Easy

     Here's another collaboration between Porter Robinson and another animation studio, The Line. In "Easy", a girl with her face on every electronic billboard in the city is sick of living there. As a result, she escaped the city and attacked it with an electromagnetic pulse. The color palettes were well-designed. I loved the animation style of this music video as it felt like fit with the music as well. At the end, the scenes with the trees really tied into this idea where she was finally satisfied and at peace with her own life. While this is entirely subjective, it seemed that an escape from her past life was all that she needed to be happy. Below is the video.

Shelter

     Porter Robinson is a musician whose work is heavily inspired by Japanese culture. He has gained a mass following and caught the eyes of a certain animation studio. Japanese studio, A-1 Pictures, loved his music and asked to partner with him. They came together to create an anime music video for his song, "Shelter".

     In this video, we see the lonely life of a 17-year-old named Rin. She spends her life creating worlds from simple drawings on a tablet, and realizes her true fate one eventful day. You can tell no detail was overlooked when they worked on this 6-minute animation. Every background and scene seemed to be carefully done. The colors wonderfully unite together and put no strain on the eyes. While awkward at times, the animation remained mostly fluid. When this was uploaded, it became a massive hit, though there was some controversy over whether this was considered "anime" or not. Below is the behind-the-scenes and the actual video. 

Veteran's Day and The Nature of War

     Veteran's Day is something worth for every soldier sent into war. While today is to honor their efforts in war, we should honor their efforts in peace as well. 

     Justin Cliburn was deployed in Baghdad in 2005 as a humvee gunner who was able to connect with two Iraqi children, Ahmed and Ali, despite the language barrier. StoryCorps allowed Cliburn's story to be told through a short animation. At this time of his life, Cliburn had not established any deep relationships with anyone. However, that soon changed when Ali and Ahmed came into his life. They bonded and soon became best friends. Things went fine until one fateful day Ahmed and his mother were killed by a suicide bomber at a gas station. When he returned home, Cliburn had recurring nightmares about Iraq and the two boys. Fortunately though with proper treatment and his wife, he was able to overcome these fears. These veterans not only go into the fields to help fight for the freedom of our country and others, but they create lasting relationships that remain with them when they come back. Below is the animation and a link to an article Justin Cliburn wrote going more into detail.

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/the-trauma-of-lost-love/

This Actually Happens A Lot

     Don't you just hate it when you try to talk to someone and you just float away before you can even finish the conversation? That's how this guy felt in Tom Law's "This Actually Happens A Lot". 

     In this film, an unnamed girl approached him at a party and attempted to engage in conversation with him. He floats around and makes a complete fool of himself with his inability to control it. His floating ability symbolizes social anxiety, as he feels disconnected from society and everything else. With this inability to relate, he floats farther and farther away as he fails to connect to anyone there until the girl attempts to reach out to him. While the composition could have been presented better in some places, the overall film was great. The animation felt smooth, but somehow suitable for the mood it set along with the colors. Below is the film, for anyone interested in watching it.

Rendezvous with The Rendezvous

     Fiona, a lonely girl in a lonely world, has no one to turn to until one fateful night she meets a lovely stranger named Lamonte in her dreams. Night after night, she looks forward to sleeping as she spends her time with him on surreal, enchanting dates. Her attitude in the real world changes as she goes more often into her dreams. The art is consistently gorgeous and delivers the mood effectively. I love how Maksn, the creator, utilized the color red to make certain things stand out in her animatic, such as Fiona's ribbon and lipstick. Her composition for some scenes such as the dream dates and the end were incredible and it gave life to her drawings. Below is the animatic for those interested.

Tiny Nomad, a MouseyTale

     First there was The Rescuers with adventurous mice, then there was The Tale of Despereaux, and now you have Tiny Nomad. Toniko Pantoja's six-minute film is nothing short of a Disney story. It immediately immerses you into the world of this tiny, courageous mouse. You get to see his character develop throughout the story and how his mother was such an influential part of it. The beautiful colors and breathtaking backgrounds make you feel as if you're part of this mouse's life, being there with him for every second of the film. Below is the film for those interested.

Missing Halloween

     Today is Halloween! And for this day, what better way for this blog to celebrate than to discuss an animation about Halloween?

     In Mike Inel's cutesy world, "Missing Halloween", a boy establishes an unlikely friendship that soon escalates and leads to a shocking discovery. The animation was overall amazing, and the color scheme helps set the mood early. I admire the animator's choice of art style. While it contrasts the mood of the story at the beginning, it delivers an effective punch at the end. Below is the animation for those who are interested in watching it.