Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Link Round-Up: April 30, 2014


Sansa Stark Painting

Based on Nothing explains the five crucial problems of Harry Potter

Creativity needs to be dangerous and unpredictable. When everything becomes a little too comfortable and controlled, it’s easy to produce work that’s devoid of surprises.

The Deepest, Weirdest, Hugest Megadungeons Ever Created

Great insight into how TV focus tests work (or don’t) by Giancarlo Volpe

A longtime fan’s take on Joss Whedon's latest film, In Your Eyes

The Secret to Pixar's Genius From Creativity, Inc. Sounds Like a Writing Workshop

Where Will Game of Thrones Go now that it is diverging from the books?


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Music Video: Let It Go



Arthur Darvill was on the Matt Edmondson Show on BBC Radio 1 and sang this amusing song to the tune of "Let It Go."   from Frozen instead done as The Ballad of Arthur Darvill.  The song named “The Ballad Of Arthur Darvill” focuses on the actor’s frustration to be known for something other than Doctor Who.  He reminds his fans that he’s no longer Rory Williams and it’s time to move on.


Music Video: Let it Go(T)



It was only a matter of time before someone combined the internet's two hottest obsessions.


Lecture: A Movie So Bad It's Good



Host Mike Rugnetta makes the argument that it isn't possible to make a movie so bad that it’s actually good on purpose.  Rugnetta cites cult classics, such as The Room, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Troll 2 as examples of movies are only good precisely they were serious attempts at film making that backfired horrendously.
"It's easy to make a bad movie. Budget, talent, time, know-how... there are so many factors that can potentially sink a film. But every once in a while, a movie is so terrible, such an utter failure, that it earns the designation "SO BAD IT'S GOOD". These bizarre entities touch upon our schadenfreude, and allow us to share and celebrate these monstrosities of filmmaking. Troll 2, The Room, and Plan 9 From Outerspace are both horrific and weirdly enjoyable, even becoming cults classics. But can these So-Bad-It's-Good films be created ON PURPOSE?"


Lecture: What is Real?



8-Bit Philosophy is the new series from the people behind Thug Notes. In this first episode, Thug Notes uses the original Legend of Zelda to explain Plato's Allegory of the Cave for everyone who never got around to taking an introductory philosophy course.


Music Video: BEAT MARKET AVIATOR



This music video is a stunning piece of concept artistry, set to funky techno beats.  In the video, two cosmonauts with silver sequined spacesuits discover the ruins of an advanced civilization.  It features some incredible dream-like environments, including a city of floating buildings, and some fantastic music. 

This is Beat Market's new music video for their single "Aviator 2000." The video was produced by APM300, with design and animation by DEFASTEN. Find out more about the band on their Facebook page.


Music Video: Shatter Me



Lzzy Hale of Grammy-award winning rock band Halestorm is the star of the latest video from violinist Lindsey Stirling, which features a sort of steampunk theme with definite allusions (homages?) to David Bowie's Labyrinth.  With so much amazing talent packed into one unique song, it is no surprise that the music video has instantly gone viral!


Music Video: We Are Explorers


"We Are Explorers" by Cut Copy from Explorers3D

The music industry has been quick to use 3D printing to market new albums. Back in December, Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke 3D printed vinyl records at a pop-up shop in London to mark the release of his LP.  Now, indie electronic band Cut Copy has released a music video starring neon green cubist figures created using 3D printers roaming the streets of L.A.  The video was animated with stop-motion techniques.

According to ToneDeaf, "To get the mini-explorers to glow, the figurines were printed in a special UV-reactive material so that when Director of Photography Sesse Lind shot them at night, under black light bulbs, they gave off the necessary fluoro effect."

Cut Copy isn’t just using 3D printers to create elements in their video.  They are also encouraging their fans to recreate these little guys by posting a BitTorrent Bundle that includes the 3D printing files, footage, storyboards, stop-motion schematics, and music they themselves used to create their video.  The band hopes that people will print the characters and shoot their own footage.


