In the fine tradition of this here link blog, I’m going to point you elsewhere on the internets so that you may spend 5 minutes with a quality piece of animation. Please enjoy Jake Armstrong’s student project (created at the School of Visual Arts): “The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9″.
The source post on Cartoon Brew has a good accompanying text by Armstrong, explaining his influences and interpretations of the characters. I don’t want to spoil anything and am no authority on ‘toons, but here are the notes I made while watching:
– several of the motions, particularly the Spaceman getting dressed in the beginning, reminded me of the excellent Adventure Time with which you are hopefully familiar if we are friends;
– my first reading of the character designs, their weight and especially their limbs, screamed Octopus Pie, though Armstrong’s own list of influences for the ‘comic book feel’ very much does not include a webcomic;
– that said, I find the piece very fresh, and a fine example of the form… and my heart breaks around the 4:30 mark.
There are very few stop motion films that I won’t watch all the way through, even if I’m not enjoying them. I always feel that I owe it to the creators for all the meticulous work they’ve done. I also enjoy animation, of course, but there’s something much more endearing about the chunkiness resulting from making minute changes to the configuration of the same few objects.
In that regard, be sure to watch through the credits, which features a time-lapse ‘making of’ sequence that I find astounding.
I considered placing this post under the meta-title “Studies in Repetition” as well, but I already have another item on deck under that heading. I’m not sure if this reflects latent obsession or creative laziness on my part. Probably both. Regardless, I find the following videos informative and fascinating. There is a bit of clinical gore, however, so you should maybe not watch during mealtimes.
[Originally seen a bit ago here, though of course the video itself appears to have originated on medical television?]
This is an example of open chest defibrillation. During surgery the heart had lost its regular pacing and proceeding to flip the f— out (a technical term, of course). The electrical jolt provided by the paddles overwhelms the wild confusion, briefly bringing everything to a stand-still. Eventually the heart’s natural pacemaker, the sinoatrial node, takes charge and strong, regular contractions recommence. Wondrous.
[The video appears to be first connected with this article, where you can find a multimedia link to watch at higher resolution than in this youtube rip.]
I like this video not only for being able to see a set of real lungs doing their thing, but also for its pretty awesome title: EX VIVO LUNG (out-of-body lung, I think). This set of lungs is patiently awaiting transplant, being kept at a toasty 37 celsius, happily nourished by a bloodless solution of proteins, nutrients and all-important oxygen. A pump system continuously cycles inhalation and exhalation, allowing the transplant surgeons to access viability and giving them up to 12 hours to make any necessary repairs. This allows for a great expansion in the pool of lung transplant candidates, since they need not be pristine at the time of donation in order to prove useful to the lucky recipient.
