Coldplay unveiled their new video for their next Viva La Vida single “Strawberry Swing” via Babelgum this morning. You might be thinking, “Viva came out like a year ago, what took the video so long?” Take one look at the video and you’ll understand why, as “Strawberry Swing” features both stop-motion animation and Chris Martin playing out a superhero fantasy. Stop-motion animation seems daunting enough to do on its own, add the fact that this was done entirely with chalk and it’s a miracle that the video came out a year after the album instead of five years. It’s one of those videos you watch at least five times just to marvel at how they made it at all, . . .

view full video on Babelgum

view full article on RollingStone.com

photographer Mike Schaefer
music by Sigur Ros

Windy Sketchin’ from Jeremy Collins on Vimeo.

This is an exerpt form his blog at jercollins.com

Every Day I didn’t climb in patagonia, I was out in the wind drawing or painting…
The sketchbook was made from a 1935 childrens’ book I found at a garage sale before I left.

Sitting and drawing in the wind and light rain didn’t make a whole lot of sense at the time, but when I try to recreate the experience– drawing similar images here in the studio, it’s not the same. My linework may be better do to a controlled situation; my reference may be more constant- using a photo instead of evolving, rolling clouds and shadows, but the onsite reality of drawing in the chaotic environment is what connects me to the moment.  . . .

read entire article from Jeremy’s website

The Legend of The Birdman
Created for the Adventure Film Festival, now travelling worldwide.

Legend Of The Birdman from Jeremy Collins on Vimeo.

Written by Jonny Copp and Jeremy Collins
Voice by David Washington
Audio by Jeremy Collins
Imagery by Jeremy Collins
Animation by Kristen Howdeshell

The Legend of the Birdman -from the Adventure Film Festival

He came from beyond the stars, mounted on a magical beast, and flew in front of the moon one night when you were staring up into your dreams-–a record keeper, forging the present. Beyond the stars and beyond the self there lies a great story. These stories, your stories, are the Birdman’s changing horizon: the purple mountainscape, a sideways glance from a passing whale. Endless layers of rich color and texture fuel his journey–-your journey, where myths are born and may fade but will never die.

Grab hold of those tail feathers. Make your own legends.

Using the mechanism of rotation and looping as a starting point, David Wilson is able to create a journey using simple but hypnotic animations.

view fullarticle on Motionographer

All of the animations seen in David Wilson’s music video for Moray McLaren’s ‘We Got Time‘ were created in camera. Repeat: in camera. No CG, no compositing animation loops onto footage – just taking advantage of the way film and persistence of vision works.

Pre-cinema optical toys – kinetoscopes, zoetropes, magic lanterns, and the praxinoscopes featured in ‘We Got Time.’ Wilson doesn’t just rely on the charm of the medium though. Using the mechanism of rotation and looping as a starting point, he’s able to create a journey using simple but hypnotic animations that tie into the idea of life/death cycles.

Also- check out the fantastic making-of video that gets deep into rpm and fps nerdiness, and the illustrated discs created by David Wilson.

The Chimney Sweep, a beautiful stop-motion animation in every sense of the word — beautifully written, beautifully art-directed, beautifully shot.

view full article on Brain Pickings

The Chimney Sweep is set up high on an Edinburgh roof top. The charaters have been built using wooden lolly pop sticks and ball and socket joints. For all details on the creation of  ”The Chimney Sweep”, visit Joseph Mann’s web site  http://josephmann.co.uk/ .