.Nike - Airport'98

This was one of the commercials made for the FIFA World Cup 1998 I think.. Impressive camera work!

Blog Entry #10: stop motion white board video

Yet another hand-drawn stop motion animation.. But perspective is involved in this one, which makes it pretty interesting.

What I really like about this stop motion is:
- The transformation from a circle to a CD, followed by the iPod click wheel.
- Going through a small tunnel towards a country side landscape.

Also, note that there are multiple scenes in this animation, unlike most hand-drawn stop motion animations, which usually only contain one scene.

Blog Entry #9: Embrace Life - Always wear your seat belt

A campaign in the United Kingdom that emphasizes the use of seat belts when driving.

Unlike most safety campaigns, which usually runs very quickly and hence, doesn't leave much impression, this one uses slow motion, which allows us, as audiences, to see the emotions involved in the scene.

The final bit of this video clip seem to portray the natural instincts family members have with each other - that they would always try to protect each other from harm no matter what happens.

Blog Entry #8: The Known Universe by AMNH

Initially, one may portray this as another [boring] documentary about our universe. I actually became more curious about the planets and infinite amount of galaxies around us. Once, my other half and I commented that there might be school kids out from another galaxy who is studying us, humans from Earth, for their science project or something.

Anyways, this is just a basic video of what goes on outside Earth, followed by the galaxy we live in. I felt a little light-headed towards the end of this video, because it really felt like I was floating away from Earth, towards our galaxy, followed by "the known" universe.

I reckon this video will not be as effective as it is, if it wasn't for the background "atmospheric" type of music.. And this would definitely look great on a 50" High Definition screen!

Blog Entry #7: chicken tennis

One word – hilarious.
This is a telecommunication commercial made for Vodafone in the United Kingdom. I'm actually still getting a good laugh over this 30-second animation despite watching this multiple times (over and over) again over the past year.

There can be enough emphasize in the importance of music and sound effects in motion graphics. For example, the laughter - it is just so.. infectious.

Another factor that made this such a funny commercial might be the combination of animals and technology - something that can never be seen in real life. Unusual scenes are pretty funny most of the time.. Don't you agree? :)

Blog Entry 6: Stop-Motion Drawing

"If only reality was like this for everyone sometimes.." I thought to myself as I watch the animation unfold. Hand drawn stop-motion animations are definitely much more challenging and time-consuming than other animating methods available.. And the process of using this method to convey something must have been painful.

I was engrossed in the animation, even though the context is a representation of daily life in general, and that it is hand-drawn in black and white.

So there we go, this proves my belief that "less is more". :)

Blog Entry #5: TOKIDOKI

Tokidoki (translates to "sometimes" in Japanese) happens to be one of my favorite illustrations, and I was stoked to actually find some motion graphics of Tokidoki up on Youtube!

Anyways, the first thing that caught my attention is the combination of 2-dimension and 3-dimension. In this case, 2D characters/objects are being used in a 3D environment. Very innovative use of camera angle, it really feels as though we are following Adios (the Grim Reaper) from the back. The soundtrack behind this motion graphics totally reminds me of a game environment, which goes really well with this animation since it actually looks as though Adios is running in a game scene.

Tokidoki illustrations will always be one of the works of art that inspires me.