Student Accomplice - a Driving Test Adventure

Almost everyone who has ever failed their driving test has some kind of excuse. I cannot calculate the amount of “I should have passed” stories I have sat through – often regaled in excruciatingly minute detail – recounting the reasons why they should really, honestly, absolutely have passed.  And the excuses that they come up with!  Yet, here’s one story about potential failure that I wouldn’t mind hearing (except I’ve already watched it).

Student Accomplice is tells the story of a nervous teen who is in the middle of her driving test when she gets caught up in a robbery, with the villain of the piece choosing her car as his getaway vehicle.  Suspending your disbelief for a moment, prepare to do it for several minutes as the high-speed chase (through what looks like San Francisco) unfolds.

This highly enjoyable animated short was created by a group of students at Brigham Young University (BYU) while studying at its Animation School.  It was directed by Spencer Baird and produced by Briele Hanson, with art direction by Brandon Beltran.  Many more students, too numerous to name here, were included in the making of Student Accomplice. Hats off to them all!

Watch the animated short below.

Fukuoka City (福岡市) Hyperlapse - Visit Japan's Youngest Major City for Five Minutes

Fukuoka City is Japan's youngest major city and has Japan's fastest growing population.  Even so, it has a history that goes back at least 1500 years – it just took its time getting big.  It is also the closest Japanese port city to mainland Asia and its local culture and population reflects that.  This amazing hyperlapse of the city shows it off perfectly – a fascinating five minute snapshot from a place that many outside of Japan haven’t really heard of.  The video also contains a glimpse of two of the intriguing Yamakasa  festival (pictured above) that is held every year in July.

In case you wonder, as I did, why a hyperlapse about a city called Fukuoka has so many signs that seem to indicate that we are in a place called Hakata, there is a good reason for this. Hakata was once a city in its own right, but has been subsumed into Fukuoka as the latter became larger.  The two cities became one in 1878 but it is still thought of, in many ways, as a city within a city.

Watch the amazing hyperlapse video below.

The Morning Glory Detective Story

You would be forgiven for thinking that the vibrant, perhaps lurid, colors of the Morning Glory Pool in the Upper Geyser Basin of the Yellowstone National Park in the US were completely natural.  After all, it has been a popular tourist destination for tourists for many a decade. However, only five decades ago the pool was a completely different color. Cue much scratching of heads. Image Credit Flickr User alh1

Image Credit Flickr User Daveynin

We’re Kinda Different

Sometimes, you come across something so perplexingly, brilliantly, deliriously and completely whole, you wonder two things.  You wonder how and when the idea sprang into existence.  Then you wonder why it took this long to make it to the rest of us.  Such is the case with We’re Kinda Different by Ben Meinhardt (with artistic direction and trumpet playing by his young son).

It tells the story of a little fella who has been born with his butt underneath his face.  This three minute musical interlude introduces us to his world and tells us how he came to terms with his condition – even though he thinks he needs to get checked out by a doctor.  I think this should be compulsory viewing for teenagers who are so enveloped and overwhelmed by the beauty standards they have imposed on them by the internet (yes, that was a bit lazy of me), that this might serve as a reminder that they, too, are kinda different in a special way – their own way.  We’re Kinda Different conveys a very powerful message in possibly the silliest way imaginable, but that does not detract from its point.

One of my father’s favourite sayings was “Blessed be the cracked, for they let in the light.”  I never thought that it could become even more of a layered statement than it already is, but there you go.  This little fella has certainly let a little more light into my day - through his particular crack, as it were...

Watch the full song below.

MIB: Neuralize This! - A Men in Black Comedy Short

Sometimes, you just can’t get the staff.  When you work for MIB as a field agent, the main aim of the job is to protect humanity from any threat posed by aliens – but also to provide refuge for any seeking to immigrate or to seek asylum.  The two agents at the heart of MIB: Neuralize This! get it wrong on virtually every conceivable level… but the viewer has a lot of fun on the way.

The production values here are pretty high – it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish this fan film from the real thing.  It has an alien incident, action, lots of action (it starts in media res, so you need to understand the Men in Black universe to an extent) and, most importantly for me, tight plotting and scripting.  It’s a self-contained MIB incident with a very satisfying end (well, not for the alien, perhaps).  But the fact that it is so well self-contained – a MIB vignette as it were – is its greatest strength, though hats off to director and writer Martin Sofiedal for the atmosphere, VFX and pace of this seven minute short.  There is no self-indulgence here, which can be a flaw of so many fam-made homages.

