Radiohead's 'Nude' played with old computer parts

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

Out of ideas...

Complete writer's block? Having a hard time finding a killer idea to make a short film or skit? Total lack of creativity to begin with? Lazy?

http://viaggg.free.fr/3CH/3ch_web.php

'Nuff said!

THIS is what it's like to work in videogames.

No, seriously. If you thought for one second it was all 'fun & games'... Just take a look at this video. This is as true to life as it gets!



Now go make me a coffee! (I meant that as satire, I don't touch the stuff actually)

It's been 6 months already...

That's right folks! It's been exactly half a year (feels like only yesterday) since I managed to work my way into PYRO Studios and my 6-month trial period is about up. They want me to stick around so that's a relief! It's been great so far and everyone at the company are all cool cats and funny (and huuuge geeks).

Won't go into the details of the game for obvious reasons but I will say that quite a few publishers have seen what we've done of the game so far and are pretty interested. I might have said too much already so I'll just leave it at that.

I'm actually writing this entry from the office and it's almost midnight; high-time I got home I think (fortunately I live only a short 15-minute walk away).

Take care!

"Horton hears a Who" impressions

For the longest time it seems as though CG Animated films have been trying to live up to it's predecessor, Traditional Animation.

Having watched films like PIXAR's 'The Incredibles', Disney's 'Meet the Robinsons' and recently Blue Sky's 'Horton hears a Who', it seems as though CG animation is finally being able to basque in an animated awesomeness of it's own right.
This past weekend I went to the cinema to see 'Horton' just for-the-helluvit and because Dr. Seuss is pretty cool outright.

I was amazed with the fluidity these characters moved with, no trace of an obvious rig anywhere (how great is that!?), moving in unexpected ways and oh! the facial expressions...! I just couldn't put my finger on it in technical terms but I put my mind to rest by finally accepting that what I was witnessing moving around on screen weren't characters with predictable limbs and skeletons but shapes.

By jove, shapes! Just like in traditional animation; a picture. A single 'drawing' clearly expressing emotion, intent and line-of-action. The animation itself was enough to entertain me but the film's also packed chock-full of slapstick humour, funny one-liners and a blatant pick at all the uncalled-for cuteness and clichéd-ness that seems to be littering enough movies today as it is.

The story is pretty simple and straightforward and could be told in under 15 mins. but that's OK, it makes for a great film hands-down and I couldn't keep the smile off my face the whole 88 mins. it actually lasts. Not bad for an animated feature-film made out of a 60-page children's book!




Go see it.

'Starless Night' featured in Smashing Magazine

Well it definitely seems as though Starless Night is the talk of the town lately. The latest news is finding out about it being featured in the online mag 'Smashing Magazine' under an article named '25 Brilliant Animated Short Movies'. Here's an excerpt:

"Beautiful animated short movies are excellent for tedious coffee breaks and uninspiring monday mornings. To put some beautiful story in a short 2-5 minutes sequence isn’t easy, but even in this case designers and artists are quite creative and manage to come up with very surprising and unusual results. The selection below is supposed to make you cry, laugh, feel bizarre or even shocked — in every case being absolutely smashed.

Let’s take a look at the collection of 25 brilliant animated short movies. Among them you’ll find funny cartoons, typography-related movies as well as artistic masterpieces — hopefully everybody will find something interesting and unusual for his/her personal taste.-"

Check out the article featuring great shorts all round here.

Now that's just smashing! ;-)

666 visits milestone!

Thanks for visiting and keep on dropping by for a visit! You never know what you may find... Mwuhahahaahahaha-*cough* Hmm...

Evil, to say the least.

'Starless Night' very popular on YouTube thanks to AniBoom

You never know what you may find if you keep your eye on that 'related videos' section in YouTube and I just happened to spot a second instance of my short film Starless Night that had been uploaded by Aniboom.

Not only has it gotten more than 78,000 views, 160 comments and been favourited 676 times, but it has also recieved 4 honors amongst some of which are:

#35 Featured of Taiwan
#43 Top Favorites overall of Film & Animation this month (!!!)
#89 Top Rated overall of Film & Animation this month (again, whoa!)

This has been a real pleasant surprise for me and every single comment I read on both YouTube and Aniboom makes me feel more rewarded for the time and effort put into the making of 'Starless Night', not to mention that I'm especially happy that a good deal of people have found it sweet and entertaining.



'Memorable', perhaps? For that is what I strive for! ^^

The Animated History of Talarrubias

I'd like you all to meet Marianito!




This fellow has been one of my best-kept secrets since as far back as the beggining of last year and I can finally show him off in public.

Marianito is the star of an animated featurette called 'La Historia Animada de Talarrubias' (The Animated History/Story of Talarrubias). An 8-minute short film was planned as a tribute to this town in Badajoz, Spain. The local Town Hall were our clients and I worked freelance on the project.

I was responsible for the rigging and animation of Marianito and since March of 2007 I've had the chance to work alongside a couple of extremely talented ex-classmates of mine and other equally talented people from elsewhere.

The short film will premier on Saturday the 29th of March and once that's over and done with I'll most likely get permission to upload it for all to see.

In the meantime, here's some info regarding the featurette (only in Spanish, sorry!)

La Historia Animada de Talarrubias