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Video of the Week: Zero

Joel — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:34:33 +0000

Born into a world of numbers, an oppressed zero discovers that through determination, courage, and love, nothing can be truly something. Zero is a 12’32 stop motion animation written, directed and produced by Christine Kezelos.

First of all, the stop-motion graphics used in Zero were phenomenal. However, You can only truly appreciate this unique type of animation once you watch the behind the scenes.

As for the story, Nicholas McKay does a marvelous job narrating, which in turn really bestows life into the tale. This short delivers an excellent story which utilizes these endearing characters to teach you a very important lesson. That everyone at some point of their lives has felt some sort of isolation and rejection from society due to discrimination, but if you remain positive and optimistic, you have ability to excel over this darkness found in the world. Zero truly delivers an excellent and effective message that we can all sincerely apply.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

This piece was pretty sad! It made me think of modern society, and the different social levels within it. Although the zero’s in this film were treated with cruelty, it can be said that we have “zero’s” in our society that are treated with less respect than everyone else. Overall, I enjoyed seeing Zero find love and I loved the ending!

Everyone now a days is divided into categories, people tend to separate the rich from the poor, the skinny from the over weight, the ugly from the good looking, etc. “Zero”, proves just that point, but demonstrates that those less fortunate have feelings too and do not deserve to be treated any less then the rest.

The Main character Zero was treated as someone worthless, this created the feeling in me of sadness due to the fact that all of us at one point in our life have been treated that way and know exactly how that feels. In the end we do see how these two “zeros” created this infinity babies, which comes to show how everyone should be treated equally, we never know what someone has to offer until they actually do it. In this weeks short I didn’t even concentrate on music or theme because I was so caught up on the character’s feelings. In conclusion, it was a great short and teaches all of us the lesson to appreciate everyone, no matter what their abilities or circumstances are.

Zero is a great short film with stop motion graphics. It shows us that no matter where we come from, what our back gound is or how bad people try to put us down, the unimaginable can always present it self.

I really enjoyed this video! Although it is very sad, its the truth in this society we are living in, we are just a number to others. This video clearly shows the reality when there is judgment and discrimination and it also shows that there is no excuse to get up regardless of whatever situation we are in, its up to us like Zero that never allowed bad situations get him down, he didn’t want to be a negative number, instead negative should push us to be better. I like how this video was touching and got emotion out of me without having the characters speak. I hope more videos like this will be coming!

Wanna know more about this film? Check out the Behind the Scenes.

Video of the Week: Ghild

Joel — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:53:19 +0000

Ghild is an award winning short film / fairy tale for the giant child in all of us. Starring Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Harland Williams (Dumb and Dumber), Jimmy Bennett (Star Trek), and directed by acclaimed music video director Yarvo.

Ghild is a very captivating film. Its fantasy type concept is, in my opinion, a mixture of a Tim Burton film and a Twilight Zone episode. The idea of adults entrapped in children’s bodies, and a full-sized adult viewed as disease and a rarity known as a Ghild, is something straight out of a Twilight Zone episode.

The story was excellent, and the comedy was definitely entertaining. I especially enjoyed the acting performance of Michael Rosenbaum. His awkwardness truly reminded me of Will Ferrell and had me laughing throughout the whole film. David Yarovesky and Michael Rosenbaum did an outstanding job on this short.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Ghild was much different then any other short film i have seen. A kid who is over sized and much larger then other people, this disease creates a wall between him and other kids. This brings him to create drawings on his wall which he says are his friends. Even though the acting was great, I have to say this short didn’t fully capture my interest in it, at times i found myself lost and trying to figure out why he was so big? What disease did he have? Not knowing this brought me no emotions, and made me feel that he was just a spoiled big baby.

I do have to say the theme of this video was great! Misa brought up how this felt a lot like a Johnny Depp type of film, and i couldn’t agree more. The Music chosen for the film was very well picked as well, fit the theme and the feel just perfectly. Would i send a link to a friend to watch this video? No, but with great acting and well picked out theme and music like this, I look forward to seeing more short films from Rose and Bomb Productions.

I did enjoy watching Ghild. The music score used in this short was pitch perfect. There was no overly exaggerated music in the scenes.