Music Video: I Love Science



When you think of rock music, nerds and science geeks aren't what come to mind, but Hank Green of education channel The Vlog Brothers is changing that.  Hank stars in this rock music video about how much he and all other nerds love science.  This track was taken from Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers’ upcoming new album, Incongruent.

Music Video: I Phreak Alone



Here's a parody of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day with all the lyrics changed to be about phone phreaking in the nineties.  I think most of the readers of this blog are probably too young to remember the days when we were all tethered by landlines, much less how awesome phreaking used to be, but it brings back a lot of fond memories of lurking on message boards for me.
"This is a song about phone phreaking in the 1990's. It's performed by Bonecage, written by RBCP, and the video footage was recorded by a dozen or so people who submitted footage.  You can buy this track at bandcamp.

Bonecage is a comedy musician and a close personal friend of the PLA. He's let us use his music as our opening theme song for Telephone Falls and he put together this amazing song for us. Please support Bonecage's hard work by buying the track and loving his music."

Music Video: Dark Horse ft. Harry Potter


"Katy Perry - Dark Horse (Official Parody) ft. Harry Potter" by Abbegirl
A Harry Potter Parody of Katy Perry’s Dark Horse


Music Video: Talk Nerdy To Me




Video: I Love League of Legends



Ever get way too angry at your teammates in an online game?  You're not alone.
"This video was created to describe my feelings towards the state of our League, I once enjoyed playing this game despite winning or losing, but now it has became hurtful at times. This Spoken word was done by Jesse Chisholm, and the video was created by KodeVu."


Video: Han ALWAYS Shoots First



Han Solo is one smuggler who isn't afraid to shoot first and ask questions later (and then shoot some more).


Video: Harry Potter VS Star Wars



Who would win in a battle between a Jedi and a Wizard? I feel like the answer is pretty obvious.


Short Film: Gumshoe


"Gumshoe" directed by Matt Steinauer

Gumshoe is a highly atmospheric film noir pastiche that follows a private detective searching for his missing partner.  It's unusual in that it's shot as though through the main character's eyes, but in the age of Google Glass, we'll probably be seeing a lot more of this sort of thing very soon.
"A hard-boiled tale following Gumshoe, a private eye hot on the trail of his missing partner. In this world of femme fatales and hired goons, the truth lies beneath."

Short Film: Spotted



Spotted is a great film noir style comedy that centers on a fugitive "intercepted by two customs officers as he tries to escape his fate. During a violent interrogation, Big Mike and his sidekick attempt to dismantle his secret network and to put an end to his dreams of liberty…"
"A fugitive is intercepted by two customs officers as he tries to escape his fate. During a violent interrogation, Big Mike and his sidekick attempt to dismantle his secret network and to put an end to his dreams of liberty..."

Lego Creation: Battleship Orion 1



Lego Creation: Normandy and Mako



Lego Creation: Venator Star Destroyer


"Venator Star Destroyer"
Source: Imgur via Reddit
"A few months ago I was browsing rebrickable and I stumbled upon this glorious creation.

After careful consideration (read: 4 seconds) I decided I needed to have one. So I clicked the option to buy the instructions and got the email of a really nice guy named Regis who sold me the instructions for 5 Euros.

He can be reached at setechnic@gmail.com by the way... Send him 5 Euros if you can(I would highly reccomend you send him a little more as the instructions are of very high quality) and he sends you the link to download the instructions.

 I then spent about 1 month and a half bricklinking all the parts for this bad boy. Thankfully I was able to source about 85% of the pieces locally as I've got a few REALLY good Bricklink stores in my city (I live in Edmonton, Canada). As for the rest I ordered them mostly from the US except for one or two orders."

Lego Creation: Firefly



Adrian Drake built  this painstakingly accurate model of Firefly's Serenity over the course of 475 hours over twenty-one months.  The model is composed of over seventy thousand bricks, weighs 135 pounds, and measures seven feet in length.

Drake debuted his minifig-scale Serenity this week at Brickfair in Chantilly, Virginia. He based the design on the Quantum Mechanix blueprints, and he even managed to build most of the compartments from the set with the exception of the engine room, which was impossible to build while maintaining structural integrity of model.  

