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Netflix taps Gullermo del Toro to direct 'Pinocchio'
Netflix is adding to its stable of Oscar-winning directors with Guillermo del Toro, who will take the reins on a stop-motion adaptation of the classic kids' story Pinocchio. It's the first time del Toro has directed an animated movie, and he will also write and produce the musical.
'Harold Halibut' is a delightfully quirky narrative adventure.
I've never been one much for slow-paced puzzle-solving games. If it doesn't involve hacking, slashing, blasting or breaking my way through obstacles, then I'm generally not interested. But there's just something about Harold.
Netflix will reunite Key and Peele for a stop-motion animated film
We've got some good news for Key and Peele fans. Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele are reuniting and will be voicing the leads of Netflix's upcoming stop-motion animated film Wendell and Wild. While it's not a Key and Peele revival, it does sound like a pretty interesting project. The movie is based on an original story from Henry Selick, who directed the stop-motion films Coraline, James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick is also directing Wendell and Wild and will be writing the script alongside Peele and Clay McLeod Chapman.
The eerie stop-motion game that's 'better than sex with Jesus'
When I first talked with Anders Gustafsson and Erik Zaring in 2012, they promised their creepy, psychedelic, stop-motion game, The Dream Machine, was going to be "better than sex with Jesus." They had a lot of work ahead of them -- they were building the game by hand, with physical materials, and the stop-motion process was inherently time-consuming. Plus, they had to wrangle episodic installments of an intimate yet sprawling story inspired by LSD trips and theories of alternate realities. Five years later, as the sixth and final installment of The Dream Machine finally lands on Steam, I ask Gustafsson and Zaring if they think their game delivers on its sacrilegious promise.
Claymation puzzler 'Armikrog' comes to the PS4 on August 23
There's no rule that game animations must be done in a computer. The creators of Armikrog elected to use claymation, the painstaking stop-motion process beloved in such movies as Wallace and Grommit. The title raised $974,000 on Kickstarter and was released for PC, Mac and Linux last September, following several delays. The PS4 version was further held up, but we finally have a release date and price on the console: August 23rd for $9.99.
'Harold Halibut' brings back stop-motion video games
Remember the days when games were willing to experiment with stop motion characters and real-world backdrops, like Mortal Kombat or The Neverhood? They're back. Slow Bros. is working on Harold Halibut, an adventure game where both the characters and the environments are honest-to-goodness physical objects. As Harold tries to keep things lively for the rest of his fellow clay-animated crew members, he'll navigate a crash-landed spaceship made out of metal, wood and "carefully sewn textiles." As the teaser below shows, the result brings a uniquely imperfect style and depth that you can't quite get through all-digital animation.
The 'Star Wars' holographic chess game is nearly a reality
"Let's be real: Any article you read about Magic Leap or any AR platform, the first thing they talk about is Holochess." That's Mike Levine, the former senior effects specialist at LucasArts and the current CEO of mobile game developer Happy Giant. Levine is working on a new project with Corey Rosen, the former creature-effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, and legendary monster designer Phil Tippett -- the man who created Holochess for the original Star Wars: A New Hope. Together these sci-fi comrades are building HoloGrid: Monster Battle, a tactical collectible card game that takes numerous cues from the classic Holochess scene. Forty years on, Star Wars still exerts a huge influence on Tippett's life. "It's really weird," Tippett says. "It's like being in some kind of time bubble or Groundhog's Day. It keeps coming back."
The NES' Power Glove now doubles as a stop-motion video controller
Mattel's legendary-but-finicky Power Glove has been used for seemingly everything but playing Nintendo Entertainment System games as of late, and that trend isn't about to slow down in the wearable tech era. Witness animator Dillon Markey: he's using a heavily modified version of the glove to produce stop-motion TV shows like Robot Chicken. The newly Bluetooth-equipped controller lets him navigate his production software without having to carry a tethered remote or walk over to a PC, which is a big time-saver when it already takes minutes to perfect just a single frame of video. The augmented gauntlet also has retractable tweezers to manipulate tiny stop-motion figures, and there's even an Easter egg (we won't spoil it) that Markey can use to say how well his work is going. This isn't the best use of the Power Glove we've seen in showbiz (that honor will always go to Lucas in The Wizard, of course) but it's proof that there's still some life left in Nintendo's original motion control system.