I like that the house is completely askew in shape. The windows are tilted and the ceilings inside the house are inclined in. I found the perspective of the grown-up portraying the child and kids acting as the grown-ups quite intriguing.
This was a brilliantly written short about a poor child’s disease and his parents who cope with it everyday.

Video of the Week: Concrete Hustle

Joel — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:07:28 +0000

In Honor of May the 4th, which is considered a holiday by Star Wars fans to observe Star Wars culture and honor the films. We have decided to have a special Jag35 video pick of the week, Star Wars Edition! We dug up this little short that basically has some lightsaber choreography, acrobatics, music score, along with some effects and motion graphics.

Concrete Hustle is more than 3 years old, and despite that it is still pretty impressive to watch, taking into account the budget that they had to make it.

The behind the scenes feature was a nice little bonus. It shows you the practice that went into account to perform the choreography and the acrobatics stunts. Not to mention the DIY green screen that was used for that hilarious, but epic fall. Over all this short is very fun and is sure to entertain any Star Wars fan.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

AWESOME VIDEO! Wish I had great fighting moves like these guys. I guess I have to put more practice hours in my garage. This video is from three years ago and it was great today as it was back then. I cannot get tired of watching the awesome special effects and realistic Lightsabers. The perfect video to feature today on STAR WARS DAY!!!

Happy Star Wars Day….MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU ALL.

First and foremost, this short includes Star Wars. Enough said.

Video of the Week: Boom Boom

Joel — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:30:58 +0000

This is a Dark Comedy that has screened in over 15 film festivals in North America. It’s about two old friends bumping into each other over coffee and getting into a heated discussion about life and death. Well, mostly death.

“Boom Boom” delivers that touchy controversial dark comedy that is usually found on episodes of Family Guy, and South Park. The writing was very witty, and I was greatly surprised at the level of acting that these actors delivered. Their facial expressions and mannerisms, truly had you laughing. You were genuinely drawn into their conversation and awkward dilemma, in which you fail to notice that people were departing in the background.

Each person has a different sense of humor. Dark comedy isn’t always for everybody since it usually involves a controversial topic. Due to the many awards that this short has won, I’m very sure this film had no problem in making numerous people laugh.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Larry Ziegelmen’s film “Boom Boom” bombards you with ironic jokes and random humor. This short does require an open mind, because it involves heavy-use of typical stereotypes. But that just, in my opinion, made the actors even greater. K. Sriniyasan (Achmad) and B. Dabu (Jamal) collaborate brilliantly in the film. I’ve watched it three times and will most likely watch it again.

This dark humor short was cleverly written. The actors did an amazing job portraying to a certain extent comical terrorists. I am not easily offended, so the stereotypes did not bother me. I generally express some type of sentiments towards the music score being used, although in this case I did not pay much attention to it this time around; not even the second time when I was “supposedly” going to look out for that instead I paid more attention to the background and notice more when people were actually leaving the cafe. Which in turn brings me back to the writing; I was completely in tuned with the conversation that was taking place to the point that I forgot about the background music and people.

Video of the Week: Luna

Joel — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:28:10 +0000

Luna, is a short animated film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and released in August, 2011. It delivers a very good lesson about the power of attraction.

A chubby caterpillar becomes hypnotized by a lovely moth in Luna. His primary seduction trick? A musical surprise act. This animated short honestly had me smiling. The expressions of the characters were truly comical. As for the story, even though the plot was noticeably meager and unfortunately foreseeable. The message of infatuated love was clearly shown.

The CGI was brilliant. What honestly captured my attention was the color splash texture that was displayed. The vibrant gold color was truly captivating and really helped you appreciate the detail of animation that was given.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Luna was a short film that I found kind of cheesy. That aside, I found the music in the film to be great and entertaining , I thought the message that was transmitted to be pretty impact full. That you don’t really always know what love is, it might just be an attraction that you think you understand or feel.

I thought this piece was pretty funny. Even though the two moths seemed enamoured with each other, it was clear they had other priorities. Visually, it was captivating. I like the mood that was set with the moonlight. I enjoyed the story and the execution.

Luna was a very pointless short film from my point of view. Yeah the butterfly/moth seemed to be in love with the little chubby catipilar, but in reality her true attraction to this creature was the bright light. I do have to say the music was pretty cool but really no message behind it.