The cargo bay and drive light up, both engines rotate, the wings swing out, and Inara's shuttle detaches. It's an incredible feat of Lego engineering.  Check out the full 75-photo set on Flickr. Also, check out this gallery by Jeff Stevens from Brickfair.
"You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the world. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down. Tells you she's hurting before she keens. Makes her a home."
- Captain Mal

Lego Creation: Eclipse Class Destroyer



This is the Eclipse Class Star Destroyer from the Empire at War video game.  It was the flagship of the resurrected Emperor Palpatine.  It was even more massive than Vader's flagship, Executor, and in the game, it was armed with a superlaser, the "Eye of Palpatine," was was capable of cracking the crust of a planet (but not blowing it to smithereens.)  And thanks to the movies, it's no longer canon.  This model was constructed of roughly eleven thousand pieces.

Lego Creation: XS Freighter


"XS Freighter" from Star Wars: The Old Republic by EM1sw
Source: Imgur via Reddit

"SWTOR XS Freighter that I built to cope with the fact that I can't afford a UCS Millenium Falcon and they aren't coming out with a new one this year. Started out as an attempt at modifying the 7965 but ended up being nearly a complete overhaul. Didn't count the pieces but it took me around 40 hours altogether. Here is what it is supposed to look like if you aren't familiar."

Posters: Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda Poster Set by Steven Thornton

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$15

Posters: Mass Effect Saga

Mass Effect by Sam Spratt

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$
"To celebrate the anniversary of the Mass Effect trilogy, I painted this poster for Bioware — available at their store in 2 editions. With a little under 2 weeks and a mess of replayi—err, *research* to do, I sketched out a composition that’d get the best of it in there, and began painting the majority of key players and aspects from the series. With a roster as large as the game has: I was selective (my custom ginger Shep did not make the cut). The special edition even has metallic inks on the golden text and border elements which I’m particularly fond of."

Posters: Darken the Sky

Darken the Sky by Steven Thornton

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$15


Posters: Star Wars

Star Wars Poster Designs by Tom Ryan

Star Wars Poster by Tom Ryan
Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$60

Posters: C-3PO & R2-D2


"C-3PO & R2-D2" by Swedish graphic designer Markus Jansson

Link Round-Up: April 29, 2014


"Arya & the Hound" by Uruguay-based Matias Bergara
Prints available for purchase from RedBubble. US$14.04

Merchandise: Glow in the Dark Leather Dog Collar with The One Ring Elvish Script

Apple's new iPhone commercial uses that ultra-catchy Pixies classic, "Gigantic". But... Do you think the producers of the commercial knew what the song is about? A calculated gamble that 98% of viewers would not? Clever marketing designed to create a stir? Or just plain cluelessness?

Artspace names 10 of the Most Influential MFA Programs in the World

Monday, April 28, 2014

Music Video: Piano Man GoT Parody




Music Video: Pink GoT Parody


"Hilarious Parody of PINK's "Just Give Me a Reason" follows the tearful goodbye to another amazing season of Game of Thrones. I can't believe how long we'll have to wait."

Music Video: Let it Go GoT Parody



This a fantastic Game of Thrones-themed parody of Frozen's hit track, "Let it Go."  It was stars an Auburn University student who was profiled by AL.com.
"For dudes tired of secretly harboring an obsession with the Academy Award winning song "Let it Go" from Disney's "Frozen," Auburn University student Caleb Hyles has a solution.

Hyles joined up with director Amos Sussigan to create a parody of the song that combines its inspirational sound with a more masculine subject: "Game of Thrones," naturally."

Music Video: ROYALS GoT Parody



An epic Game of Thrones music video parody of ROYALS by Lorde in which Khaleesi sings about daily life with her dragon babies.

Video: S.H.I.E.L.D. SUCKS at Everything


"After the traumatic events of Captain America 2 and Agents of SHIELD, the agency has come to realize they do, in fact, suck."

