29 July 2011

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty



Once upon a time there was a sweet old lady, who used to tell her grand daughter charming, sweet fairy tales with happy endings every evening.  Then, there was Granny O'Grimm, an embittered old Irish woman who would tell her own version of fairy tales.

Dark, wickedly funny and beautifully made, this six minute animation was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2009 - as well as winning a number of prestigious prizes in its own right. If you like the idea of a lovely bedside story becoming a hilarious rant against the unfairness of old age in general, then you will love this.

The film was directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Darragh O'Connell and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke (left). Brown Bag Films is an animation studio based in Dublin (Ireland!). They also have a cool blog here.

It was Established in 1994 by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell.  Brown Bag Films produce 3D character animation, including short films, features and TV series for international markets. The studio is multi-award-winning.

Ever Wondered How Wind Turbines Stay in Place?

A sea based marine farm of wind turbines can be a magnificent or most depressing sight, depending on your point of view.  Yet have you ever wondered how the wind turbines manage to stand so rigidly straight all the time.  After all, when have you ever heard of one toppling over?

The answer is in the foundations.  They are huge.  The first pictures here show specialists from the engineering firm of Bilfinger Berger hard at work in the middle of the Baltic Sea.  There a wind farm of 90 turbines is being assembled and in order to ensure they stay upright their foundations must be extremely heavy.  The size is just incredible.

The next two pictures show the rig Rambiz in the process of lowering the foundations of wind turbines at sea near Oostende.

Here you get an even better idea about just how large these foundations must be to do their job.

If you need to put the sheer size of these monstrous foundations in to context, take a look at what they have to support.  Here, parts of a wind turbine are transported through the English town of Edenfield.  Yes, they are the rotor blades you can see.

The Hobbit in Under 2 Minutes


If you are too busy lazy to read thebook and are listlessly waiting the never ending wait for the Peter Jackson movie version, perhaps you might want to consider filling your Tolkien knowledge in with this short animation by Declan Moran of The Brothers Grim and Grimy. 

It isn't quite like the Wikipedia entry either.  Described by Moran as Valley Girl + Hobbit + Lebowski = Most Concise Summary Ever, that pretty much gives you an idea about how you are going to spend the next two minutes.

As such, you are either going to love this or despise it with a passion.  You can guess my feelings by its presence on Kuriositas - though I must admit to being a fan of Moran's earlier work Dante's Inferno in Under 2 Minutes. It has spiked my interest in the book once again, so much that I can feel a scurry to the book shelves coming on...

28 July 2011

Dragonboy Wins Gold Medal at Student Academy Awards

Last year we brought you the marvelous animation Dragonboy, which was created by three Academy of Art University students. Created as a collaborative thesis by Bernardo Warman, Shaofu Zhang and Lisa Allen (pictured above) the animation was entered for the Student Academy Awards, which is conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is now in its 38th year.

You may have guessed (from the title of this post alone!) that these alum of the Academy of Arts University, located in San Francisco went on to win a Gold Medal for Dragonboy in the Student Academy Awards in Animation.  This is no mean feat - past winners have included such global names as Spike Lee and Robert Zemeckis. The team at Kuriositas would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the talented trio who will no doubt go on to great things in their chosen field.

The Academy of Art University has an interview with the Gold Medal winners over at their website in which they talk about their work and what they are doing since graduation.  In the meantime, are you scratching your head about the animated short movie which won them their prize? It was one of our very favorites from last year.

If you are new to Kuriositas, then it is the story of one little guy, whose moment in the spotlight in the school play will stay with him forever. This charming animation covers a lot of what you might expect from the yearly Christmas performance.  A knight. A princess. A dragon. Three little kids. And an epic battle for love and honor.

Once again, congratulations to Bernardo Warman, Shaofu Zhang and Lisa Allen.

Action!

The Strange Elegance of the Giraffe-Necked Antelope

In Somalia the Giraffe-Necked Antelope is known as a Gerenuk, which means neck like a giraffe and you certainly have to admit - that is some neck they have on them! The only species in its genus, it is effectively all alone in the world, unique but sadly under threat like so many other large mammals in Africa.Over at the Ark in Space there is a feature about this charming yet curiously shaped animal.

Portrait of Nikola Tesla

This fantastic piece of street art was captured at the Abode of Chaos. The building, situated near Lyons in France is a living sum of almost three thousand artworks. This amazing work shows the inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla at around the age of 35 in the year 1890.  As such it shows him a year or two after he would have started to investigate something that would later be known as X-rays. It was also at the time Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transmission - as early as 1891.

The Road to Damascus


Sometimes, when racism and bigotry are in your face you have to confront them head on.  Mostly, though, they can be outclassed in a few moments with reasoned argument, quiet but persistent refusal to be put down and a choice word in your own language.

The Road to Damascus (love the irony of the title) shows us a very short converstion between two police officers in a pub.  In this short film by Ian Gamester the senior (white) police officer discusses the reasons for his colleague’s ease of entry in to the force.  Watch it until the very end – it had me in fits of laughter.

