2 July 2016

Silicon Beach Time-lapse


Silicon Beach is a name given to a part of the Greater Los Angeles area because of all the technology companies that are based there.  This fantastic time-lapse was created by Timelax and takes in Santa Monica, Playa del Rey, Venice Beach and Marina del Rey – The biggest man-made harbor in the world with a capacity of more than 6,000 boats.  If anything will give you a snapshot of the laid-back Californian lifestyle, then this is it!

31 August 2014

If You Have Never Wanted to Visit Los Angeles, You Will After Watching This


This amazing time-lapse photography project, TimeLAX, by iVideoMaking shows the Greater Los Angeles area from many angles. It covers views of Downtown Los Angeles from skyscrapers, the super moon, the strawberry moon, the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the Hollywood Sign, the StubHub Center, the Staples Center, and Downtown Glendale.  It just makes me want to get on a plane right now… taxi!

26 July 2014

Take a Quad-Copter Ride Over Downtown Los Angeles


Filmmaker Ian Wood used a lightweight remote controlled quad-copter and camera system to take these remarkable shots of Downtown Los Angeles.  Above the hustle and bustle of the streets it is easier to get a real feel for the sheer visual detail of the architecture and art in the downtown area.   Plus using this sort of technology it gets us the kind of view that we can ordinarily never hope for – and the results are stunning.

4 July 2013

The Chandelier Tree


Sometimes an idea can just take hold.  Adam Tenenbaum, an airbrush make-up artist, photographer and designer from Silver Lake, Los Angeles acquired a few chandeliers six years ago that he thought might go quite nicely in the house. However, they turned out to be too large and so he had the idea of hanging them from the tree outside his house.  Over the years many more have been added and the Chandelier Tree has become something of a local celebrity in its own right.  It does look quite amazing, it must be said.

Colin Kennedy, a director who lives and works in the city of angel just happens to live up the road from Tenenbaum.  After a number of years the temptation became too great and he embarked on creating the short docufilm above which tells the story of the chandelier tree through the words of its creator, Adam Tenenbaum (who comes across as a very nice gentleman indeed).

14 October 2012

Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Last Journey: Los Angeles, We Have a Problem

It orbited the earth close to five thousand times, traveling over a hundred million miles in the process. Yet for the Space Shuttle Endeavour the journey to its final resting place at the California Science Center proved a rather more laborious expedition. However, the site of a displaced space shuttle in the middle of Los Angeles is not something you see every day.

 Thousands of people turned out to watch the shuttle’s trip. Yet for many the day ended with disappointment as, due to delays, the shuttle failed to materialize at their place on the route at the allotted time.  Although the 12 mile journey from LAX to the California Science Museum started well, glitches, technical and otherwise, made it run hours behind its schedule by the end of the day.
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10 December 2011

Don't Stop - Foster The People


At some point in their lives most people face their driving test and for many it is one of the most nerve wracking days of their lives.  Imagine, then, that your driving instructor turns out to be a bank robber on the escape!

This is what happens for one young woman in Don’t Stop, the latest video by Foster the People.  Can the girl survive her ordeal? Well, as the video is played for laughs (and plenty of them) right from the beginning, you need not worry too much about her safety.  Maybe the thief and the police should worry, though!

In case you don’t know already, Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California a few years ago. The group is made up of Mark Foster who provides the vocals and plays a number of instruments too, Mark Pontius (drums and extra percussion), and Cubbie Fink (bass and backing vocals).

16 October 2011

The Light Fossils of Darius Twin

As light painting increases in popularity, artists have been creating more and more sophisticated images using the technique. At the forefront of this movement is Los Angeles based graphic artist Darius Twin. His latest project, the creation of dinosaur fossils in light, is quite something to behold. You can see even more at his website too!

The technique involves exposures being made at night (or in a dark room) by moving a hand-held flashlight of the type that can be bought at any store.  So far, so inexpensive but you will also need a camera with the ability to change the shutter speed to very slow – normal every day cameras will not do this. 10 seconds for the shutter speed will do - at least for a simple image. These amazing shots may well have taken longer!

One question which is asked a lot about light painting is why does the artist not show up on the pictures. It seems that you only show up if you cast light on yourself or sit still for too long. If you are quick and wear dark colors, you won't show up. That of course adds something else in to the equation – you have to be pretty sure of the shapes you are going to create beforehand. A sharp eye and a quick hand are, it seems, prerequisites.

Although the digital age offers opportunities which could only have been dreamed of in years gone by, light painting is hardly a new art from.  It can be traced back as far as 1914 when a husband and wife team, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth first used the technique to track the motion of clerical workers. It was not until 1935 and Man Ray in his Space Writing series that the form was used artistically. Even Picasso got in on the act for a short time.