Short Film: R.U.R.: Genesis



R.U.R.: GENESIS is an retro sci-fi thriller based on Czech playwright Karel Capek's seminal science fiction story, R.U.R., which Capek began writing in 1919.  The story is set fifty years into the future. In Capek's version of the year 1969, genetically engineered workers inhabit the Earth. The perfect, made-to-order people – which would eventually become the basis for the concept of robots – are seen as lesser beings that lack basic human rights and provide a vehicle for commentary on modern politics, progress, and relationships.

The story was the inspiration for a wide range of work, including Metropolis and Blade Runner.  In this take on the classic, writer-director James Kerwin imagines us what 1969 looked like to 1919, while preserving a bit of the mid-century swank that we all love.


Short Film: Jupiter I I



Jupiter I I is an extremely atmospheric sci-fi space drama nearly two years in the making.


Sweets: Carmel Sorting Hats

Harry Potter Sorting Hat candies


What house will you be sorted into when dessert time comes around?  Will it be Hufflepuff for doing all the hard work of baking caramels for all your friends, or will it be Slytherin for not sharing?


Sculpture: Bonsai Skull


Bonsai Skull Treehouse

Ocoze is a young Japanese artist raised in the Hiroshima-prefec and fond of nature, dioramas and metric analysis. He is the man that gave hands to the amazing “bon-kei” houses  that rocked the web a couple of years ago, formerly part of the Takanori Aiba duo. Today Ocoze is doing it all by himself and is taking it to a next level. This is his latest work.  If you're near Berlin, you can see his work first-hand during The Woods art show at Strychnin Gallery, which began April 12th.

Sculpture: Slipstream

Slipstream


Heathrow Airport in London has unveiled the star art attraction at its revamped Terminal 2. “Slipstream” is an aluminum sculpture inspired by the areal maneuvers of a stunt plane.  Created by British artist Richard Wilson, the piece weighs seventy-seven tons and measures seventy-eight meters in length.  The sculpture will get the royal approval when the Queen officially opens the terminal on June 23rd.  Curated by public arts agency Futurecity, the work is expected to be seen by 20 million passengers a year, making it one of the most viewed pieces of art in the country.  Read more at the BBC.
"Slipstream is inspired by the exhilarating potential of flight, coupled with the physical aesthetics of aircraft. Constructed in aluminium, the piece aimed to solidify the twisting velocity of a stunt plane manoeuvring through the volume of the new terminal."

Sculpture: Steampunk Insects


Steampunk Insects by Dmitry Khristenko


Installation: LIGHT is TIME


"LIGHT is TIME" created by DGT Architects Website for watch manufacturer CITIZEN
Photos by Takuji Shimmura

80,000 "plates," the structural base of watches, strung up on 4,200 metal threads hung from the ceiling. The light is refracted on the metal discs and becomes the raw material for a stage set displaying, in three phases, the mechanical components that have been used in Citizen watches since the 1920s.
"Sunlight is the terrestrial measurement of passing time”, explains Tsuyoshi Tane, of French office DGT, “we took that as a starting point and developed the simple concept behind the Citizen installation."

Installation: Our Changing Seas


"Our Changing Seas III" by San Francisco-based Courtney Mattison
On exhibit at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College through June 15, 2014.
Photographed by Arthur Evans

These glazed stoneware and porcelain sculptures are intended to raise awareness about the endangered ecosystem and inspire more people to fight for conservation. The sprawling installation is entirely hand-built and is meant to show the devastating transition coral reefs endure when faced with climate change, a process called bleaching.  An interest in marine biology and environmental science has shaped her work, providing the inspiration and motivation to create handmade porcelain sculptures in a three-part series.
"At its heart, this piece celebrates my favorite aesthetic aspects of a healthy coral reef surrounded by the sterile white skeletons of bleached corals swirling like the rotating winds of a cyclone. There is still time for corals to recover even from the point of bleaching if we act quickly to decrease the threats we impose. Perhaps if my work can influence viewers to appreciate the fragile beauty of our endangered coral reef ecosystems, we will act more wholeheartedly to help them recover and even thrive."
An interest in marine biology and environmental science has greatly shaped her work, providing much of the inspiration and motivation to create handmade porcelain sculptures liker her three-part series
Read more at http://all-thats-interesting.tumblr.com/post/83922586449/courtney-mattisons-intricate-porcelain-coral-artwork#aZ8gdQGfozKHbs18.99

