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Okay, trailer time. WATCH!

Last week I was introduced to a 2008 documentary about how new culture is created by building upon old culture, and how the digital age is affecting the creation of new culture. The film is called Rip! A Remix Manifesto, and it is appropriately available for you to watch for free online (yes, legally!); if you want to donate to the creators of the film, you can buy the DVD from the official website.

The film is a great introduction to the way copyright affects creators and consumers around the world. As culture is increasingly becoming a digital phenomenon which anyone can create or have access to, it will soon be very important for all of us to understand how copyright law works and what it means to the average Joe. Creative Commons is also discussed – it’s a different kind of licensing agreement with which creators can say, “Yes, take my art/music/writing/scientific data and use it to make new culture – just give me credit too, please!”

Whether you are a BitTorrent addict, a law student, or someone who believes they’ve never committed copyright infringement in their entire life (yeah – right), you will probably learn something you didn’t know before (unless you’ve already seen the movie).

If this still sounds incredibly boring, the film is heavily interspersed with hot dance beats by Girl Talk, a guy who takes your favorite 80s and 90s songs and combines it with infectious beats to get you up off your butt and on to the dance floor (okay, perhaps just your kitchen floor).

(P.S.: You can even watch it RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW if you have 86 minutes to spare:)

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It’s been a good few weeks for collecting animated gems on Youtube.

There are so many different ways to animate! My favorite at the moment is known as rotoscoping (which, before anyone decides to get all technical, has several related meanings). Back in the days before computers and such, animators would sometimes trace the frames of live-action motion by hand in order to produce more realistic animated motion (for things like dancing). Now we can do the same thing by splitting video clips into their separate frames and tracing the outlines with a digital tablet – still a time-consuming process, but one that produces pretty neat effects.

One of my favorites, by bentarthur:

Here is a most amazing stop-motion in which the 2D and 3D worlds collide by BLU.

Of course, I’ve always been blown away by those with the patience for claymation, like the masterful David Daniels whose work you’ve probably seen but never recognized. Here is a montage of his vast repertoire of animations (though I’ll be honest, I think it’s a little creepy):

If you’re still interested, here is a great blog called Pencil Test Depot where animators share their preliminary animation processes.

I’m excited about the prospect of using animation to bring imaginary worlds to life that wouldn’t be easy to do by myself using a combination of live action footage and special effects… (Digitally) drawn animation is relatively inexpensive and so versatile. I have a few experiments going right now which will take a few months. Hopefully the results will be worth the effort!

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