Sunday, January 31, 2010

So far today, I baked some muffins, did some organizing, storyboarded some ideas, and promised myself that I would try to write in my blog everyday.

Right now I'm in my studio editing an animation for my Tuesday class. In our studios, we have PCs, but I'm more of a Mac, personally. Unfortunately, my Mac doesn't have all the wonderful programs that my PC does. And so I end up with two computers in front of me, using one to edit animations and the other to look up ideas. I've been looking at a lot of pixilations lately, since that's the next project I want to do. But while I'm brainstorming, you should check out this charming little animation.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Inspiration Online

Hello again.

Eventually I will into the swing of posting more regularly here. I always start out slow on blogs - I never want to post anything until I redo the layout and make everything pretty! So with that in mind, I figured I'd share something beautiful with you. Here's a nice mix of artists who inspire me and some websites that are just plain lovely.

Pes Films
The "Twisted Films of Pes" are only twisted in the most creative of ways. You may have seen animations by Pes in really cool Coinstar and Scrabble commercials. The stop motion genius that is Pes creates incredible animations with everyday objects that resemble something else. Western Spaghetti was a favorite of mine for awhile, but Fireworks is great, too! And Game Over. And Scrabble. And, oh, I could go on and on.

Kirsten Lepore
I promise you that the best 10 second Youtube video is Kirsten Lepore's animation Craig & Walter. It has a vegan narwhal. What more do you really need? Plus, she does amazing stop motions with a bit of humor. Definitely check out her Guess Who video as well.

Leo Bridle
If you love cut out animations as much as I do, then you will love Leo Bridle. His latest film, Train of Thought, is absolutely beautiful. He has a video on his website that shows all that goes into this elegant animation, from choosing actors, to photographing them, cutting them out, and then animating everything... It is unbelievable. My absolute favorite part of the film is when you see through the train window another train passing, and passengers change seemingly every frame. Very well done.

Jen Gotch
If you love Polaroids, you'll love Jen Gotch and her website, decorated with hand drawn elements.

Julia Bereciartu
I know her collages are amazing, but as soon as her website loads, I'm blown away just by how good her site looks. The simplest animations add so much without being distracting. Love it.

Frank Chimero
If you like simple, bold graphics, you definitely need to look at Frank's illustration. And especially check out The States.

All the Luck in the World
This charming website sells a mix of vintage and handmade goods and even has a lovely inspiration section.

Iggy and Lou Lou
I've been wanting one of their handmade necklaces forever. They have one of my favorite websites, all animated, and all beautiful. Which only makes me vie for their jewelry even more.

Owltastic
I love owls. I love this website. You will, too.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Nice to meet you.

Hello, I'm Michaela.

I like owls and cookie cutters and typewriters and bunnies and yellow bicycles and Svankmajer and sand castles and forts and you.

I make animations, and now I keep a blog of my adventures.

Have a lovely day.