It's Like Spiders

Falling Into Place

Nick — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:10:09 +0000

(click to play)

Particle experiment with composer Carmen Rizzo, using footage shot at the Toronto Zoo and Centre Island.

format: realtime animation
software: After Effects
Toronto, 2009.

We Are Now Starting Our Descent

Nick — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:12:54 +0000

(click to play)

A mostly true story about bugs.

format: SD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Painter, Audition
Toronto, 2009.

The Orange

Nick — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:39:12 +0000

(click to play)

Suddenly, a humble citrus fruit is granted absolute power over the universe. From a story by Benjamin Rosenbaum.

format: HD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Final Cut, Audition
Toronto, 2009.

Conan vs. Bear

Nick — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:48:14 +0000

(click to play)

Jessica Delfino is back with a helpful survival guide for those scary bear- and celebrity-infested woods…

format: HD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Final Cut, Audition
Toronto, 2009.

The Foxhole Manifesto

Nick — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:33:40 +0000

(click to play)

This is an adaptation of a poem by Jeffrey McDaniel, who has some ideas for a few appropriately modern gods.

format: HD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Final Cut, Audition
The Hague, 2007.

I Wanna Be Famous

Nick — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:45:50 +0000

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Here’s a brand spankin’ new one, from a song by Jessica Delfino. She’s discovered a guaranteed shortcut to everlasting fame–watch and learn!

format: HD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Final Cut, Audacity
San Francisco, 2006.

Disarmed

Nick — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 00:13:10 +0000

(click to play)

My cousins used to play this odd little game; they were about five and three years old at the time. The older one would pick up the remote control to the TV, point it at her sister, and say “Turn you off”–she’d obligingly fall to the ground and play dead. Then the remote changed hands, they’d change places, and the game would begin all over again. It was carried out with the solemn gravity of an execution by firing squad.

This short is a grown-up version of the same game, played with a grown-up weapon…

format: DV video
software: Commotion, AfterEffects, Painter, Final Cut, Audition
Pittsburgh, 2002.

Broadcast on CBC TV 2002.

The Story of Enoch

Nick — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 14:34:45 +0000

(click to play)

Enoch receives a premonition of disaster, so he sets out to collect as many books as he can find, to preserve the knowledge of the world. But, lacking reliable divine guidance, all his careful preparations come down to a straight-ahead, all-or-nothing gamble….

format: DV video
software: Final Cut, Audition, Photoshop
Los Angeles, 2003.

Broadcast on CBC TV 2005.

The Little Bird of Disaster

Nick — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:38:43 +0000

(click to play)

This is a story about a little bird who claims to be able to predict the future. Don’t trust him.

The Little Bird of Disaster was developed at The Kitchen’s 2003 summer workshop. The speaking characters are real-time “video puppets,” controlled with Mark Coniglio’s Isadora software. The piece was actually performed, like they say, in front of a live studio audience (you can hear them in the background).

format: DV video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Painter, Isadora, Final Cut, Audition
Los Angeles, 2004.

Screened at Rotterdam Film Festival 2005.

A Good Joke

Nick — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:53:51 +0000

(click to play)

This short is based on an old joke, a perennial in compilations of Jewish humor. Although the details differ between versions, the scene remains the same: a priest challenges a rabbi to a debate on the spiritual condition of Jewish people. But neither speaks the other’s language, and…well, I won’t spoil the punch line.

format: HD video
software: Flash, AfterEffects, Final Cut, Audition
San Francisco, 2005.

Screened at Ottawa Animation Festival 2006.