Posters: Game of Thrones Houses

Game of Thrones House Designs - Created by Musenyo

Game of Thrones House Designs by Musenyo
Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$19.76


Posters: Game of Thrones Characters

Game of Thrones Designs - Created by Chris Ables

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$20

Artist: René Aigner

Dragonthrone by René Aigner

Illustrations by René Aigner


Artist: Luke Mancini


Illustrations by Luke Mancini

Luke Mancini is a concept artist working for Blizzard Entertainment on Starcraft 2.  His specialties seem to be robots and dragons.

Fresh Take: Emoji Nation

http://37.media.tumblr.com/228a21336deac57b1634b4a57cb7a5f7/tumblr_n3fbk97ZP31qfzaeuo1_1280.jpg

"Emoji Nation" by Kiev-based Nastya Nudnik

Ukrainian artist Natasya Ptichek was toying around on her phone recently when she had a revelation of sorts: many of the emojis she’d been using had begun to resemble well-known works of art. She began to mash up classical works of art with modern elements.  She overlaid Windows-style dialog boxes and social media notifications and icons over paintings to create ironic commentaries.  Ptichek's first emoji-nation series paired emoticons with iconic artwork, whereas her third one reimagined famous artwork as movie posters. Below are selected work from Ptichek's second, fourth, and fifth installments of emoji-nation.
"I adore playing on contrasts and try to put dualism in every work, no matter it is an illustration, a painting or a collage. Emoji-nation is big a complex of different projects united by one idea. And I don’t know whether it is already done, because the further development of Emoji-nation depends on my mood and some ‘sudden clarity.’"

Fresh Take: Paintings as Street View Maps



James Lileks turned two classic paintings, Boulevard Poissonnière in the Rain by Jean Béraud and River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants by Aelbert Cuyp, into Google street views. They’re so convincing that we tried to navigate both of them as you would an actual street view map.
"Paintings as Google Street View Maps. Took me a long time, so what was to be “first examples in a series” ended up as “why the hell am I doing this, really.”"

Comic Round-Up: April 28, 2014




Interview: Ms. Marvel is selling well, and writer G. Willow Wilson thinks it’s because so many readers can identify with Kamala Khan: “Kamala, because of the way that we present her, is not just a character who would appeal to other Pakistani-Americans. [...] To me, Kamala’s appeal is really about the American experience in the 21st century. It’s not limited to one particular group. So many people are of mixed heritage, everyone is from somewhere else. And she is really a character from that generation.”

Interview:  Zack Whedon, Christos Gage on "Serenity," "Buffy" comics

News: Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor is coming in 2015

5 "X-Men: The Last Stand" Mistakes We Want "Days Of Future Past" To Fix

DC Looks to the Future and "Futures End" with its New 52 panel.

I've Got Issues: Why Comic Shops Are Vital and how print and digital are like a delicious PB&J.

Len Wein says Bruce Wayne isn’t psychotic — he’s neurotic.
Watchmen's long journey from page to screen: Alan Moore always said his graphic novel was unfilmable, and for a while, that almost looked true. Mark looks at attempts to adapt Watchmen.


Gaming Round-Up: April 28, 2014




News: World's first video game stadium gets underway: 15,000-seat "MLG Arena" coming to Hengqin Island, off the coast of Macau; scheduled to open in 2017.  (More)

Creepily Realistic Avatars are giving Second Life a Second Life

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is generally regarded as the worst video game of all time. So bad that Atari eventually had to bury over 5 million copies were dumped by Atari in a New Mexico landfill.  One of the reasons may have been that Atari rushed to have it available in time for Christmas. But how bad was it really? Let's Play E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial!  Now, Fuel Industries, a Canadian film production company, has received permission from the city of Alamagordo, to unearth E.T.  Long story short: urban myth confirmed.

Link Round-Up: April 28, 2014


Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$25

Friday, April 25, 2014

Music Video: The Rains of Castamere


"This is my own take on the amazing song from Game of Thrones. It's a tribute to the Red Wedding version of the song, and the amazing lyrical edition. Hope you enjoy it!"