Morph's crowdfunded comeback premieres on YouTube today
It's been a long time since Morph came out with any fresh material, but thanks to a lump of crowdfunding cash, the comical clay character's put together a new sketch show that premieres on YouTube today. Shape-shifting Morph first appeared on a children's art show in the late '70s before starring in several of his own, but his career's been stagnant for several years now. In an attempt to revive it, the stop-motion specialists at Aardman Animations -- who also created Wallace and Gromit -- pulled a Veronica Mars and took to Kickstarter for funds. They raised enough to bankroll a new 15-part series featuring Morph and friends, the first episode of which has just been released on YouTube (and is embedded below). If you're interested in future episodes, hit the subscription button on Morph's channel, where you'll also find a wealth of classic footage to eyeball.
Watch an artist bring cartoons to the real world using his phone
If you think that plain reality is boring, you're not alone. Storyboard artist Marty Cooper (aka Hombre McSteez) has been bringing his "Aug(De)mented Reality" cartoons into the real world through a clever technique that draws on both his iPhone and the transparent plastic cells used by old-school animators. When he finds an interesting location, he both draws dozens of frames to match the scene and captures it all with an equal number of photos; from there, he stitches together short videos that bring everything to life.
Watch as an Oculus Rift takes itself apart
If you've been following the virtual reality scene in the past year, you probably already know that the Oculus Rift raised almost $2.5 million on Kickstarter. You probably also know that its 100-degree field of view is three times that of a traditional desktop monitor. However, you likely haven't seen one of the headsets taken apart screw by screw in stop-motion. YouTuber Vsauce3 has meticulously chronicled the VR unit's piece-by-piece disassembly, using the technique made famous by the likes of Ray Harryhausen and, more recently, the team behind ParaNorman. The teardown video has the above factoids (and a few more) literally folded and layered into the gizmo's circuit board and casing, too. Trust us, even if you know everything about the Rift, the clip is still pretty neat to watch.
LeAnn Rimes new music video was shot on iPhone and you should really watch it
Regardless of your feelings about country music, LeAnn Rimes' new music video is well worth your time as an Apple enthusiast. The clip for "Gasoline and Matches" off of her new album Spitfire was shot entirely using an iPhone. Combining stop-motion animation, clips of live singing and the haunting eyeliner of Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, the video is a playful and creative example of just how far iPhone technology has come. It took more than 8,000 pictures to put together the 4:53-long stop-motion extravaganza. In an interview with The Loop, Darrell Brown, the video's co-producer, explained the how the iPhone made the complicated shoot possible. "Using the iPhone camera for the stop motion video made it easy, affordable and portable for us -- because of time factors. I had to get Ian [Padgham] to Dublin to film LeAnn while she was there. I had to get Ian to New York State to film Rob. It was so easy to lug around three iPhones instead of other heavy gear. iPhone to film, iPhone for playback of song and iPhone to document the fun." We don't know which generation of iPhone was used, but given the clarity of the shots, it's fair to guess it's a 5 or above. You can watch "Gasoline and Matches" below. If you're not a fan of country music, or at least this brand of country music, consider turning the sound off and playing another song that's 4:53 seconds long. These visuals deserve a few minutes of your time.