 A mention for the cast, too.  Despite the brevity of the film, they all bring their characters to life in this short time.  The agents seem to know each other’s shortcomings well, which might indicate that they have worked together for quite a while – although I am not entirely convinced that their success rates will have them on the office leaderboard.  You might feel sorry for the alien, who isn’t given much of a chance to explain itself, but perhaps the human witnesses get the rawest deal – watch the film to see why!

(This short is not affiliated with Sony or the official Men in Black franchise. It is a not-for-profit fan film.)  Get yourself a cuppa, press play below and have a fun seven minutes.

Looks like it was taken yesterday...

Have you ever seen a photograph from decades ago and almost refused to believe that it is so old.  So it was with this one.  While researching an upcoming article for Kuriositas on Flickr’s The Commons (where various organisations upload their archive pictures) I came across the picture above.  Of course, it is in black and white, but I was immediately struck by how modern the subject of the picture looked. The picture has not been upscaled or put through AI. He looks like a model for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike or Calvin Klein, with his tanned body, gently tousled hair and (slightly moody) good looks.

In fact, this photograph was taken in 1922.  That’s 103 years ago…

It really is one of those double-take moments.  This is someone from 2025 who has access to the Tardis, surely?

So, who is this athletic time-traveller? Thomas Edward 'Tom' Blake (March 8, 1902 – May 5, 1994) was an American athlete, inventor, and writer, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of surfing. He played a crucial role in evolving the sport from a local Hawaiian tradition into a nationally recognised pastime.  It is thought that this was taken at  Brighton Beach (situated along the southern coast of Brooklyn, right next to Coney Island) where he competed with a certain Johnny Weissmuller in an open water swimming race.

Looks like it was taken yesterday.

Time to Change the Collective Noun for Pandas!

 At some point in the 1990s or early 2000s, someone, somewhere on the internet gave the giant panda the collective noun “an embarrassment of pandas” and it stuck.  No one knows, and don't ask the pandas.  They're too busy rolling downhill. This collective noun, frankly, denigrates the panda population – put simply, it’s a slur! Our sibling site the Ark inSpace has decided to do something about this, making an appeal for a populist change. As you might expect from Ark, there is a wonderful collection of panda pictures to accompany the article. You can even vote for your alternative collective noun, or suggest one yourself.  Why not pop over and vote?

Image Credit

200 Nuns Walk into a Movie Theater...

It sounds like the beginning of a joke but that is exactly what happened in Sydney, Australis on the 24 April 1938. The picture here shows a huge nun ensemble, gathered together to watch Tarzan’s Revenge.  OK, so that is a complete lie.  The movie that the nuns were so keen to watch was “Cloistered” which, as you have probably guessed, was all about nuns. French nuns.  French nuns going about their daily lives.

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To get access to a convent in this way was very unusual at this time, so for director Robert Alexandre it was something of a coup.  Likewise, in Sydney, hundreds of nuns descending on a cinema at the same time was considered newsworthy (even though the young man on the left of the picture above seems distracted - girl trouble of another kind, no doubt). It all gets a little meta.  The media was curious about nuns who were curious to see a film about nuns, about whose lives little was known.  Regardless, the nuns do seem to be looking forward to the event.

Shattering Stars - the Story of the Indian Scientist Mocked for his Ideas

You may not have heard of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-95) – but that’s no problem – you are about to.  When studying in the 1930s at Cambridge, Chandra was mocked for his idea that not all stars become white dwarves at the end of their lifecycle.  He believed that when stars achieved a certain mass, they would form something denser – denser than anything that had been previously observed.

In fact, Chandra was the first scientist to start thinking about what we now call black holes.  After his now infamous knockback, Chandra’s life took a different path but he still won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 for his work on stellar evolution.  This is his story – and great use is made of recordings of Chandrasekhar himself.  It is directed by Peter Galison, a historian of science at Harvard University.  Special mention should be made about the wonderful art direction and animation by Shiv Kachiwala.

Galison’s short film sheds light on the life and achievements of one of the 20th century’s most remarkable scientific thinkers, while also examining how scientific endeavours are sometimes influenced by human flaws.