Music Video: Rains of Castamere




Music Video: Rains of Castamere


"Don't know about you, but that second to last episode of Game of Thrones was my favorite of the season. And as soon as I heard this song by The National, I knew I wanted to make a cover of it. :)"

Music Video: The Rains of Castamere




Music Video: The Rains of Castamere



The Icelandic trio Sigur Ros — drummer Orri Pall Dyrason, bass player Georg Holm and singer Jonsi Birgisson — appeared for a brief cameo playing their funereal version of the Lanister standard "The Rains of Castamere" at the wedding of King Joffrey, but they were pelted with coins by the impatient king before getting much of the song out.  Here is the song in full.


Music Video: The Rains of Castamere


"Hi I'm Sara and this is my first video. I love singing and video making so I decided to make a cover of The Rains of Castamere from one of my favourite tv series, Game of Thrones. I hope you like it!"

Music Video: Slow Metal GoT Theme



Venezuelan rocker Santiago Rodriguez Almenara’s band adds a slow-grooving, doom metal vibe to the cover. Get ready to put up your metal horns.


Music Video: GoT Theme on Floppy Drives



Yes, you read that right. A mechanical engineering major at Cornell University has created a performance with eight backlit wall-mounted floppy drives. Apparently the stepper motors in the floppy drives can be pulsed to step at various frequencies. The pulse frequency vibrates the floppy drive assembly, which in turn produces noise. Or at least that’s what he says.
"This is the Game of Thrones theme performed on 8 backlit wall-mounted floppy drives. [...] This works because the stepper motors in the floppy drives can be pulsed to step at various frequencies. The pulse frequency vibrates the floppy drive assembly, which in turn produces noise."

Music Video: GoT Theme Violin Cover



Jason Yang is a talented man with time on his hands. The results of this perfect combination is a multi-screen, multi-track extravaganza.


Music Video: Metal GoT Theme



Personally, I think that if any musical style captures the spirit of The Game of Thrones, it has to be hard rock.  It's just the right intersection of exciting and bad ass to fit.


Music Video: Classical Game of Thrones



Aston, a bunch well-frocked young Aussies with music degrees coming out of their f-holes, decide to eschew tradition and went all-out with this outdoor version. Expert flappy drum work too.


Music Video: Game of Thrones Theme



Lindsey Stirling and Peter Hollens get a little help from Mother Nature as they perform a cover of Game of Thrones. The pair combines stunning vocals and violin with panoramic backdrops of lush vegetation to add flair to 140 tracks.  And do you hear those drums? That’s Hollens’ unorthodox beat-boxing.

I like the chess symbolism, given how much the books and television show hinge on court politics and deception. All told, it’s a great video and lovely cover of the HBO theme song.
"After making my orchestral version of the theme, "Misty Mountains," from the movie, the Hobbit, I wanted to try my hand at yet another orchestral cover. When I heard that the Game of Thrones Season 3 was to going to be aired at the end of March, I decided that a cover of the theme song had to be done!

Once again, I enlisted the help of my awesome and talented friends from college to recreate the Game of Thrones theme song as a tribute to the series."

Music Video: Orchestral GoT Theme



Beautifully shot, sedately paced and featuring weird yellow ribbons, the people behind this version clearly took their inspiration from the epic outdoor settings of Game of Thrones. Hope they asked the park ranger first.
"After making my orchestral version of the theme, "Misty Mountains," from the movie, the Hobbit, I wanted to try my hand at yet another orchestral cover. When I heard that the Game of Thrones Season 3 was to going to be aired at the end of March, I decided that a cover of the theme song had to be done!

Once again, I enlisted the help of my awesome and talented friends from college to recreate the Game of Thrones theme song as a tribute to the series."

