Weird Internet Animations

asdfmovie is by far, one of my favorite weird internet animated videos of all time. Simple, completely out of context, and hilarious. Animation and comedy seem to go hand in hand every time.

The asdfmovies were written by Thomas "TomSka" Ridgewell, a British comedy writer. His comedy is typically dark and random. The asdfmovies are comprised of short animated sketches. Tom gained a large following after the popularization of his first asdfmovie (2008) and has released a total of nine to date (the most recent one was released August 7, 2015).

Tom releases other types of videos on his channel as well, yet most of them are comedic sketches and animated shorts. Another one of my favorites from his channel is Rock Bottom (uploaded in 2012), a short sketch about two guys living in a house that falls off a cliff and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The short video pokes fun at the comedy used in many sitcoms. If you want a good laugh, I recommend watching this one. It's only one minute long.

An Object At Rest

An Object at Rest is a short animated film I found while looking through Vimeo's collection of animated shorts. On their front page there are some incredible examples of animated shorts including Wire Cutters and Ascension to name a few. An Object at Rest was the one that caught my eye though. A charming little short about how a mountain is worn down over time, the style is almost whimsical, and the tone seems to be cheerful but with some darker undertones. The water color style and pastel colored pallet help aid this style.

I never really understood how vast a resource Vimeo is, but now I think I'll be using it much more in the future.



An Object at Rest

This is a cute stop motion animation short. The video uses stop motion animation to animate two drawing skeletons in an epic Midwest showdown. The video is funny and ridiculous in it's simplicity. There is an animated explosion at the end which the only non stop motion part of the video.

Slow Wave Short Animation

https://vimeo.com/155080375

While looking for something to blog about I came across this video and instantly got intrigued. The animation throughout this short is really captivating. The storyline itself was so imaginative and it managed to capture such an interesting that every child has more than likely faced. I think it's incredible how much effort went into this animation. The way the floor moves, and the lights shine through is really interesting to me. There is so much texture going on throughout the entire short that it really does leave you intrigued the entire time.

Cute animated short done in Maya

This is an adorable and funny animated short using Maya and photoshop, mixed with premiere. I would not have guessed that this was made in Maya, although it is in 3D I thought it would have been done, at least in part in After Effects. It was made by 3 college students and it was well edited. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone at our school something like this.

Weekly Inspiration: Good Your Journey

I came across yet another video on Vimeo that was inspirational. I found the simplicity in this video to be the best, the inspiration for Good Your Journey was the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The animation in this short are all shapes, particles, etc. -- basically everything we've covered in class-- but I find it intriguing how these minor skills in after effects, if executed well, can create an amazing short. Beyond this short animation, Stephen Mlinarcik has linked his personal website to his Vimeo page, I encourage you all to take a look at his webpage, he has not only created animated, directed, and edited shorts but he has also composed, photographed, and performed-- just proving how the media industry is all art, and there is pleasure in being able to be good at multiple formats. 

Good Your Journey from Stephen Mlinarcik on Vimeo.

Disney's Animated Short: "Feast"

A teaser of the short film, "Feast."

Patrick Osborne pitched his animated short idea about showing the progression of a romantic relationship through the perspective of a dog to John Lasseter. It was chosen, and Walt Disney Animation Studios began the tedious process of creating a new animation.

"Feast" played in theaters before "Big Hero Six," and received amazing reviews from critics and audiences alike.

The creators studied real Boston Terriers in order to achieve just the right hand-drawn look.

"Feast" just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Watch this short video that shows some part of the creative process behind "Feast."

Getting into the Halloween Spirit

Since it is in fact Halloween, I decided that now was the perfect time to talk about Disney's "The Skeleton Dance". This animation was produced and directed by Walt Disney himself and animated by Ub Iwers. This film shows a group of four skeletons who dance around and make music with very peculiar musical instruments. It was created in 1929 as a part of the "Silly Symphonies" animated shorts. The group of skeletons dance to music that was inspired by the Saint-Saëns composition, "Danse Macabre" aka the "dance of death" which seems all too fitting. This short animation was also the first animation where the sound was not post-synced. It has been highly regarded as one of the greatest cartoons of all time as well and I think we all could learn a thing or two from their dancing!

Sunny and Steve

Since Easter was this past weekend, I thought this adorable short was ever so appropriate. Now I know most of my posts are mainly shorts that I made for kids but this one I just could not resist!  This short reminds me of all my favorite clay-mation christmas movies that are normally played on ABC Family as part of the 25 days of Christmas special every year. Sunny and Steve is my favorite animated short for more reasons than one. MPC created the short and used many techniques to give it a distinct look.

MPC created the set by hand. Only the characters were created digitally. Each character also embodied the feeling that was given from the hand built set from scrap clothes and styrofoam. 

This short is quirky and cute. I think it is funny for all ages. Check out Sunny and Steve!