Category / Video

Viola through Glass: Alexander Chen Creates an Orchestra of Violas

Viola through Glass: Alexander Chen Creates an Orchestra of Violas viola music video instruments

Google Creative Director Alexander Chen (who previously turned NYC transit data into music) recently sat down with his viola and a pair of Google Glass specs to record snippets of video and audio which he then looped and edited to create this miniature orchestra. While the video editing was done externally to Glass, the perspective lends itself nicely to the viola and there’s something sort of life-affirming about the music and snippets of life recorded just beyond the instrument. Beautiful music, well done. (via explore)

The Paragliding Circus

The Paragliding Circus stunts paragliding acrobatics

In this amazing clip, acro paragliding pilot Gill Schneider teamed up with his father’s circus class to mix juggling, trapeze and other circus arts with paragliding. The whole video is fun to watch as you learn a bit about Sheneider’s love for flying and see some more ground-based interactions between himself and the class, but around 2:30 things suddenly escalate when he takes trapeze artist Roxane Giliand up in the sky above France for some nail-biting acrobatics. You can see more photos of the circus here. Video shot and directed by Shams Prod.

By Christopher on April 20, 2013 • acrobatics paragliding stunts

Massive Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction for A-Trak & Tommy Trash’s ‘Tuna Melt’

Massive Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction for A Trak & Tommy Trashs Tuna Melt Rube Goldberg machines music video kinetic dominoes

Here’s a fun new music video for A-Trak & Tommy Trash’s ‘Tuna Melt‘. The Rube Goldberg device moves through almost every room of the The Ohage House in St. Paul, MN as dominoes crash, paper airplanes fly, and submarines chug along underwater. I couldn’t say for sure if it was all shot in one take, but there are some fantastic sequences regardless. The video was directed by Ryan Staake and most of the dominoes and other kinetic devices were created by Tim Fort. (via booooooom)

By Christopher on April 19, 2013 • dominoes kinetic music video Rube Goldberg machines

Joy: A Dreamy Stop Motion Music Video for Iron & Wine by Hayley Morris

Joy: A Dreamy Stop Motion Music Video for Iron & Wine by Hayley Morris watercolor stop motion music video animation

Director and animator Hayley Morris (previously) takes us on a surreal journey in her dreamlike music video for Joy, a track off Iron & Wine’s latest album Ghost on Ghost that was released just this morning. In her video for Joy Morris found inspiration from the lyric “deep inside the heart of this crazy mess, I’m only calm when I get lost within your wilderness,” which she used as a jumping off point for her animation which was created by projecting hand-painted watercolor animations into stop-motion landscapes. There are some terrifically brilliant moments, the moth especially, which made my jaw drop a bit. I’ve also included a making-of video above showing some behind the scenes footage. (via the fox is black)

By Christopher on April 16, 2013 • animation music video stop motion watercolor

Magnetic Putty is Completely Amazing/Terrifying

Magnetic Putty is Completely Amazing/Terrifying timelapse science magnets

Magnetic putty is just like any other putty in that you can handle it, sculpt it, and squeeze it in a fist as you visualize your enemies. But place it anywhere near a strong magnetic field and it will SPONTANEOUSLY ANIMATE and move to consume anything magnetic in its path like a voracious mutated slug. In fact the putty won’t stop moving until the object has been equally engulfed on all sides. PBS Digital Studios and Shanks FX used the putty in parts of their recent film short SCI-FLY, and just posted this extended cut of special effects shots that explore its heinous capabilities. To be fair, these clips are sped up quite a bit as the actual motion of the putty consuming other objects is only faintly perceptible in real time. Want to experiment with magnetic putty yourself? Get it here.

By Christopher on April 15, 2013 • magnets science timelapse

The BioniCopter: A Robotic Dragonfly by Festo

The BioniCopter: A Robotic Dragonfly by Festo robotics insects flight

The BioniCopter is the latest robotic marvel from German technology firm Festo, a company known for the creation of numerous devices that mimic wildlife including birds, jellyfish and penguins. Meant to mimic the motions of a dragonfly the BioniCopter is capable of flying in all directions including backward, and can also hover indefinitely in the same spot. Via Festo:

In addition to control of the shared flapping frequency and twisting of the individual wings, each of the four wings also features an amplitude controller. The tilt of the wings determines the direction of thrust. Amplitude control allows the intensity of the thrust to be regulated. When combined, the remote-controlled dragonfly can assume almost any position in space. [... ] This unique way of flying is made possible by the lightweight construction and the integration of functions: components such as sensors, actuators and mechanical components as well as open- and closed-loop control systems are installed in a very tight space and adapted to one another. With the remote-controlled dragonfly, Festo demonstrates wireless real-time communication, a continuous exchange of information, as well as the ability to combine different sensor evaluations and identify complex events and critical states.

While many other remote-controlled dragonflies exist, many of which are available commercially as toys, the BioniCopter is the first device that can mimic the function of a plane, a helicopter, and a glider all in the same device. Learn more at Festo. (via rhumboogie)

By Christopher on April 14, 2013 • flight insects robotics

DRUMS: A Ridiculous Video in Which there is Drumming

DRUMS: A Ridiculous Video in Which there is Drumming video art drumming

It’s Friday and I have no idea what’s going on here but I kind of love it. Shot and edited by Simon Panrucker, starring his nieces. If you liked this you will most definitely like Oona Rocks.

Update: I should have added that these videos were most likely inspired by the work of Lasse Gjertsen who seems to have removed most of his videos from YouTube but you can still see a low-res version of Hyperactive. (thnx, everyone)

By Christopher on April 12, 2013 • drumming video art

Landfill Harmonic: An Upcoming Documentary About the ‘Recycled Orchestra’ in Cateura, Paraguay

Landfill Harmonic: An Upcoming Documentary About the Recycled Orchestra in Cateura, Paraguay trash recycling Paraguay instruments documentary

Cateura, Paraguay is a small city that has grown atop a massive dump. It is regarded as one of the poorest slums in Latin America, a village where people live among a sea of garbage. Incredibly, the landfill itself is the primary form of subsistence for many residents, who pick through waste for items that can be used or sold. Prospects for most of the children born in Cateura is bleak as gangs and drugs await many of them. But then one day, something amazing happened.

A garbage picker named Nicolás Gómez (known as “Cola”) found a piece of trash that resembled a violin and brought it to musician Favio Chávez. Using other objects collected from the dump, the pair constructed a functional violin in a place where a real violin is worth more a house. Using items gleaned completely from the dump, the pair then built a cello, a flute, a drum, and suddenly had a wild idea: could a children’s orchestra be born in one of the most depressed areas in the world? As you can guess, the answer was yes.

Now a group of filmmakers, producers, and photographers are trying to tell the story of the orchestra through a documentary titled Landfill Harmonic. The orchestra seems poised to offer many of the children opportunities outside of the slum— they are already planning a multi-city tour around the U.S. The movie is currently being funded on Kickstarter and just passed the halfway mark today. Watch the video above and you can learn more over on their Facebook. Backed!