The film features Henri Khoury as Nazari and Julian Rivett as Johnson. 

The Giants of Nantes


From Friday 27 to Sunday, May 29, 2011, a huge crowd followed the adventures of the giants of Royal de Luxe in the streets of Nantes, France.

The little girl and the giant go on their adventures and the people of Nantes gape in astonishment.

The amazing spectacle was caught on film by FKY, a graphics designer based in the city. The opportunity for this sort of awesome footage does not happen very often!

Royal de Luxe is a French mechanical marionette street theatre company.

They were founded in 1979 by Jean Luc Courcoult. Based in Nantes, the company has performed in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Chile, Australia and Mexico.

Satin Dollz - Whatever Lola Wants


There’s nothing quite like a little burlesque on any day of the week but if you are in the mood for a lot then may I suggest you press the play button on the video above? The 10 strong bevy of beauties that is the Satin Dollz perform Whatever Lola Wants with some relish – not to mention something of an air of satisfaction.

No wonder – the whole lavish extravaganza cost less than $2000.

On a budget which might make a meat bra for the likes of Lady Gaga, Dan Blank has directed this at once laid back yet delirious homage to the age of MGM musicals, pin-ups and Tex Avery (cast your mind back if you can to Red Hot Riding Hood).

Shot on a Canon 7-D, Blank then used After Effects, Cinema 4D (and a whole lot of elbow grease and polish) to produce this extremely cool yet seductive video.

You can see how he created this amazing looking video on a shoestring budget here –  imagine what he could do with a budget of similar size to one of Missy Elliot’s videos in their financially out of control moments.

Dan Blank is a Writer, Designer, Motion Graphics Artist, Animator, Compositor, Cinematographer, Sculptor, Illustrator, Stop-motion Animator, Gourmand, Raconteur, Photographer, Voice Actor, and generalist.

He also makes ice cream.

Of course this video wouldn’t look quite so good without the presence of the rather gorgeous looking Satin Dollz themselves, including Makinna Ridgway who is pictured left, who is Monique in the Dollz.   Formed in 2006 these lovely ladies sing, dance and simply charm themselves (and others) through the golden age of stage and movie musicals, from the 30s to the 50s.   

Their own website is worth a gander or two too!

27 July 2011

The Big Yellow Rabbit of Örebro

A Big Yellow Rabbit has invaded a Swedish city.  There he is, above, relaxing in his new home. It may not be a surprise to hear, however, that this piece of installation art has split the local community down the middle. Yet love it or hate it, the Big Yellow Rabbit of Örebro in Sweden demands attention.

The town is in the middle of its annual open art festival and among many others this year it attracted Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman who already has something of a reputation for the sensation that his art creates. Made from wood and painstakingly constructed over a number of days, Hofman’s big yellow rabbit has attracted many fans.

It has, on the other hand, attracted the ire of some locals who resent the fact that the historic center of their town has been taken over by a fifty foot high, thirty foot long rabbit. They feel that the art on display should enhance Örebro and feel that the rabbit simply does not do that.  Plus it was pricey, costing US$20,000. It may not be my money but I think the Big Yellow Rabbit is huge fun (literally) and worth every krona.

The BYR (as perhaps we should call it!) will not be there forever – the festival lasts for a month and after that the rabbit will disappear from the town.  Until then the townsfolk have a new attraction to look forward to seeing every day or something to avoid for the duration.  At least the festival has 1,000 other (albeit smaller) exhibits from which to chose a favorite.

So, what do you think of the Big Yellow Rabbit? Let us know!

Alternative Movie Posters by Traumatron

When we came across these great alternative movie posters (which would even make fantastic book covers too) by Flickr User Traumatron Illustration then we had to share them with you.  They are a very cool take on what the posters for these movies might have looked like had a darker imagination been at work perhaps. If you would like to see more of Traumatron’s work then use this link to get to their Flickr Photostream. Oh and before you point it out, we know that The Prisoner was not a movie but it was so good we just had to slip it in here - for good measure!

26 July 2011

Prisoner 4100

This miserable looking little boy is Prisoner 4100.  The picture was taken in 1872 after his arrest for stealing rabbits.  Young George Davey as he was known was ten years old.  He was sentenced to a month’s hard labour. If he were still alive today he would be 149 years old.

Memories of London


If you live or have ever visited London you will know what a busy and vibrant place it is in the twentieth century.  Of course, it has been like that for centuries – we have pictures and engravings which prove just that.

Yet with the advent of the moving picture, organisations like the BBC were able to begin recording the English capital on film.

In this – memories of London – we see the city in black and white, but the scenes of the place from the fifties and sixties show that in some ways the place hasn’t changed a bit. 

However, in terms of fashion perhaps we can be satisfied that we have moved on a little!

Surreality


Sometimes, it must be acknowledged, life can get a little strange. Perhaps not for long but odd and peculiar things happen each and every day.

