Washed Out – Floating By

This video uses a fun collection of repeating animated clips, from 2D or taken from I bet keys off a greenscreen to tell us a story about daily life and the repetition therein.

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Directed by Drew Tyndell for Washed Out

Also, watch down the Mister Mellow Show here for an awkward time via Stones Throw.

Lusine – Just A Cloud

This video for Just a Cloud by Lusine, like I’m fond of saying, succeeds as a simple premise well executed. It shows transcendence through a solitary moment, losing oneself as you might do with sensory deprivation or psychedelics…

There are obvious allusions to 2001 and the portal, a cinematic reference that you see over and over again because its so powerful and so well done. I’ve even tried to reference it, its such a huge landmark in effects an storytelilng and cinema.

Reisinger says he wanted to explore the idea of somebody waking up to the realization that we live in a simulated universe…

"In a lot of fictional examples, a character awakens from a simulated world and into the real world, where everything is the same. Color, light, matter—all behave the same as in the simulation. I wanted to put our character through a similar awakening, but into a reality that's overwhelming and incomprehensible. It's the same idea Arthur C. Clarke expressed about advanced civilizations appearing magical to us. If there is a higher reality, experiencing it for the first time would probably be completely disorienting."

I’m not sure I got that message, or if thats what I would have thought without reading that that was the case from the people behind it. I saw it more as an inward journey. The expansion of the of the self, of the mind. But that was just my take. This was a very well done exploration either way though.

There a lot more extended coverage here from Creators Project.

Lusine at Ghostly.

Clara Nova – Echo

Clara Nova – Echo

Directed by Clara Aranovich

“Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption.” -André Bazin

Aranovich writes, “This has long been my favorite quote about cinema; it gets to the heart of the nostalgic power of film, a power that overcame me at a very young age and has led me to pursue it ever since. Celluloid has always carried a mythical quality to me...”

from Booooom

Aranovich uses this simple premise, a sort of lo-fi take from both old and new, to tell a story of place and probably empathy and understanding as well. New mobile technology (instagram -boomerang) for it's premise; meets old film photography for it's aesthetic. It's interesting to see as well, with all the effort put into grading and color for digital film to get back to the tack and grit of old film, maybe its simpler just to go back and find film.

The technique is fun as well, shooting with a camera that has 4 side by side by side lenses. Its a fun idea to see 'steroscopic' in a why that is so immediate and intimate. like a Polaroid. Goofing around with your friends.

The story is simple: have a walk around LA, make friends, enlist people into your art/film/project, make some dance shapes with you dance friends. It's nice. It's wholesome. You can see they are having fun especially in using the fact they are shooting something to share with and meet new strangers along the way.

Beach House '7' Op Art Album

Directed by San Charoenchai

Okay, I'm a little odd in that I do probably most of my music listening from youtube. Call me crazy... but it works for me. There's of content thats not music, film, video, podcasts, news there as well and it just works for me to find songs and things there, along with episode of Frontline, or theory videos on Westworld.

And as I have done, I've seen the rise of the Lyric video or the Album Stream. Record labels like Matador or Subpop put up new releases, whole albums into a youtube video to play through. The 'video' is only the artwork,

This, '7' from Beach House is in that same vein but rather than just the album art, they've gone for animation, Op art that actually moves and responds to the music. Its simple, it looks great, and it must have been a whole lot of work. Thats a lot of building systems to power animation for 30-40 minutes. Very nicely done.

When You Die – MGMT

I hadn't realized MGMT had a new record from this last year, but came across this one through suggestions on youtube. And I like even from a simple storytelling perspective of repeating ones day, and weird dream logic, before all the visual effects. And the effects are great. As close as I have seen to how psychedelia actually works, applying patterns. 

People have come a long way with algorithms to apply art styles to an image, or that one terrifying one which puts faces and legs all over everything and eyes and turns things into many faced frogs. eek. And this use, is one of the best I've seen in video. 

And I always love when I see something where I'm not entirely sure how its made. Well done.

Directors: Mike Burakoff & Hallie Cooper-Novack

VFX Supervisor: Jamie Dutcher

Spike Jonze – Apple Home

I mean what can I say? I've been a fan of Spike Jonze since Mouse days, since Girl and Chocolate. He has made some of the most personally impacting and meaningful work that I have ever seen. And of course, he's still going.

This music video / film / ad is so simple in idea and so amazingly executed. And using props and sets and storytelling to show you, escape. Sanctuary in music. Expansive soundscapes. 

It's wonderful. Truly. Bravo.

And a bonus, From Mouse 1996:

Wild Nothing – Album Art Video

Wild Nothing. To Know You / TV Queen

Wild Nothing did an amazing job taking the photography from Life of Pause and creating a video actually living inside the space depicted on the album art. This one is buoyed also by the fact that I love the record and these songs particularly.

Directed by Shawn Brackbill.

Kerala – Bonobo

Bonobo Kerala - Directed by Bison

I love this video. Its so simple in concept but so effective in its storytelling. It's simply hypnotic in a way of only revealing a few more frames at a time with each loop back. Also the subtlety in the visual effects here is impressive. Things are happening, but we are a little unclear exactly what, or how. And with each loop back we are both teased and pulled away from what we just saw and given another chance to watch it through.

Well done, Bison.