Music Video: GoT Theme on Violin



Despite the obvious fire hazards involved with so many candles on display, Taylor Davis does a splendid job of turning the usually-buoyant GoT theme into a yearning and emotional little number. Then she starts a proper fire, puts some chain mail on and it all goes a bit Wicker Man.
"I absolutely love the Game of Thrones series and am so excited for Season 3! Hope you like my rendition of the theme, I created the orchestral backtrack and arrangement. Thanks so much for watching and for all your support!"

Video: Everything Wrong With Spider-Man



The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters on May 2.  In anticipation, CinemaSins looks back at your friendly neighborhood superhero's big screen debut with the 2002 film Spider-Man.  Whether you prefer Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, you're sure to love watching CinemaSins tear apart a good blockbuster film.

Video: 8-Bit Fifth Element



Cinefix is back with a new installment of 8-Bit Cinema, this time remaking sci-fi action classic The Fifth Element as an 8-bit video game.  This is one of the few movies CineFix has covered that I actually think would have made a good NES game.


Video: Mario is Destroying my House



What do video games do when you're not looking? Nothing. Luckily for us, John Huffnagle has a richer imagination than most, and he's invested some time into imagining a world where games do come to life while our backs are turned.

Huffnagle did a fantastic job with all of the filming, editing, music, VFX, and animation for this fun short film that imagines the world of Super Mario breaking out of his television and into the real world. The countless destructive objects and creatures would surely wreak havoc on the world if they escaped from your TV. And the first casualty would certainly be your house.


Video: Bowser Wants a Gun



Bowser pays a visit to the gun factory to have a little talk with Jerry the Turtle. While he is there he decides to ‘demonstrate’ the problem with Jerry’s work and voice his displeasure. No more slow-ass cannons; Bowser wants a real gun, cuz it's time to show Mario what's up. Guns don't kill -- Mario does.


Video: Power-Up Mix-Up




Video: Mario meets Walking Dead



Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead games are episodic adventures with difficult choices and unforeseen consequences. Dorkly imagines what the developer’s take on Super Mario Bros. would be. Luigi will no longer remember that.


Short Film: Pyramids of Egypt



During the course of a dig outside of Cairo in 1920, a single archaeologist, whose only company is a camel, makes the discovery of a lifetime. This amusing animated short film was created by Nicolas Mrikhi, Corentin Charron, Olivier Lafay, and Lise Corriol.  It was produced in a partnership between Supinfocom Arles and the Museum of Marseille.


Short Film: FOUREYES


"FOUREYES" Written & Directed by Conor Byrne

This twisted coming of age film stars Jake Ryan of Moonrise Kingdom as Bobby Bowersox, a ten year-old boy who is taken to the optometrist to get his first pair of glasses.  Getting glasses for the first time brings him to the traumatic realization that his life is changing as he approaches adolescence. The glasses serve as a heavy-handed metaphor for the fact that Bobby is beginning to see the world in a whole new way, but the quirky family comedy is enjoyable nonetheless.
"A 10-year-old boy is thrust into the tumultuous world of puberty when he gets a new pair of eyeglasses."

Quick Pic: Bioshock Fire Escape Plan


"Bioshock Infinite-Style Fire Escape Plan"
Source: Tickld


Short Film: The March



Josh Fortune created the beautiful, brooding animated film "The March" for the Sci-Fi London 48 Hour Film Challenge, which challenges film-makers to produce a short film in just 48 hours.  The film tells the story a slave forced to march across the desert of the Planet Tarsus.

Few movies get away with voiceover as a primary vehicle, but in this case, X27′s weary disembodied voice aching to make a connection is thematically pitch perfect perfect.  The animation is a quaint cut-paper job that evokes comparisons to Tatooine.  It’s ambitious for a two-day production, but it won, so I guess that was the point.


Short Film: Exit Log


"Exit Log" directed by Chris Cornwell

Set in the year in the year 2249, Exit Log follows two engineers crewing a spaceship capable of traveling three minutes back in time.  Things take a dramatic turn when they receive an emergency message from the past. "Can they decipher the message and decide their fate forever?"
"The Imagination Series is a short film competition that aims to spark people's imagination by offering them the chance to have their own short film made through interpreting a script written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher. Entries were received from all over the world, a judging panel lead by Geoffrey Fletcher were tasked with selecting the 5 most imaginative films to be premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and online."

