Marcel The Shell Sequel, Book, Activity Kit and Mobile Apps Continue The Cuteness.

I was thrilled to learn that director/writer Dean Fleischer-Camp and commedienne, writer (and Marcel's voice) Jenny Slate have produced another short film starring the lovable and quirky Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.



Along with the release of this sequel, Penguin has published a book for children (and enjoyable for adults, too) about the impish stop-motion shell named Marcel called Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me



To learn about how Marcel The Shell came to life and see the first video, go here.

Now there's even a Marcel the Shell mobile app for both the iPhone and iPad:



And a downloadable PDF Activity kit with a maze, a word puzzle and coloring pages (art for the kit by Amy Lind):


Download the Marcel the Shell Activity Kit

Buy the new Marcel The Shell With Shoes On book here.

See who voices Marcel the Shell and how he came to life here.

Kia uses Nail Art in a Stop-Motion Animation Film to Market the Picanto.

To market the new KIA Picanto, Kia Motors of Korea came up with a novel way to say "small." Using painted fingernails as stop motion animation to serve as a metaphor for packing things into a small vehicle.













The project took 25 days (and nights), 900 fingernails, 1200 bottles of nail polish and 2 hours to complete each piece of nail art.







The result is a video (cut as a :21 second teaser, a 1:13 second spot and a 2 minute director's cut)



Full version:





The director's cut, shown below, includes nails painted to call out features -like those shown below- as well as for the stop motion animation:





Images from the director's cut only:









Kia Picanto microsite

I Have PSD. Clever Short Film Shows How To Photoshop Your Life.

If you use Photoshop as frequently as I do, you find yourself wishing you could use the same set of software tools to edit, undo or re-do many aspects of your own life. Undoing a crazy night, editing blemishes on your skin, altering the color of your wardrobe, even lightening your over-toasted bread.





Julia Vakser Zeltser and the folks over at Hyperakt did just that with their fun "I have PSD" short film, which shows what it would be like to apply Photoshop tools to your real life.





Photoshop dexterity (PSD) is a skillset acquired by proficient users of Adobe Photoshop, the world's most ubiquitous digital tool for creating visual ideas. Qualities of PSD include supernatural powers of imagination and an overwhelming desire to constantly make the world more beautiful. PSD affects people from different walks of life. In fact, there is a high probability that you have PSD.

CREDITS
Hyperakt
Julia Vakser Zeltser, screen writer, director, producer
Deroy Peraza, co-director
Jason Lynch, senior designer
Catherine Catanzaro, interactive designer
Eric Fensterheim, junior designer

Friends:
Justin Weinstein, film advisor
BJ Formento, photographer, Formento + Formento, fandf.org
Richeille Formento, stylist, Formento + Formento, fandf.org
David Dimeola, animation, The Brigade, brigade.tv
Joe Beshenkovsky, editor
Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida, music, Lullatone, lullatone.com
Joshua Formento, gaffer
Craig Keirce, gaffer
Tyrone Rhabb, grip
Jeremiah Boncha, junior designer

Actors:
Johan Matton, lead actor
Nikki le Villain, Egyptian
Ezili, boa constrictor
Lily la Vamp, pin up girl
Chris, gangsta
Kate Hasting, makeup, French maid

Special Thanks:
Whitney McCleary & Adobe Systems
Lenny Zeltser
Jenna Shapiro

Follow PSD:
twitter.com/​hyperakt
ihavepsd.com
facebook.com/​Photoshop

Stop Motion Laser Burnt Toast For OK Go's Last Leaf Video.

The latest video for OK Go's "Last Leaf" is a lovely and sweet stop motion animated video featuring the illustrations of artist Ge­off Mcfetridge on actual toast.



The charming video was made by burning toast with a laser and shooting still images of each piece of toast. It took 15 still shots for every second of video and 2,430 pieces of toast were used. And if you're wondering.... all 215 loaves of bread were past their sell-by date & rescued from certain disposal for the shoot.



