Our latest round of animated action and cartoon capers
There are many subtle and clever ways of illustrating and conveying meaning in this day and age. Creators and makers have an impressive array of tools to shape and mould characters, objects, places and spaces into life on our screens – we’re certainly not short of incredible content to absorb.
Telling a coherent story and communicating powerful messages through moving masses of pixels has never been more engaging on both sides of the screen. Whatever your preference: multi-media mash ups, ink and paint, hand drawn lines to the latest machinations involving computer processed graphics. There’s never been a more exciting time for artists to express their ideas and bring visions to life – elevating ideas to a whole new level.
Continuing our series, we’ve pick out some of the latest animated works that caught our eyes and attention. We hope you’ll appreciate the level of love and effort that goes into these seemingly short pieces, as we focus in on visually animated fun from creators hailing from the UK, USA and Germany.
Max Cooper – Stream of Thought
To process and visualise the track ‘Stream of Thought’ taken from his album Unspoken Words. Max Cooper teams up with Optical Arts to direct, design and produce this superb piece of motion captured based work. The track is a musical interpretation of a free state of consciousness, where one loses executive control over their thoughts and allows the mind to wander. Making use of everyday objects like sponges, scissors and mugs, captured and distorted using visual effects.
WEMA – Luanje Pt. 1
Berlin-based animator, animation direction and motion designer Neirin Best gets to work on WEMA’s “Luanje PT.1” with a minimalist optic, inspired by a classic stop-frame style. Constructing and deconstructing central characters throughout, it results in a most pleasing flow of action to accompany the rhythmic patter.
Ripatti deluxe – Tambourine Love Hat
RUFFMERCY gets to work and stamps his colourful visual twist on the first single from the forthcoming album by legendary electronic artist, Sasu Ripatti aka Vladislav Delay aka Ripatti delux.
Kadhja Bonet – ‘California Holiday’
Illustrator Noah MacNeil produces this wonderfully soft palette of colour for this charming visualiser to accompany Kadhja Bonet’s ‘California Holiday’. Simple yet most effective, sometimes less is definitely more.
Plaid – Wondergan
The mighty Plaid are back on WARP records with a new album, enlisting the talents of Emma Catnip for a full force, joyous, funk explosion. Taking inspiration from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, she’s captured their positive vibes with an explosive stream of colour, using a mixture of modern AI production techniques to hurtle us through the galaxy.
