WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
When it comes to video, I love coming across pieces that challenge and surprise me. Here are just a few of my favorites.
“Alice” by Pogo — Pogo is a musician whose instrument is video editing software. Pogo loops and layers snippets from popular films (often animated Disney features) to create soundscapes that are somehow both familiar and alien.
“Western Spaghetti” by PES — PES is one of the most visually inventive animators working today. PES’s stop-motion shorts often utilize everyday objects in unusual ways, along with playful “human animation.”
“World of Tomorrow” (clip) by Don Hertzfeldt — Don Hertzfeldt’s animation is often deceptively simple in appearance, but he is a master of his craft. “World of Tomorrow” is his first film created using computer-based techniques. If this resonates with you, check out his other work, including the Academy Award-nominated “Rejected” and his memorable “couch gag” from a 2014 episode of The Simpsons.
“Centriphone” by Nicolas Vuignier — I love the creative ingenuity at work here; Nicolas Vuignier created something utterly unique using a camera many of us carry with us every day. Of course, clever ideas still need to be executed well. Watch the making-of video to see just how much trial-and-error he went through to create the finished piece.
Rear Window Timelapse by Jeff Desom – This is a pretty remarkable — and painstaking — example of using existing footage to create something entirely new. I really like the way the end result uses focus shifts to create the look of a miniature world.
Project 1: What Inspires You?
Your first assignment is simple: find a video online that you find inspiring and share it. You could be drawn to the video’s editing or sound design, it could showcase great effects work, it might have beautiful cinematography and a unique style, or it might just be a clever idea executed well. It could even be something you’d like to learn how to do in this class.
You don’t need to find a video on any particular site, but it needs to be available for streaming online so that I can share it with the rest of the class. Some great places to look are the Vimeo Staff Picks and the Studio Daily videos of the day. Of course, there endless channels and playlists on YouTube as well.
Send me an email (dan014@bucknell.edu) with a link to the video along with a short line or two about what you like about it. Be sure to get it to me by Thursday morning so that I can post them online for class next week.