Chop Chop, A Dramatic Rescue Is In Progress

A dramatic rescue is in progress. An animated short from www.birdboxstudio.com

A great animated short by Bird Box Studio to end the week. 

(via Ben Chirlin)

The Art of Film & TV Title Design: PBS Off Book

I feel like the latest episode of PBS Off Book was made just for me. I love opening title sequences, full of amazing technical, storytelling and design elements that elevate the work they precede. One of the very first posts I made here was on title sequences. Most recently there was a post on the opening credits for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Along the way I have also shared A Brief History of Title Design created by the fantastic Art of the Title and the must-see visual history lesson on The Title Design of Saul Bass. 

The credits are often the first thing we see when we watch a great film or TV show, but the complexity and artistry of title design is rarely discussed. Creators of title sequences are tasked to invent concepts that evoke the core story and themes of the production, and to create a powerful visual experience that pulls the viewer into the film's world.

“When everything falls into place, and becomes part of your experience of the show, that’s when design becomes filmmaking, and storytelling.”

 - Peter Frankfurt 

The credits are often the first thing we see when we watch a great film or TV show, but the complexity and artistry of title design is rarely discussed. Creators of title sequences are tasked to invent concepts that evoke the core story and themes of the production, and to create a powerful visual experience that pulls the viewer into the film’s world. In this episode we hear the stories of some of the most inventive people working in the field, including the creators of the iconic Mad Men sequence, the hilarious Zombieland opening and “rules” sequences, and the stirring end credits from Blue Valentine.

Featuring:

Peter Frankfurt and Karin Fong, Imaginary Forces

Ben Conrad, Logan

Jim Helton, Blue Valentine

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Previously:

Tattoos: Pop Portraits, Japanese Traditional, American Eclectic
Art In The Era Of The Internet: The Impact Of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project
Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium
Off Book Series One: The Complete Series

Just Do It & Make It Count

We started the week with the return of Ze Frank and his inspiring messages to get something started and move the dial from 0 to 1. We end the week with an equally motivating message, once you’ve started something, make it count. 

Remember Move, Eat, Learn - A Philosophy For Life In 3 Short Films from last summer. Director Rick Mereki was commissioned to create films instead of creating ads for STA Australia. The result was three truly inspiring films. 

Well, it seems filmmaker Casey Neistat may have been inspired by the idea. He was commissioned to make a short film for the Nike+ Fuelband campaign #makeitcount. Possessed by a spirit of adventure he didn’t do an ad either. Instead he took the budget and, like Mereki before him, he went on a trip around the world with his friend and editor and they kept going until they ran out of money. The result is the short film Make It Count. 

like me on https://www.facebook.com/cneistat we shot this in 10 days, just the two of us. Max, my friend in the movie, is a talented filmmaker, he edited this movie. check him out http://www.maxjoseph.com/

(via laughingsquid.com) 

And You Can Dance. For Inspiration. (Five Views On Dance)

I didn’t intend to make dance the theme of the week but as it happens sometimes all of the ideas come together at once and so, in case you missed them earlier, here they are, five views on dance:

• Monday: Dancers In Slow Motion
• Tuesday: The Secret Lives Of Dancers
• Wednesday: David Parsons’ Caught Vs Wrecking Crew Orchestra’s Tron
• Thursday: Dance Your PH.D.
• Friday: A Modest Proposal By John Bohannon: Get Rid Of Powerpoint And Use Dancers Instead

For more posts on dance check out the Dance category. I also encourage you to check out The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life and The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together, two fantastic books by one of America’s greatests choreographers and collaborators Twyla Tharp. 

Dance Your PH.D.

In 2008 science writer John Bohannon launched the first Dance Your PH.D. contest. The rules were simple, each dance had to be based on a scientist’s Ph.D. research, and that scientist had to be part of the dance. In an article he asked the question “Can Scientists Dance?” and the answer turns out to be yes, yes they can. Since then The New York Times and NPR have reported on the contest. 

I think the idea is inspired. Forcing scientist to get our of their heads and connect with their bodies to convey complex concepts probably led to additional moments of insight.

Below you can see for yourself last year’s winner, which besides showing new physics research in dance form also demonstrates a great panache for filmmaking reminiscent of the dance pieces discussed here yesterday. 

Microstructure-Property relationships in Ti2448 components produced by Selective Laser Melting: A Love Story by Joel Miller. 

Hip replacements have a limited life before they too need replacing. This is known in the medical field as revision surgery and it is a source of much pain and inconvenience for the patient. Revision surgery is most often because the underlying bone has deteriorated. Bone needs stress to grow and to maintain strength, yet current hip replacement implants are too stiff - they constrain the affixed bone and prevent it from stretching. The bone around the implant starts to deteriorate and the bond between bone and implant fails. Titanium, used in orthopaedic implants because it is strong, lightweight and biocompatible, transforms at temperatures above 883°C. The atoms rearrange from a densely-packed structure (called the alpha phase) to one that is loosely-packed (beta phase). Both alpha and beta phases are strong, but the beta phase is half as stiff and has elastic properties closer to that of bone. By adding elements such as tin, niobium and zirconium, our titanium alloy keeps its flexible beta structure at room temperature. If the alloy is then re-heated to 450°C, some alpha phase re-emerges, complicating the microstructure. This makes it more difficult for cracks to progress through the metal, making it less susceptible to fatigue failure. If the amount of alpha is controlled, a metal with good fatigue properties and low-stiffness is made. To further reduce the stiffness of the implant and match it to that of bone, we use flexible scaffold structures. The scaffolding also allows the bone to grow into the implant, creating a strong bond. These complicated scaffolds are built from thin layers of titanium powder that are melted with a laser, then cooled to solidify. This manufacturing method is called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and it is like 3D printing. Because SLM is good at producing one-off items, customised implants are possible; the patient’s CAT or MRI scans can be combined with Computer Aided Design to ensure a perfect fit. My research at the University of Western Australia uses these new materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to try to overcome the main reason why orthopaedic implants fail. If successful, this work will help lead to more durable implants, reducing the need for revision surgery and allowing orthopaedic implants to be used on younger adult patients. This video was created with friends and family for Gonzolabs "Dance Your Ph.D" 2011 Contest. It illustrates a central part of my research: the effect of the titanium alloy microstructure. The video was created using 2200 photographs because we didn't have a video camera, but also (and more importantly) because stop motion, even though tedious to shoot, is fun. The music is "Mischa" by unsigned Perth indi-electropop outfit The Transients. Hear more of their music at www.thetransients.net

(via ScienceMag.org)