The denizens of this particular city are about to experience a little surreality all of their own.

This enigmatic short film by Falco Tilgner is perhaps a reminder that even at its most mundane and every day, life can be a little surreal!

23 July 2011

Captain Cumulus


Captain Cumulus is in trouble but he receives some assistance from an unexpected source.

This is a very sweet animated short film by James Hing and Melissa Choong. Please don't expect Shakespeare or Dickens, the story is short and simple - but charming! If you have any small children loitering nearby call them over - they will adore this!

It just goes to show that sometimes we shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover!

Don't Hold Back, Just Push Things Forward


Do you like your mashups? This is a nine video, live AV mashup created by Chris from Ithaca Audio using Ableton Live and an Akai APC40.

How many films, TV shows and ads can you spot? OK, let's start with the easy one and say - obviously - that Star Wars is in there!

Please, list them below - even if they are the obvious ones - let's see if we can get all nine!

22 July 2011

Jokes So Bad they Will Make You Ho(a)rse

If you fancy a rather cheesy five minutes then pop over to the Ark in Space.  There are lots of horse jokes to be had over there today together with a gallery of, you guessed it, horses laughing their heads off.  We suspect that it may not be the jokes at which they are laughing - but that is up to you to decide!

Behind You

Sometimes, it’s best to let the photographer explain.  This wonderful photograph was taken by Flickr user An Untrained Eye who has a small but excellent photostream over there.
"This is one of those photographs that occasionally repay the futile efforts we street photographers so often make in search of the arresting image. When I saw the stencilled girl (who is actually much smaller than she looks) on this street corner, I was convinced I could catch a great picture of her looking back over her shoulder at someone heading up the street. So I crouched down in the Lisbon drizzle and waited. I must have been there for twenty minutes and taken a dozen or more not entirely satisfactory shots - the person needed to be walking up the near side of the street; there couldn't be any other people in view; and so on - when this chap obligingly looked round at, well, the decisive moment."

My Eternity


Sometimes we lose people we love – and that can be a time which is difficult to bear because all you can see is an eternity – my eternity – ahead without that person in your life. Yet what can make these periods in our lives easier to tolerate are the memories which those loved ones leave behind.

Here, a family loses a husband and a father. The daughter reflects – and remembers one moment that she shared with her father which could become her eternal and most abiding memory of him. Beautifully made, this short film which combines live action and animation was made by Michael Bauer.

When it gets tough, remember the happy times...

Tataouine – the Real Tatooine

The name is best known the world over as the fictional home planet of Luke Skywalker. Yet Tatooine is not only a dry desert planet of a binary star system in the Arkanis Sector.  It has been on the world map (at least the one of planet Earth) a lot longer than George Lucas - yet in a somewhat different guise.

A small city in the North African country of Tunisia, Tataouine (one of many spellings) is home to the ksour – amazing fortified granaries used by the Berber population. 

Yet for millions of movie goers they are instantly recognizable as the slave dwellings of the city of Mos Espa, the childhood home of Luke’s father, Jedi gone (very, very) bad Anakin Skywalker. In Berber, the city of Tataouine has two meanings, Eyes or Water Springs – that despite the fact it looks as arid as a city can get.

George Lucas used the area of Ksar Ouled Soltane in Tataouine when he filmed The Phantom Menace but his Star Wars connection with Tunisia goes back to the original Star Wars episode when he chose various locations in the country to depict the wider world of the fictional desert planet Tatooine.

He named the planet, with a slight variation in spelling, after the historic French garrison city.  This was perhaps a homage or perhaps simply because to Western ears the place does have a cool, out of this world ring to its name. Yet the buildings that served as a backdrop for Mos Espa are to be found in one part of that city - in an area known as Ksar Ouled Soltane.

Ksar Ouled Soltane began life several hundred years ago as a ksar.  This is a fortified granary which is spread out around a courtyard.  The granaries are multi-storied and made from adobe.  They are always located, like the one in Tataouine, on the top of the hill.  In this way the valuable grain was better protected from raiding parties intent on stealing it.

Although the granaries are now uninhabited the filming of Star Wars there has assured their survival.  As well as becoming one of the more important stops for anyone visiting Tunisia for a vacation which focuses on the history of the place, the granaries of Tataouine has also become a pit stop for fans of the Lucas movies undergoing an exotic Star Wars themed vacation.

By all accounts the place has not become themed beyond the point of redemption. There is only a single tourist shop there and while some of the locals do go around in Obi Wan-Kenobi robes it is sometimes difficult to tell whether it is in homage to the Jedi master or their traditional clothing.

There are no hotels in the town and very few restaurants so those visitors who arrive come in hired cars or mostly buses and only stay for a few hours.   This at least assures that when you visit you do not feel surrounded by other tourists.

The granaries of Ksar Ouled Soltane have, in this way, a feeling of exclusivity for those who arrive there. You might almost, after all, be somewhere in the Outer Rim Territories – but do watch out for the Hutts. Nasty lot by all accounts.