Video of the Week: Papaye

Joel — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:04:06 +0000

“Papaye” is a short animated film created by French director Geoffrey Godet. It’s a battle of wills as a chef attempts to crack through a turtle’s shell. Make sure you see it until the very end.

I don’t know if it was the style of animation or the fact that it was a chef in a kitchen that made me think of the animated movie Ratatouille. “Papaye” certainly has amazing animation. The lighting and textures were stunning. The graphics can definitely be compared with those of a major film.

As for the story, I found it pretty hilarious, and I definitely liked the non-cliché ending. I always enjoy movies that have an unforeseen finish. Over all Papaye is a great little short with amazing animation.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Papaye is a great short animation film with great graphics, it had me laughing thorough out the film in till the very end.

Papaye surprised me, I did not expect the ending. When the chef was trying to crack open the turtles shell I felt horrible and sorry for the turtle. The reason I felt this way was because of the way the creators made him seem which was cute, small like if it was a child especially with his big eyes! With the Chef I didn’t care for him, and I was glad that he did not kill the turtle. When you see the ending, I guess it wouldn’t have mattered if he died earlier or not because he still did not technically escape.

Video of the Week: Mr. Foley

Joel — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:56:15 +0000

A darkly funny but nightmarish scenario, a man wakes up in the hospital with a group of sound artists sound tracking his life. Mr. Foley is an award winning short film directed by Dublin directing duo Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman aka D.A.D.D.Y. The film has been on the festival circuit for a while but has just premiered online for all to see.

My favorite genre for any subject is comedy. I really enjoy that feel good sensation of laughing; it truly feels as if problems and stress just melt away. Mr. Foley delivers precisely that, COMEDY. From the music to the actor’s facial expressions, this short brings comedy gold. It honestly had me laughing from begging to end.

As for the plot, I was completely hooked from the start! The twilight zone idea of a man waking up to a world that is entirely soundless with the exclusion of a group of musicians and sound effect artists was hilariously brilliant! Mr. Foley enables you to see from a different perspective, the importance and the amount of work that are involved into creating sound for film. I have to say this was a very funny and educational short.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Very comical short film this week. “Mr. Foley” was a great way to demonstrate the importance of sound. Many of us may not appreciate this on films because we are always so used to it just being there and never missing, but this shows exactly why it is important and the hard work that goes into it. Im looking forward to my next film just so while i watch it i can imagine how all those sounds are being created.

Mr. Foley, was a good short film and I believe what made this video successful was everyones acting. The facial expressions and body language were hilarious! Keep a eye out for the trumpet player his faces were the best! It was because of the acting that made me enjoy this short film. Trust me you will be laughing through out the whole video.

“Mr. Foley” at first you don’t know what to expect. As the film continues you learn that the character doesn’t seem to hear noises or sounds, which lead me to believe that he was part of an experiment. The film its self is well put and has you laughing, due to the whacky and funny sound effects and facial expressions.
Another thing that I liked was how the sound effects were made in the film, which gives you an insight of how films are being produce. After watching this film it made me wonder and want to try various objects to produce different sounds.

Mr. Foley has got to be one of the most delightful shorts I have recently seen. I was entertained the whole entire time.My favorite moment has to be the Elevator scene the music cracked me up so much. I am still laughing.

This short was cleverly done. The actors did a spectacular job with their face expressions conveying what sound they were representing. Especially when Mr. Foley was about to fall over the edge of the building, I just loved their faces along with the simply over dramatic music.It reminded me of how radio stories were made; the sound boards is what ultimately gave them life. I loved listening to those old recordings. They are really entertaining and you are immediately tuned in. This is probably the reason why I throughly enjoyed this short film.

Video of the Week: CALVAIRE FRUITE

Joel — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:37:48 +0000

Fruit Calvaire is great short animated movie created by French students Ghayth Chegaar, Eddy Loukil, and Victor Jardel. It involves a chase between two very distinct characters, in a fantastic universe.

