The Magic of Monkeys

So, for those of you who aren't familiar with the Gorillaz, I feel really..bad for you. The Gorillaz are not only an amazing band, but they follow up with amazing animation and art direction concepts, done by Jamie Hewlett. Damon Albarn is the lead singer, and met fellow animator and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett in college. Together, they began conceptualizing the idea for Gorillaz!

During their early years, the band would stand behind a huge screen while live visuals of the animated characters were projected onto the screen for the audience. The virtual band The Gorillaz is consisted of 2D, Murdoc, Russle and Noodle. The music videos, along with a novel called Rise of the Ogre, follow these characters and their various adventures in the non fictitious world that they live in. It is a truly fascinating universe and I strongly recommend you guys check it out! I have been following the Gorillaz for a while, as I am in love with their music videos. They recently released a video for a song called "Stylo," which is their first live action video and was featured on the album "Plastic Beach." Notice the artistic differences between the animation in Stylo and the rest of the videos I'll post. It really is amazing!

Since this post is about the magic of monkeys, I will be posting another AMAZING animated short film about a monkey. It's called "Shave It," and is written and directed by Jorge Tereso. The production company who made the film goes by the name 3dar studios. I have to say, this short animation has one of the best examples of art direction and coloring that I have yet to see. The whole world in which this money lives in simply filled with rich colors, so colorful in fact that you feel as if you can taste it! Ok, this is getting weird but my point is the film is both creatively and visually innovative and it is definitely worth the watch. 

Here is the 3dar website!

http://www.3dar.com/the-work/