Danger Planet

During a routine scan on a distant planet, a young space scout finds romance with a female pilot. But when peril strikes the two star-crossed explorers, he must face what lurks in the darkness of the planet to rescue the girl.

Perhaps something is in the air - this is the second love story that we have posted up on Kuriositas today - even though they could hardly be any different from each other!

Danger Planet is an animated short created by students at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. This 4 minute student animation was finished primarily in a summer after over a year of preproduction. You may (or may not) spot some possibly accidental references to a number of science fiction movies. See if you can spot them!

A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

This is a great piece of kinetic typography put to a wonderful tune, Fergie’s A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.

It was created by Guillermo Vázquez as a tribute to both the singer and the song (which itself is a homage to the 1920s and its jazz era music).

I think he’s nailed it.

Gangs Of New York Vs Kill Bill (Vol 1)

Are you ready for blood? Then let it flow. Take two of the most violent films ever and juxtapose two of their pivotal fight scenes and you get this. Ali Shirazi - film student, young filmmaker, photographer and editor (we can tell that!) has put together this gloriously bloody montage homage to .Kill Bill (Vol 1) and Gangs of New York.

Splattertastic.

Celebrating Edvard Munch's 150th: It's Going to be a Scream

History did not record how Edvard Munch felt about being remembered by most people for just a 'single' work.  It could be argued that he brought this on himself, having produced no less than four versions of his most famous painting, The Scream.  Yet, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, The Scream has a ubiquity only equalled by a handful of other works of art.  Munch’s birth country of Norway is currently awash with Munch mania with special retrospectives of his works, plans afoot to build a new museum in his memory and a multitude of flash mob style scream-ins. So what could you do to commemorate Edvard and his most famous creation on his 150th cake day?  Here are a few ideas.

Image Credit Flickr User sketchachick

It has to be said that you may have to be in possession of some artistic talent for your homage to be successful (or even recognizable).  The decoration of various foodstuffs seems to be popular when recreating The Scream.

Michael Jackson: Behind the Mask

Had he lived, Michael Jackson would be celebrating his 55th birthday on August 29. Aggressive, a live action and design studio have created this amazing video, part tribute, design and narrative to pay homage to one of the greatest performers of all time.

Behind The Mask is a song originally recorded by Michael during the Thriller sessions. Enigmatic and bold, the video pays tribute to the various iconic masks Michael wore throughout his career, and features choreography by the The Jabbawockeez and Chucky Klapow.

Monolith: A Tribute to Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick would have been 85 this month so uberfan Shaun Pitz, who just happens to be a very talented animator, has created this tribute to him.  It is centered around the mysterious monolith which humanity encountered in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Pitz made this as a tribute to the sense of mystery and exploration that Kubrick instilled in him as a child.

If you are a fan of Kubrick and his work then I think you will love this…

James Bond - A Tribute to 50 Years of 007

Fifty years ago James Bond hit the big screen for the first time. As such you have probably been exposed to plenty of TV and newspaper reportage marking the anniversary.  This video tribute to James Bond’s 50 years on the silver screen, edited by Nick Bosworth is, in my opinion, just about the best we are going to get. It starts with excerpts of interviews with Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, which even now has the capacity to arrive.  I had no idea, for example, that Fleming audaciously stole the name of Bond – but from a rather unexpected source.

Then of course, you have the different Bonds down the years not to mention all the actors who have portrayed the various elements of the British secret service.  There are all the villains to be found here – plus Bond’s escapes (in quite a number of glamorous cars) and some of his best one-liners.  The, of course, there are the girls. This homage is wonderfully put together with a sense of humor of which I suspect Bond himself would approve.

Dead Man’s Lake

We’ve been waiting a while for this and it doesn’t disappoint. The sixth installment of the Bloody Cuts series of the gruesome and ghastly, Dead Man’s Lake is a homage to all of those slasher movies of the 1980s. Yet as with the preceding five short movies in this series, everything is not all quite as it seems and the genre gets somewhat subverted.

This short starts with a classic B-movie horror scenario – three friends go camping in the woods. We have the usual suspects, the jock with a heart, the pretty girl with the long blond hair and the libido and the nerdy kid with (probably) a troubled background. Together they blithely ignore the warnings that tell them to keep out and head to the lake for a summer night’s camping.

Of course, it’s not long before things start to go wrong – but despite your best efforts to make them listen by shouting at them to do exactly the opposite, these kids just carry on regardless.  The story is drawn from the brain of Bloody Cuts creator Ben Franklin, who takes directing duties for the first time. The script is Joel Morgan. Although you may think that the warnings at the beginning are part of the pastiche – beware! If you are faint hearted (as I am) you will end up watching this from between your fingers.

Me & Kurt

What do you say about Kurt Vonnegut? Most people who have been through an educational process, in the western hemisphere at least, have had some exposure to him and he left quite an impression on a multitude of people. When he died in 2007 it surprised and perhaps even baffled his readers because the man, like his work, seemed so timeless. Yet all things pass and this simple animation tells the story of how Turner Hale discovered that Kurt was no longer with us.

Yet it is much more than that. Turner - in a measured and somwhat contemplative tone - also recounts the things he would like to do in Kurt’s company had they ever met. He goes on to tell the story how his mother, when she was at college, met and spent several hours with Vonnegut. Her own reminisces are wrapped up within his own and this essentially becomes a homage in four diminutive parts to best American writer of the last century.