I was very impressed by the 2D and 3D mixture of animation that was used in Calvaire Fruite. It is truly the first thing that captures your attention. As for the story, it really reminds me of Mice and Men. It involved two extremely different characters and similar to Lenny, the big guy who was used in this short was a man of large stature, and great strength but with limited mental abilities who would hurt things by pure ignorance. This story also included a bit of dark humor at the end which I found comical. Overall it was a pretty good short.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

This short film was super cute! I ended feeling bad for the giant, because he was unaware of his own strength. Poor guy couldn’t keep a friend because he always hurt them. The little guy was a great character also. He expressed so many emotions through his eyes alone. Too bad the giant accidentally knocked him in front of the train.

At the end of this film, I felt like I would totally befriend the giant.

“CALVAIRE FRUITE” was a great short film, personally i wasn’t to fond of the story but i really enjoyed the cell animated look and the feel it had. I also liked the random yet funny ending, which had me laughing. over all i enjoyed the short film.

I have personally have a soft spot for homeless people. Once I realized this had to do with a homeles character, I wanted to keep watching this short film. The way this character was presented was great! The way he was dressed, the way he looked and the eyes that said everything without having to speak. The big guy as well was a great character because he is not what you expect him to be at first. You could tell what kind of character the big guy was with his facial expressions and the sounds he made. You cant help but to appreciate these characters even with the sad and unexpected ending. Since the ending wasn’t what I was expecting, it made me really like it and I believe you will too.

Video of the Week: We Stopped Dreaming

Joel — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:39:15 +0000

Have we stopped dreaming? Or are we just in need of some outside motivation? Several of the greatest accomplishments have occurred from external motivation. “We Stopped Dreaming” questions, whether we are moving away from such great innovations.

Why have we stopped dreaming? And what does that mean for us in the future?

This video couldn’t make it clearer, not only that, but it also drives a strong point, and it does it in a way that it makes you wanna get up and do something about it. Where is our future without innovators, without scientists, without technical engineers?

Remember back in the day when being an astronaut, was something everything kids wanted to be, working for NASA was the ultimate thing, and people were excited about space travel and the future. Those were different times, we all seemed to look into the future with hope and dreams about a better life with new gadgets and advances that made our life better.

What do you see now when you look into the future? I don’t know about you, but I think a lot of people are scared of the future. Movies now a days, when they portray the future, it’s usually something horrible, or depressing, or a worst place than today. It seems that we are now looking into the future with a different perspective.

Where have all the dreamers gone? Are new generations excited about scientific advances and innovating for a brighter future? Or are we creating a new generation that simply strives to become famous, by making a funny video on youtube?

Do we realize the effects that having a space program like NASA has done for our country? Are really going to just let it die out, just like that?

“Do you realize that the 850 billion dollar bank bailout, that sum of money is greater than the entire 50 year running budget of NASA”. We’ve spent more money, to simply bail out incompetent people making bad business choices based on greed, but when it comes to the space program, we’re just gonna let it die. Who’s making these decisions for us? And why are we allowing them to?

When they tell us that we don’t have enough money for the space program, it doesn’t make sense. It’s more like the distribution of money that we are spending is warped. Doesn’t this make you wanna do something about it, but what can we do?

At the very least, help spread the word. It doesn’t make sense that more people care about getting Betty White on SNL on Facebook, than saving our Space Program

http://www.savespace.us/

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

What do we need to start dreaming again? Do we need another cold war, another fear factor? The images that are shown in this video, such as of war, landing on the moon, and the NASA space program all added to the videos sense of urgency. Even the melodious sound couldn’t help but intensify your state of awareness.

You can sense and hear the passion of Tyson’s voice. You might even feel as if he was shouting at you, which in sense he was… He’s trying to wake you up! America has slowly stopped dreaming to the point that they’r cutting the budget funds for NASA. People can’t fully appreciate what this Space Administration has bestowed upon our generations. The NASA program can advance society by daring us to dream beyond the present limits that are seen today. Something that America has currently lacked.

For this week’s video pick of the week “America Stops Dreaming”, we got into a little more political and controversial topic. What is the government doing with all the money being taken off our taxes? Definetley its not going to NASA, a program that help discovered alot of the scientific improvements in our system. GPS, Satellites, Touch Screens, Medicine, and other great scientific discovers were all possible thanks to NASA. A program that is currently underfunded and about to be removed, but do we really need this program? Many of our favorite inventions wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for NASA. Most of us can’t stop this Program from being completely removed, but this video helps us realize and understand whats going on in our system and how our current government isn’t making this world any better, if anything there making it a worse place were America has Stopped Dreaming.

