Updharmadown’s New Video – Taya

One of the best bands to come out in the local scene, Updharmadown. They have developed a unique sound which I would say is distinctively Updharmadown. I thought the first album, Fragmented, was one of the best I’ve heard in a while. I’ve only heard bits of their 2nd album, Bipolar but from what I’ve heard so far, it seems like another topper. 

I like this new video from them, it’s a great use of what I think is, stop motion and light graffiti. The video for a song from the 2nd album called Taya. I’m not sure who directed it, but a quick google search gives me the following info, some insights from the director himself, Nicolo Reyes:

I have always been inspired by the play of light. In my past videos for Up Dharma, the use of light has strongly influenced my concepts. From the band’s first single, “Maybe”, I played with the idea of silhouettes against colored dancing lights. With their next single “Hiwaga”, I tried to convey the emotion of loneliness and isolation in deep space though the use of strong primary colors: red, blue, green, and yellow. Now for their new single “Taya” from their new album Bipolar, I wanted to push the concept of using lights a bit further. Given that their new album has a totally new sound and feel to it, I wanted to give their video a new look and feel as well.

Their new single “Taya” is a lot more edgy and analog in their sound. Visually, I wanted to translate these elements. The song, first and foremost, became my inspiration. In this day and age of CGI and visual effects, I wanted to take a step back from all of this. To push my concept of light play, which I have traditionally used, the idea that came to me was to make the band literally “play” with the lights. The idea for this concept came in a sort of eureka moment while I was in Japan and saw a group painting with light. So by then using an old film technique known as stop motion photography, I could bring the lights to life and let the band have fun with them. All the effects were done live and on camera. This gave the video a very raw and choppy feel that blended perfectly with the song.

To bring this idea to life, was ambitious to say the least. I have to give full credit to the team (ISK PRODUCTIONS) for going though this journey with me. It took months of planning, 3 test shoots, 5 long nights of production, and over 5,000 photographs. In the end, I hope the video and the song will give an old sense of awe and amusement to a new generation of viewers.

Here’s the video:

Directed by: Nicolo Reyes

Producer: Toti Dalmacion
Director of Photography: Pong Ignacio
Production Manager: Zig Marasigan
Editor: Jogs Garcia
Head light painter: Marco Ortiga
Light Painters: Gino Nacianceno, Vicky Velasco, & Mei Tayengco
ISK Productions 2008 

Thanks to Pelicola.tv for some of the info and video.

Lost Generation

I got this from my friend on Facebook. It’s such an awesome copy, execution could’ve been better but I have no words for how good the copy is.

Can Money Really Buy Happiness?

I found this video about a talk by Benjamin Wallace about his experiences in trying out some of the most expensive things in the world. What I found most interesting is the last part wherein he mentions a study he read which sorta affirms the fact that certain labels or prices can change one’s perspective, even taste, towards an object.

Another point that I liked was how you could see here was how relative the perspective of value is. An expensive shirt may be worth it to others because they justify paying the price tag by saying it’s a high quality shirt, it’s made with rare materials or because it’s designed by an artist, while on the flip side, you have another person saying it’s not worth it because of the same exact reasons. A lot of people tend to think that their opinions matter, when most of the time, it only matters towards your own preferences. Different things make different people happy and I think there would be less conflicts in this world if people would lay off in imposing their preferences to others.

Anyway, it’s really a cool video to watch. It’s a bit long, around 14 minutes but I believe worth the time spent.

Nike – The Five Video By 13th Witness

In another stunning video for Nike, 13th Witness aka Timothy Mcgurr aka the son of graffiti great Futura2000, shows us glimpse on how Nike products in used in different aspects of life and sports particularly, in an urban environment. This video was released in conjunction with the opening of the Nike Sportswear store in New York City.

Nike has been pushing the Nike Sportswear line aggressively throughout the world for the past few weeks, from big cities such as Tokyo, London and New York to even our own Manila and Asian neighbors Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, among others. This line replaces the Sport Culture line and focuses on products primarily used for an urban casual environment. Some of the products are backpacks, windbreakers and runners such as Air Max 90 model which was initially designed for sport functions, in this case, running, but like most sneakers was adopted by the city culture due to it’s comfort and great design.

As for 13th Witness, I’ve been a fan of his work ever since I came across his site before. He’s a great photographer and is slowly moving towards video as a new medium of work. I’m excited for what else he’s got in store. Glad to see that his work is getting appreciated.

The Adidas Consortium aZX Project: Videos

For this project, Adidas flew in the representatives from 22 stores to hang out at the Adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Basically, in what looked like a big brainstorming session for the top players in street retail and design, Adidas put them in a room and worked with designers in developing their shoe. How cool is that?

This is the official description from the aZX channel:

Gathering 22 of the world’s key retailers, from streetwear stores to
high-end boutiques, all with their own individual vision when it comes
to design and style, the aZX project offered classic adidas ZX running
shoe designs alongside an open brief for their own limited edition
release. Covering a complete A to Z of the very best in retail, branding
and innovation it represents one of the largest scale, most intelligent
sneaker collaborations to date.

Using these timeless silhouettes that ranged from the simplicity of the
earlier low profile shapes to highly technical Torsion creations and
contemporary designs as a blank canvas, some kept it simple in line with
the individual shoe’s heritage, others took inspiration from outside the
blue box, but all partners projected a personal vision on their choice
of shoe perfectly.

Launched with a gathering of participating store and brand
representatives at adidas’ Herzo headquarters, over two days they
brainstormed, applied and tweaked their chosen makeups alongside the
design team, resulting in the first fruits of a collaborative collection
that offers something for traditionalists, collectors and fashionistas
alike.
With the cream of the industry working, eating and socializing
side-by-side, this was a unique event that yielded unique results.

Here are the videos from the Adidas aZX channel on Youtube. The 1st video is basically a general introduction to their gathering, while the next 2 videos takes a few of the people from each of the 1st 2 groups, A-H and I-P, to talk about their personal creations:

aZX Intro

Group A-H

Group I-P

BBC: Journey To The East Animation

Produced by Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett for BBC in celebration of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. This is their take on the Chinese folk tale, Journey of the West, which was recently notably referenced in that god-awful movie, The Forbidden Kingdom with Jacky Chan and Jet Li.

Enjoy! August 08, 2008 is coming!

Invisible Skateboards

Great video from Spike Jonze. A commercial he shot for Girl Skateboards. Didn’t notice it at first, I thought it was just cause the the video is blurry, they were really riding on invisible skateboards! Now it really got interesting, great effect work from Mr. Jonze. Background music is pretty cool as well.

I Met The Walrus

Today I came across this awesome animation video representing an interview with John Lennon. It’s a must see!

Here’s the “official” description:
“In 1969, a young boy snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room with his tape recorder and persuaded him to do an interview.”

This Is An Awareness Test

A-MAZING!

Musica Oh Musica

A great song for the upcoming rainy season,

Eight Legs with These Grey Days

And the track where I ripped my blog title from,

The Rakes with The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect

Enjoy!