Smoovie for iPad: A stop-motion app for kids (and adults young at heart)
I recently spent some time with Smoovie for Mac, a kid-friendly, stop-motion video app. I really loved it, but I thought I'd check out the iPad version, too. I had a sneaky suspicion Smoovie and the iPad were a match made in heaven, and I think I was right! Smoovie for iPad is just as easy to use as the Mac version, if not easier. Because of the iPad's built-in camera and portability, it's so mush simpler to make a stop-motion video around the house or even outside -- get down on the floor or right up to the dog's nose. And of course, the iPad's touch screen makes Smoovie that much more intuitive to operate. There's just something fantastic about not having to worry about transferring photos, cables or being limited to one space with Smoovie on the iPad. It's an all-in-one package. And for kids (and adults), that just makes it all the more inspiring and fun to use. Of course, using Smoovie on the Mac does have its benefits, too. For one, you're not tied to the limits of the iPad's camera or storage. But ultimately, Smoovie is about having fun, not creating a Hollywoord blockbuster. Smoovie for iPad costs US$4.99 and is available from the iOS App Store now.
Smoovie for Mac: A kid-friendly stop-motion video app
Smoovie is Open Planet Software's kid-friendly, stop-motion video app for Mac. It's a simple app that lets you -- or your kids -- capture photo stills, either from your photo library, your Mac's built-in camera or an external camera, and compile them into a straightforward stop-motion video. Smoovie is designed to be extremely easy to use. Open the app and create a new Smoovie. Title your Smoovie and choose whether you'd like to use your Mac's built-in camera (or an external one), or import photos from your photo library or another folder on your Mac. Choosing the camera option will present you with a large preview window with a fun, Smoovie negative film background. From there, simply start taking photos by clicking on the large red camera button underneath the preview window. Each photo you take will appear to the left of the preview window -- a basic timeline. Similarly, if you've taken a bunch of photos already, import them and Smoovie will compile them into a video ready to play. Easily adjust the order of the photos by simply moving them into place. Of course, Smoovie also lets you add photos from your library to existing Smoovie videos, too. And that's it. You're on your way to creating a stop-motion video! Smoovie has a few additional features to help make making your video even easier. First, when taking photos from a camera, the Onion Skinning Opacity shows you what your last still was with a preview of your new still overlaid in the preview window. This helps you get your next shot exactly where you want it to be in comparison to your last one, making your movie a coherent and smooth one! Additionally, create, split and merge scenes to to order your Smoovie the way you want it. When you're all done, Smoovie makes it easy to export your video to YouTube, Vimeo, iTunes or as a movie file. Because Smoovie is super-simple to use, it doesn't have slightly more advanced features like titles, filters, transitions, etc. So exporting as a movie and importing to an app like iMovie might be a good idea, just in case you really want to polish your new video before you share it with the world. Smoovie is available from the Mac App Store now for US$29.99, but you can check out the free trial from the Smoovie website.
How 3D printing changed the face of 'ParaNorman'
We drive around in circles trying to find the place. There's no signage indicating our destination -- no giant, looming cartoon characters or even a logo, just a faceless building in a maze of industrial parks, about 17 miles outside of Portland. It's a beautiful drive of course, sandwiched on a vaguely winding highway by dense Pacific Northwest foliage, past Nike's global headquarters. Compared to the world-class tracks and fields dotting the shoemaker's campus, Laika's own offices are an exercise in modesty (in spite of financial ties to Phil Knight), virtually indistinguishable from the densely packed businesses that surround it. There are, perhaps, certain advantages to such anonymity -- for one thing, it helps the studio avoid random drop-ins by movie fans hoping to chew the ear off of their animation heroes. It also means that our cab driver does a good three passes before finally getting out of the car and asking a smoker standing outside a nearby building where to go. He thinks about it for a moment and indicates a building -- a large, but otherwise indistinguishable space. The lobby doesn't scream Hollywood either, but it certainly offers some less-than-subtle hints that we've found the place: a wall-sized black and white image of classic film cameras (ancient devices, someone tells me, that were utilized on the company's previous film), and in one corner, a tiny room encased in glass, with Coraline seated at a table in its center. This building is the house that she built -- or at least kept the lights on; "Coraline" was released after its planned successor "Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure" failed to materialize. Inside, the cavernous space in excess of 150,000 square feet has become a bustling small town of creatives, laboring away in its recesses, many having traveled through several time zones to be in its rank, like carnies hopping from town to town. Stop-motion animation, after all, isn't the most prevalent of professions, and while we've arguably entered a sort of golden age for the infamously labor-intensive art form, thanks in large part to the success of projects like "Coraline," the number of studios actually investing in the form can be counted on one hand.%Gallery-162720%
Stop-motion music video relies on OpenOffice and Excel, finds formula for success (video)
It's already considered a grind to produce stop-motion video -- imagine creating a clip using the spreadsheet app that many dread seeing at work every morning. Joe Penna, better known to the internet as Mystery Guitar Man, isn't afraid. He and his team recorded a performance against a greenscreen, gave the video a mosaic look in After Effects and proceeded to recreate 730 of the frames in OpenOffice (and occasionally Excel)... by hand. We don't want to know how long it took Penna and crew to wrap up their work, but the result is probably the liveliest you'll ever get out of an app meant for invoices and corporate expenses. The fully produced video is above; click past the story break if you want to smash illusions and see how the pixelated rumba came to be.
Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion project, Anomalisa, turns to Kickstarter for funding
There are few more bizarre or successful pairings in cinema than Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. Now, the two aren't teaming up again (at least not just yet), but the writer of Adaptation and Being John Malkovich is teaming up with stop-motion studio Starburns Industries on a new project called Anomalisa. The animators, whose past credits include Moral Orel, don't want any interference from the traditional studio system and have turned to Kickstarter to fund the film. The roughly 40 minute feature will follow a motivational speaker whose life has become "hollow and meaningless." Sounds like a right, fun romp! There's little doubt that the movie will get made -- it's more than half way to its $200,000 goal and there's still more than 50 days left to the funding period. Kaufman is hardly the first big name in Hollywood to turn to crowd-sourcing, but he's part of a growing trend of artists bucking the traditional system and sustaining themselves and their craft with direct support from fans. Check out the plea for funding after the break.
Insert Coin: Genie turns any camera into a world-class time lapse rig
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. New Zealand-based designer Chris Thomson and filmmaker Ben Ryan found that motion-control time lapse gear too expensive, too complicated and too bulky. So they set about building the Genie, a box that moves your camera around under its own power. Designed to be cheap(er than the competition) and user-friendly, the device will let you choose from a variety of presets or build your own to turn and position the camera. It will also draw itself along a guide rope, either on a dolly track or cable-cam for stunning landscape photography. It's reached $42,542 of its $150,000 goal and if successful, each unit will cost $1,000.
Nintendo Wii joins the Hulu Plus watch party
Sure, we knew it was coming, but now Hulu Plus has officially arrived for the Nintendo Wii, letting you stream "current-season hit TV shows such as... New Girl and Vampire Diaries" in all their high standard-definition glory. We know, you're already caught up on all that New Girl action, but The Biggest Loser's latest win will look even juicier in gorgeous 480p SD resolution, so head on over to the colorful Wii Shop Channel to get your $7.99 monthly Hulu fix. Or, if you're not keen on paying for your teevee, you can download a two-week free trial of the service anytime within the first month of availability. And what about that 3DS version? You'll need to wait until "later this year," unfortunately. Full PR is just past the break.
Music video created with iPad and iPhone
As you can tell from our quiet start this morning, it's a slow day around the TUAW HQ -- most of us are still in the holiday mood, and with much of the United States off work today anyway, things aren't too crazy. But we're still here, and while some of us are buried under snow, we can still at least remember that somewhere on Earth, there are sunny skies and tropical breezes. In fact, you can see both in the video posted below, which was shot by Ron Nadel and Dovev Adar a band called Passion Pit, completely on an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4. [Update: We originally attributed the video to the band Passion Pit, but the music is incidental] The team used the ReelMoments app (and presumably the official Camera app as well) to shoot all of the footage, and then edited it together with iMovie on the iPad. It's well done -- I wouldn't say it's super groundbreaking (we've seen music videos put together like this before), but there is some really good stuff in there. That last shot is especially great, and, if you are like us and working today after the holiday, might remind you that at least someone's on vacation this afternoon.