“America Stops Dreaming” is a great title and captures your intention and makes you wonder how did America stop dreaming. Most of us get caught up on our own personal life, work, that we tend to forget what is going around the world and even in our country. When a short film like this comes around it makes you wake up and get informed on a small potion of what is going on. The reason this video made stay focused and watched it completely was because of the way the man was speaking with a urgency and the images in this video. The images I liked because of the fact that they are small clips just as our own real dreams short, fast, and constantly changing. I personally love to dream and to think of America stopping is a scary thought.

This weeks video is “America Stops Dreaming” and after watching this film it made me wonder what if dreams and goals were never thought or reached out for, What if we never had a dream to begin with. This film made me realize that with out NASA we wouldn’t have the technology that we have today, Most people take it for granted and the little funds that NASA has today will be taken away if we don’t act soon. This film is very impactful, the images and the music that were used gives you an urgent feeling, not to mention the dialog in the film that makes you want to stand up and shout.

“America Stops Dreaming.” As you watch this film you definitely can see the level of urgency, the way the speaker is expressing himself, but with the images, you can appreciate more what he is saying. This film shows how NASA has done a lot for technology and anyone watching can see why it would be very beneficial if it does not end. Now personally I cannot say what this world would have been without NASA cause it did not turn out that way, and I think he went a little to the extreme of saying that without NASA “we might as well go crawl back into a cave.” But, if you think about it, how much more technology is really necessary to learn how to have a happy life?

Video of the Week: STAY WITH ME

Joel — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:46:31 +0000

Crash test dummies take constant beatings to ensure our safety, but what if these mute victims could tell us what they really want? NO and Ryan Reichenfeld give a voice to our durable friends in their new video for “Stay With Me.”

It’s truly captivating and astonishing to how much expression a crash-test dummy can portray. There was no need for facial expressions to feel the emotions coming out of the characters. Not only was the camera responsible for expressing the dummy’s sentiments, but the music did an excellent job on intensifying their emotions as well.

I have to admit, even though this was a touching love story, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the scenes since they were just hilariously bizarre. Over all This was a great music video, Ryan Reichenfeld did a wonderful job on giving these dolls a sense of passion, which at the end has you rooting for them. I seriously won’t be able to see dummies the same way.

Stay tuned for next week’s featured video.

Ah! This music video was great. I loved the story. I enjoyed watching how the filmmaker made the dummy evoke different emotions while never changing its facial expression. The song was lovely and fit together wonderfully with the dummy love story.

There should be me more videos like this out there, while transmiting different emotions, it has one laughing inside trying to figure out what is going on. I thought the idea was great, the music was well fitted, and the story was very well captured on camera. This was kind of like “Love For Dummies”.

The video starting off with the test dummy captured my attention and I wanted to keep watching. I was wondering what this was going to be about. As the test dummy has flash backs on the times he had with his love I thought it was ridiculous and could help to laugh. As the story develops to what is going to happen to the test dummy he loves I start to feel sad for him. I cheer for him to save the test dummy he loves. It is pretty crazy because it is a test dummy not human or animal or even something alive. This video made me wonder and laugh im glad it made me feel something. The video ” Stay With Me” overall is pretty good and it is a good song, its something I would listen to.

“Stay with me” was a great video, that transmits the feeling and emotions of crash dummies that have no facial expressions. I think it also transmits the idea that we have to fight for who we love, even if we have confront different challenges along the way. Even with its deep message, I found it funny and had a good laugh.

“Stay with Me” was a vastly entertaining music video. I am a sucker for music videos that have a story to them especially when the lyrics are cohesive with what the story is about. I enjoyed the song so much that I downloaded it. Hee Hee. I love the bass undertone.
Even though the test dummy had no facial expression just beady black eyes; you were able to perceived what he was feeling. Also the position of his body inflicted the agony he was feeling when his love was doing to the simulation.
I got to say though when he started moving I flinched. If I saw him coming I would have ran as well; creepy.