Di­rect­ed by OK Go, Nadeem Mazen and Ali Mo­ham­mad of Serious Business Design. Produced by Shirley Moy­ers, the piece was made in part­ner­ship with Sam­sung NX100 iFn, and Create Your World.


above: Los Angeles quartet OK Go

See more videos by OK go here
An­i­ma­tion art by Ge­off Mcfetridge, Cham­pi­on Stu­dio



Be sure to check out how you can burn your own image on a piece of toast here

Meet Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

If you haven't yet met Marcel, you're missing out. So let me introduce you.



Marcel the Shell with shoes on is a delightful little character in this stop motion animated short directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp and voiced (not enhanced) by actress, comedienne, writer and 2009-2010 SNL cast member Jenny Slate. The short film was written by both Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp.

Sweet and sad (in a Charlie Brown sort of way), Marcel has gone viral in a big way. And you can see why. Just watch the 3 minute and 20 second video below.




above left: Jenny Slate, the voice and co-creator of Marcel the shell, above right.

Marcel is so adored, he even made the New York magazine matrix - in the HighBrow/ Brilliant quadrant!

Marcel:


"Bestie by Bestie," is a web series about friendship that the former SNL star and her comedy partner (and life long bestie) Gabe Liedman screen at their weekly stand-up show. The video series is also directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp and the premiere episode can be viewed here.

Special thanks to my friend Jean Rhode who turned me onto this little guy.

UPDATE:
Now there's more Marcel to love. Check out the sequel, new book, and mobile apps here!

5 Hours Of Work Per Second. The New Video For Tim Knol's When I Am King.

Here is the new stop motion video for When I Am King by Dutch indie rocker Tim Knol. The video was painstakingly put together by Sverre Fredriksen who spent 2 months soldering tons of timber to create the images, and stop motion to animate them – averaging five hours of work per second shown.



the making of the video:


more stills for you:





Credits (music video):
Director: Sverre Fredriksen
DOP: Per Sveinung Larsen
Gaffer: Joost Meeuwig
Assistent director: Mireille de Koning
Production co.: Yellow Submarine
Producer: Ellen Hoffmann
Production manager: Olivia van Leeuwen
Production assistent: Marah Haan
Technical assistent: Tom van der Heiden
Make-up: Mirjam Venema
Manager Tim Knol: Matthijs van Duivenbode

Credits ("Making Of"):
Director: Geert van de Wetering
Production: SubmarineChannel

Lego CL!CK: Short Film, Art & Free iPhone App For Lego Lovers

Lego CL!CK is a newly launched site from Lego® that inspires people to share the Lego Love. The site has featured content, videos, photos and more.



The site welcomes inventors, explorers, tinkerers, artists and ideas from people of all ages. A little place on the Internet devoted to the moment when your brain suddenly finds the answer you’ve been seeking. The moment all the pieces come together.

They invite you to share what makes you CL!CK… Tweet using #legoclick and tag your photos on Flickr with legoclick.

Below are a few examples from the site:

FILM
A short film by Thibault Choay utlizing Lego®s

The film is shown above (screen grab below)


ART

above: Part of an exhibition of young artists at the National Gallery in Oslo, this work is by Olafur Eliasson. Outside in the carpark behind the main gallery, 3 tons of Lego bricks were dumped onto the floor next to a large table area. The public have been invited to build their 'dream gallery/museum" and the area was full of adults and children sitting about building and playing with Lego bricks.(via Nick Scando)

PHOTOS

above: To kick off National Inventors’ Month, which is celebrated each August, the Lemelson Center collaborated with LEGO Systems, Inc. to build the supersized light bulb, the universal symbol of a big idea.
Learn more about how the lightbulb took shape.

APPS
A fun free Lego app for your iPhone!
screenshots:

get it at the iTunes store.


visit Lego® CL!CK here

Other Lego links:


•Full Sized Legos For Grown Ups: LunaBlocks by Lunatic Construction


•New LEGO Architecture Series By Adam Reed Tucker


•Lego® Replicas Of Eames, Corbusier and Michelle Kaufmann Homes


•All Things LEGO. Except for LEGO® Bricks.