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise is set to bow in July 2012, and today we have our first look at the villainous Bane. Actor Tom Hardy certainly beefed up for the role–just look at those protruding back muscles! Add that muzzle contraption into the mix and we’ve got ourselves one formidable baddie to face off against the Dark Knight. Interestingly Warner Bros. released this image as part of a grander viral campaign for the film. If you direct your browser to the movie’s official site you’ll hear a brief sound byte; the chant was analyzed and found to contain the phrase “The Fire Rises.” Those that tweeted out the hashtag #TheFireRises contributed their Twitter profile picture to a user-generated mosaic that makes up the Bane image. Eventually the image was uploaded to Facebook and then everywhere else. The studio created the Twitter handle @thefirerises, so if you’re hotly anticipating the film I’d advise you to follow that for more updates surrounding the viral campaign. Don’t be surprised if a similar game is played to reveal another character, next time perhaps one Selina Kyle?

The Dark Knight Rises hits theatres July 20, 2012.

YouTube sensation KarminMusic covers Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now”

This little video’s gone viral and after you mash play you’ll no longer wonder why. Musical duo KarminMusic–comprised of Nick the keyboardist and Amy the vocalist–have produced an outstanding cover of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now,” a track I never really enjoyed until I watched this. Girl’s got game, yo.