Sculpture: Pixelated Greek Sculptures



Zerotaro is a student of sculpture at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. He creates "voxelated" sculptures ranging from classical Greek pieces to more playful scenes.


Posters: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Cinematic Universe Box Set Art by Cakes-and-Comics



Posters: Avengers Logo


The Avengers Poster by DKNG Studios


Posters: Avengers Assembled


Avengers Assembled Poster Series by Anthony Genuardi
Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$22


Posters: Avengers Icons

The Avengers Poster Set by Dylan West

The Avengers Poster Set by Dylan West
Prints available for purchase from Etsy.


Posters: Avengers Assemble


"Avengers Assemble" by Nova Scotia-based Shayla Miller
"This is probably the most excited I've ever been for a project. After seeing The Avengers in theatres (three times, I might add) I had this idea to put together a set of posters. Each poster features a sillhouette of an Avenger, and it's insides are filled with imagery that relates to each individual character. I've also made a poster for Loki, because even though he's the bad guy, he's my favourite. Also made a Nick Fury, because without him there would be no super hero power team.

Last but not least I also completed a poster of Joss Whedon, because without him I don't think Avengers would've worked as well as a movie."

Posters: Avengers


Avengers Custom Posters by Carl Bannister


Posters: Bioshock Infinite Postcards


Bioshock Infinite Postcards by Abdullah Kassem


Posters: Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite by Ron Guyatt

"Bioshock Infinite" by Toronto-based illustrator Ron Guyatt
Prints available for purchase from Etsy.


Posters: It Always ends in Blood

It Always ends in Blood by NCCreations

"A small side project of mine revolving around the fate of the three cities in the BioShock Series."

Posters: Bioshock Movie

Bioshock Move Poster Mockup by Christoffer Ekstrom

"Bioshock teaser poster. Personal work. Fire, Ice and lightning coming out of his hand to show the power of the Vigors."

Mash-Up: Avengers / Video Games


A Mash-up of Avengers and popular video game franchises.

Mash-Up: Avengers Effect


An Avengers / Mass Effect Mash-Up


Mash-Up: Zelda / Akira


A Mash-up of Legend of Zelda and Akira.


Mash-Up: The Shiny Gang


"The Shiny Gang" by James Hance
A Mash-Up of Firefly and Scooby-Doo
Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$15
T-Shirts available for purchase from RedBubble. US$23.61


News: Warhols Found on Floppy Disks


"Andy2" by Andy Warhol, 1985.
©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum

A multi-institutional team of new-media artists, computer experts, and museum professionals have discovered twenty-eight never-before-seen digital images from a dozen previously unknown experiments by Andy Warhol (BFA, 1949) on aging floppy disks from 1985. The purely digital images, “trapped” for nearly 30 years on Amiga® floppy disks stored in the archives collection of The Andy Warhol Museum (AWM), were discovered and extracted by members of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Computer Club, with assistance from the AWM’s staff, CMU’s Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (FRSCI), the Hillman Photography Initiative at the Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA), and New York based artist Cory Arcangel.

Warhol’s Amiga experiments were the products of a commission by Commodore International to demonstrate the graphic arts capabilities of the Amiga 1000 personal computer. Created by Warhol on prototype Amiga hardware in his unmistakable visual style, the recovered images reveal an early exploration of the visual potential of software imaging tools, and show new ways in which the preeminent American artist of the 20th century was years ahead of his time.

The works were only discovered, however, because artist Cory Arcangel remembered seeing the disks in Warhol’s studio in 1991 and asked Matt Wrbican, chief archivist at The Warhol, to look for the them. “In the images we see a mature artist who had spent about 50 years developing a specific hand-to-eye coordination now suddenly grappling with the bizarre new sensation of a mouse in his palm held several inches from the screen,” Wrbican told the Telegraph. “No doubt he resisted the urge to physically touch the screen — it had to be enormously frustrating, but it also marked a huge transformation in our culture: the dawn of the new era of affordable home computing. We can only wonder how he would explore and exploit the technologies that are so ubiquitous today.”


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...