Awesome Videos

Below are links to video’s that I watched in my New Media class – each one viral, entertaining, intelligent, and certainly worth taking a look at. For class I am required to write a brief blurb about each one, so below are my opinions, reactions, comments, etc. regarding each video.

Bingo



The video begins with a clown interviewing a patient. I thought that this was quite interesting because it creates a sort of reversal of roles – the exact opposite one would expect. While one may (hopefully!!) think that a doctor trumps a child in intelligence and maturity, in this film we see a doctor that is much less sane than his patient (scary, right?). I think that this opposite-of-the-expected aspect of the animated video helps enhance its surrealist qualities. I found it to be very trippy. The overall idea of the film is that once you succumb to a false reality everything sort of falls into place. I do not want to ruin the video for those that haven’t seen it but wish to, so I will stop here.

Ryan



This video is perhaps one of the best animated short films I have ever seen. The style of the video was such that I was flabbergasted that the figures onscreen were mere illustrations rather than real people. Much like Bingo, the animation was quite realistic in portrayal; except with this film the director enhances the realism by incorporating actual dialogue from the human versions of the animated characters of the story. There was a great deal of emotion in the film as it struggles with issues such as the power of money, loss of love, alcoholism, drug use, and depression. My favorite part of the film though was the shift in perspective between the interviewer and the interviewee. The director did a great job allowing his audience the climb into the minds of both his main characters. Oh yeah, it won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2005!

Sand Beasts

http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2007/10/creating_the_sand_beasts.html?ps=bb1&sc=emaf&sc=emaf

This video is insane. While I think that it shows extreme technological innovation and ambition on the part of the engineer, I do not agree with his attempts to play god. His desire to transform machines into living beings of their own right is downright strange and risky. I felt as if science fiction films of the past were finally coming to life. What he demonstrated appeared to be a lack of human control over machines which, in my opinion, is stupid.

Water Printer



This is the coolest thing ever. I cannot even imagine how much time and calculations went into constructing such a masterpiece. I am so jealous that this is in Japan. And I only watched a few minutes of what it can do. I am sure that the possibilities are endless.