The Ice Builders (or How to Create your own Glacier)

In the Himalayan mountains of Northern India, life has never been easy.  However, there are new pressures on the traditional life of the Zanskar valley, coming from external sources. As the narrator of The Ice Builders says, the Tibetans are “the first victims of climate changes” but adds “very soon, you will all be victims too.” This is said in a very matter-of-fact way and not as a threat – but something inevitable.

The people of Zanskar, part of the Ladakh region, depended on the glaciers, at the bottom of which they built their villages.  Over the past 15 years, however, the local people have been forced to not count on the presence of the glaciers for their water anymore.  They have disappeared.  This film, directed by Francesco Clerici and Tommaso Barbaro focuses on how the Ladakhi people (particularly Sonam Wangchuk – activist and engineer) have responded to this.

The solution has not been to give up, pack their bags and move away. Stories from the past inspired these people to build artificial glaciers. Of course, the methods used to create them had been lost to time so today’s Ladakhi have had to reinvent the wheel, as such.   Using modern science, Wangchuk’s solution has been to create what he calls “stupas of ice”.  And they are spectacular.

Watch the video below – a testament to human ingenuity in the face of adversity.

Banpo – The World’s Longest Double Decker Fountain Bridge

The South Korean capital of Seoul is a mega city with over ten million inhabitants.  As such, space for infrastructure is at a premium so when the city needed a new bridge over the river Han in the early 1980s there was a simple solution offered by architects: build it on top of the existing bridge and make it a double decker.  The citizens of Seoul Special City (to give the metropolis its full name) loved the bridge so much that six years ago they added the longest bridge fountain in the world.

Your average citizen of Seoul would know where you were going if you asked for the Banpo Bridge. Yet, strictly speaking that name only describes the top part of the structure – the top bridge as it were.  The one below it is called the Jamsu Bridge.  In for a penny, the bridge’s water feature was given its own, suitably modest name – the Magic Rainbow Fountain.

Rogue

A group of bounty hunters are nearing their end-game and the prize they have been seeking for so long.  This trio have fought their way through thick and thin to finally arrive at the lair of their target – a strange, otherworldly centipede-like creature.  They arrive with the confidence of those who have never been vanquished before. But how will they leave?

Rogue is a graduation Project by students, The Animation Workshop/VIA University College, 2025.  The team behind the project includes Director Daniel N. Castillo Suarez and Art Director Leo Bailey. Animation Lead and Character Designer Maria Zheleznova was joined by Kinga Anna Kasperczyk, who also worked on character design and animation. Nils Kuhl contributed storyboard and animation work, while Niels Glenhammer served as Technical Director and Project Manager.

I must say it shows great promise for the future, in the art, direction and animation – as well as the story which covers a lot of ground in three minutes and is structurally, well, as near perfect as you can get in this short amount of time.  I also like the characters – one can create a backstory for each one quite easily, but I will leave that to you.  Press play below to watch Rogue.

Lollygag

There is something quite compulsively macabre about watching Lollygag, written and directed by Tij D'oyen, especially when one realises that we’re watching a person watching someone else. Then it’s difficult to shake off the feeling that we have been, however unwitting, voyeurs to a tragedy.  With more than a little influence from Albert Camus’ L'étranger, we watch as the girl next door (played by Gaby Slape) watches the poolside antics of the boy next door (played by Isaac Powell).  He has fun, visitors and… chocolate.  Everything happens under her sharp but clinical gaze - from the safe distance of her bedroom window. 

It’s a fairly straightforward narrative but below the surface there is something discomfiting about both the way she goes about this, what she sees and her ultimate reaction to events.

I won’t spoil what happens in the film – but its not a comfortable watch. But, as I have said before, it’s quite compulsive watching the watcher watch the boy. Until… until – well, you will have to watch this yourself to find out.  Click the play button below and fasten your psychological seatbelt…

The Silky Anteater – Cute Catnapper of the Canopy

The silky anteater is the smallest species of anteater on the planet.  It’s probably the cutest too, if you take a look at this wonderful set of pictures on our sibling site, the Ark in Space.  The accompanying article is full of interesting facts. It’s nocturnal and when it sleeps during the day it does so in a way that just ramps up the cute quotient to the limit.  Its almost prehensile tail helps in maintaining its peculiar contortions while it sleeps – but it dozes in these positions for very good reasons.  It is unlikely that you will see anything cuter today (even though it does, admittedly, devour thousands of ants every day). Pop over to the Ark in Space to read the full article and go aawww at the pictures.