Coming up to date in 2011 the light fossils that you can see here have helped to move light painting on to a new level and one in which artists create ever more sophisticated works of art. We would like to thank Darius Twin for his kind permission to reproduce some of his photographs here – above is a slide show direct from his Flickr photostream including more of these startling images. Also, please don't forget to pay his excellent website, dariustwin.com a visit!

27 March 2011

Broken


This short animation represents a very personal project for its creator, Freek van Haagen, dealing with a subject matter that has been part of his life for a long time.  It represents an abstract dream – or perhaps memory – of a boy and his mother.

I think that perhaps of the multitude of expensive (and often tiresomely repetitive) road safety films that we see, a major channel should take this animation and show it at prime time.

I am almost certain it would have a huge impact.

22 February 2011

Between Two Points


Every now and again – rarely though – a music video comes along that not only hosts a great piece of music but pushes the boundaries of animation, making people sit up and take notice. Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer from the way back when springs immediately to this old mind.

Here we have another one of those rare beasties. It is a track called Between Two Points and the artists are The Glitch Mob featuring Swan. I have to admit rather shamefacedly to not having heard of the artists involved here but to my ears they sound like a cross between the Cocteau Twins and Portishead – which gives them an unusually large thumbs up from this quarter.

The video is about the weight of dependency and is exquisitely done by the Motiphe team, who describe themselves as the four-headed collaboration of Katja Flachberger, Florian Juri, Sven Skoczylas and Rafael Mayrhofer, who came together each one throwing in some passion, talent or skill to create animations.

This is the first ever video for the LA based band The Glitch Mob (pictured left) and is taken from their album Drink The Sea.

The gorgeous voice you can hear is that of Swan. Since 2004 she has worked within the San Francisco Bay Area and West Coast underground music scenes, writing, recording, and performing her own original music as well as joining forces with many independent producers and bands.

Wonderful sound, wonderful video. Perfect!

14 December 2010

The Tufa Towers of Mono Lake

Mono Lake in California is a strange place to say the least. However, unlike many bizarre places in the world this strange environment is caused by us.

In the early nineteen forties the city of Los Angeles was growing quickly. The Second World War was in full flow and when it came to the environment it was felt that some things could be neglected. The LA Department of Water and Power began diverting the lakes streams three hundred and fifty miles to the south. The damage to the environment would be untold. Paradoxically it would leave the area eerily beautiful – like some alien backdrop from an episode of Star Trek.  At some points in the year a soap-like layer forms on the top of the lake.

As you may imagine, the lake is a magnet for photographers - some will add HDR elements to their work to add to the off-world look of the place.

The tufa rock formations became visible. This is a sedimentary rock that is formed by carbonate materials. Once underwater the tufa became a land bridge for animals to the lake’s islands. They also give the lake it other worldly look. So, although the tufa towers are natural, the fact that they are so visible above the surface of the lake is entirely our doing. It soon became obvious that the lake was beginning to die.

Kirk and his comrades were nowhere to be seen to save the day, however. Without its freshwater sources the volume of the lake fell by over fifty percent. Ecosystems which had taken thousands of years to evolve were unable to take such a swift and abrupt change. Within years they had begun to collapse at the depth of the lake had dropped by twenty five feet – vertically. This meant that many of the tufa towers were now on dry land - looking like bizarre stone cacti.

There had been a number of islands in the lake and they now became peninsulas which could be reached by mammals and reptiles. This meant that the birds that nested there (and of course their eggs) were now predated by the new visitors, The brine shrimp that once filled the lake became scarce as their reproductive capabilities were reduced by the increase of salt in the lake. At the same time algae levels were reduced and it looked very much as if the lake would become a danger to the public. The particulate matter at its base became air borne and toxic.

Fortunately, the people who lived near the lake started to pay attention. By 1978 David Gaines had formed the Mono Lake Committee and this action group has led the fight to protect the lake ever since, with many landmark achievements along the way.

These are battles worth fighting. The area contains fourteen different ecological zones, around four hundred vertebrate species and over a thousand plant species within its watershed. As such it is one of the richest nature areas in the State of California. The lake is at least three quarters of a million years old and is thought by many to be up to three million years old. That would make it among the oldest lakes in the US.

Due to the efforts of the Mono Lake Committee, the California State Water Resources Control Board was made to issue a protection order on the lake in 1994. Since then its level has, little by little, risen. In the forties the level was 6417 feet above sea level. It now stands at around 6392 feet. However the level has been difficult to sustain due to the recent drought years in California. However, a lake thirty feet below its natural level is much better than one which has been reduced to a dry bed – the fate that befell the local Owens Lake. Mono Lake perseveres.


Image Credit Flickr User Alaskan Dude


If you are more in to animals (!) then this might take your fancy.  A two minute stop motion animation of squirrels making a meal out of a corn on the cob.  It is called...


And it is very cool.

It can be found on our sibling site, The Ark In Space.