The best American writer part of the last sentence may give you a clue about why I decided to include this animation which isn’t quite an animation on Kuriositas. Vonnegut will always be one of my literary heroes, someone whose stories I can return to time and time again. They were so easy to read yet gave so much food for thought that he used to often confound me with the (apparently!) effortless way he created brilliant and unusual literature. Turner’s thoughts here very often mirror my own throughout the four minutes or so of this short reflection on his relationship with someone he never met.

Twin Tower Cameos - The World Trade Center in the Movies

From 1969 to 2001, the Twin Towers made countless cameos in Hollywood films. Sometimes they featured prominently in the foreground, sometimes lurking in the distance. This montage by Dan Meth celebrates the towers' film career with songs that capture the passing decades.

Some of my favourite films are in here, from Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico to Escape from New York and Working Girl (call me an old softy) plus many, many more.

It must have taken forever to do this; trawling through the movies and then getting the footage altogether, sound tracking it.  The World Trade Center may be gone but this remarkable piece of film will help us to always remember these iconic towers of New York.

The Segue Sisters

Segue Sisters Carrie Marx, Charlotte Jo Hanbury and Kerrie Fairclough combine their harmonious singing and unique comic personas to give a fresh take on classic tunes from the past, present and future.

Originally taking their influence from 1940′s singing trio The Andrews Sisters, the girls incorporate this classic style of singing to perform a range of repertoire from ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B’ to the more contemporary rock songs of groups such as Nirvana and Alice Cooper – to provide a cheeky comic twist.

British readers will notice some familiar faces in here - Steve Furst, Al Murray, Arthur Smith, and Lionel Blair.  The video was directed and edited by Chris Lincé.

Which Came First, Man or Mouse?

Many thanks to Flickr artist Abby Lanes who created this wonderful visual question.Whether it is chicken or egg, or indeed man or mouse the nature of our lives means that sometimes the lines blur.  This is a wonderful homage to both Walt Disney and to Mickey Mouse.  Strangely enough, I came across this picture while doing a search for the butterfly effect.  We would like to thank Abby for her permission to use this wonderful picture. You can see more of Abby’s wonderful work at her Flickr Photostream.

Note: This is fan art, essentially, and is no way intended to break any form of rights held by Disney.

Blade Runner Revisited

This is an experimental film by François Vautier as a homage to Ridley Scott's legendary futuristic film “Blade Runner” (1982). It was, amazingly, created by extracting 167,819 frames from 'Blade Runner's final cut version, then assembling all these images to obtain one gigantic image of colossal dimensions.

This was a square of approximately 60,000 pixels on one side alone, 3.5 gigapixels. A virtual camera was then placed above this big picture which created an illusion, because contrary to appearances, there is only one image. It is in fact the relative movement of the virtual camera flying over this massive image that creates the animated film, a kind of "zootrope effect", like a film in front of a projector. 

The whole concept echoes one of the signature scenes from the film where "Deckard" (Harrison Ford) analyzes a photograph via voice recognition software.

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!

The Far Side - Recreations for Recreation

Oooooooooooooo!

Image Credit Flickr User Tau Zero

Gary Larson is best known as the creator of The Far Side, the wonderfully off the wall single panel cartoon which was syndicated all over the world for 15 years.  His 23 books sold 45 million copies, gaining him many lifelong and diehard fans who would simply love to see new work.  However unlikely that is, they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. In homage to Larson and The Far Side, many pick up a camera and others boot up their PC.  Here are some of the best recreations for recreation.

Know Your Insects

Image Credit Flickr User Cayusa

Image Credit Flickr User The Rocketeer

Sitting at God's Keyboard

Image Credit Flickr User Cayusa

Anatidaephobia: The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

Image Credit Flickr User Herr Wick

Image Credit Flickr User Elderghod

The last thing a fly sees

Image Credit Flickr User Cayusa

Image Credit Flickr User Illuminaut

Image Credit Flickr User Cayusa

Image Credit Flickr User Vipez

Claude always was something of a show-off.

 Image Credit Flickr User Snowpeak

Oh, wonderful! Look at this Kathy - another mouth to feed!

Image Credit Flickr User Cayusa

Kitteh Kitteh Scatman

Leave it to the guys over at Tokyo Plastic to create a more than suitable homage to the late, the great Scatman John.

Although we don’t seem to have heard a great deal from these wizards of animated marketing, a short piece of animation – however short a piece it is – is always a treat from them.

So, thanks Tokyo Plastic for this great homage!

Departure of Love

This short animation is inspired by the silent movies of Buster Keaton made in the 1920s.  A young woman leaves on a train, looking back epectantly.  Her paramour dashes after her, but only after the train has departed.  Cue some toon gymnastics as he tries to catch up to his lost love.

A note here - this may usurp your expectations, so it is worth watching to the end.  It is the work of Jenna Bors and was completed when she was at Ringling College of Art and Design, Department of Computer Animation.  Great work, Jenna.

For Departure of Love, all modeling, and lighting was created using Autodesk Maya. The textures, effects, and composting were done in After Effects, Photoshop, Corel Painter, and Premiere.