Image Credit

Ischigualasto – The Valley of the Moon

The name is old – from the native Quechua tribe and it means the place where you put the moon. Ischigualasto is an extraordinary almost off world experience. Geologists have been visiting the valley in Argentina for more than one hundred years. It doesn’t take long to see what attracts them.

Image Credit Flickr User PabloBD

The Pulsating Parasite: The Green-Banded Broodsac

 
Notice anything wrong with this snail, something a little peculiar, perhaps?  It’s eye stalks seem unusual, don’t they. That’s because this snail has fallen hapless victim to a parasite called the green-banded broodsac.  One minute the snail is happily ingesting bird s**t, the next it’s feeling a bit woozy and then – what the hell just happened to my eye stalks?  This is a form of aggressive mimicry, but a very unusual one – you can get the whole story over at our sibling site, the Ark in Space.  But maybe don’t click on the link until well after your lunch time.  You think the picture is a little icky? Wait till you watch the videos…

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Books are Made out of Trees

Leon is a grumpy old badger.  You can’t blame him really – as this Animation Workshop graduation project opens, we see a tree felled in his beloved woodland and scores of refugees leave to find a home elsewhere.   He must realise that his destiny may not be stay in the place he loves. Leon witnesses the destruction and retreats into his home – which has yet to be harmed by those with axes.  However, he discovers an unwelcome guest in his library and this is where the story really begins…

This is a profoundly melancholy animated short but essentially it is more about resilience and hope – and what comes after destruction. The simplicity of the artwork contrasts with the subtlety of the storytelling.  Yes, children will get this – but there are layers here that adult viewers will appreciate too.

The direction of the project was led by Julianna Jakubowska. Karen Haldrup served as both the Production Manager and Animation Lead, while Emma Olivia Dueholm supported the team as Production Assistant. Amalia Eiron took the role of Story Lead, and Ágúst Elí Ásgeirsson contributed as the Technical Director. Inès Zulianel oversaw the visual style as Art Director, and the design work was carried out by Alicia Ludwig.  Watch it below.

Meet the Whale in the Wharf: Art, Scale, and Surprise in London’s Docklands

The blue whale isn't a species normally associated with London.  After all, when it comes to animals, the English capital city is known for its lions (stone, mostly), ravens, horses and pigeons (so many, many pigeons).  As such, the latest piece of art unveiled in London’s docklands is a pleasant departure from the expected menagerie.   Captured in a spectacular head-first breach, this 36 foot (11 metre) leviathan was created to highlight the issue of plastic pollution in the oceans of the world.

At close range, the colossal whale sheds its singular silhouette and becomes a constellation of detail, an intricate mosaic whose beauty lies in the delicate interplay of form, colour, and craft.  It all comes together in a visually jaw-dropping way. This striking installation is part of a vast open-air gallery in Canary Wharf, where over 100 artworks transform the place into the UK’s largest free public art trail.  But, what’s the story with the whale? 

The Curious Tale of Denishawn

Or how two people managed to continuously take their clothes off in public throughout the 1920s and get away with it.

Image Credit Flickr User New York Public Library

In 1915 a pair of newlyweds formed a company that was to become instrumental in the formation of modern dance as a genre. This odd pairing was to become infamous for performing in as little clothing as possible as much for their revolutionary dance styles. Quite a trick in the early part of the twentieth century.

Service Bus

 
Poor old Rolf all he wanted was a drink to quench his thirst on his long bus journey, but he forgot to pack anything.  Despondent, he notices a service button and, without realising that he is about to change his life, presses it.  You might think that the picture above is something of a spoiler, but that is hardly the end of Rolf’s misery – much, much worse is yet to come.

This highly entertaining animated short is a 2025 Graduation Project by students at The Animation Workshop/VIA University College.  Elmer Mikael Lødemel was the Director, Painter, Animator, and Storyboard Artist. Niels Gram Riisgaard worked as the Line Producer, CG Generalist, and Background Painter. Matthew Ponquett was the Art Director and Animator. Simon Koch Pedersen served as a Generalist, Animator, and Concept Designer. Sam Byrne was the Animation Lead and a Storyboard Artist. Andreas Smidt acted as the Technical Director and CG Generalist. Lea My Ib was a Storyboard Artist and Story Artist for FX Animation.

Graduation projects from The Animated Workshop are something I look forward to each year – the talent is, simply put, outstanding.  I can only hope that these wonderful artists go on to highly valued professional careers in the industry.

Watch Service Bus below…