Journalism in the Age of Data: Documentary

One of my favorite pet subjects: Data Visualization! And now Geoff McGee has made a nice documentary about it and journalism. This from the incredible website: Information Aesthetics.
We are increasingly surrounded by and are drowning in mountains and mountains of data which would necessitate having artists and designers on board for any project involving data, no? SOMEONE needs to make the data coherent and give it a visible/physical representation, no?


Journalism in the Age of Data from geoff mcghee on Vimeo.

Visualizing sound using new technologies

Data sculpture created using a CNC mill: This looks and seems pretty techy--a sound wave is made physical through lots of processing and tools.
When the light beam goes over the otherwise abstract bunch of carved bumps, a soundwave form/line drawing becomes visible. There is an odd connection made between the still physical object and changing sounds/music.


Reflection II from Datdatdat / A. N. Fischer on Vimeo.

Winsor McKay, comic artist turned animator, 1911

Nice construction of "how it was made." The transformation of his comic "Little Nemo in Slumberland" (a gorgeously illustrated dreamworld) into an animation is dramatized here. It's a fun one to watch. Why don't we dress in suits to draw and animate?

Lotte Reiniger, silhouette animation, 1926, Germany

One of the few women mentioned in the history of animation. Invented her own form: silhouette films, that were imitated by many. Her work was featured in the 2010 Site Santa Fe exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ladislaw Starewicz - animating insects, 1912, Russia

One of his more famous works:

Emile Cohl - 1908!

Early hand drawn- to look like chalkboard drawings.

Emile Reynaud and his Theater Optique, 1890's

Gorgeous 19th century pre-cinema device.
This first one is a nice 3D simulation of how his theater mechanism worked:




This is the resultant movie from hundreds of stills:

Post-It Notes gone wild: DEADLINE

Playful, laborious, a joy to watch.

Storycorps Animations--real conversations are synched with drawn characters

StoryCorps » Germans in the Woods
The radio feature project, "StoryCorps," plays on National Public Radio stations every Friday. They feature one short conversation or story that is taped in a booth that travels around the country. Terrific stories.

Blu's amazing wall-painted animations

The latest: Big Bang Big Boom. A city's walls, streets, and structures come alive with hand drawn creatures. The site specificity of the work is as crucial as it is in Banksy's work, only this is temporary! 



BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Amazing site for Early Visual Media: Precinema, photo, mechanical things

Early Visual Media is an amazing and comprehensive site maintained by Thomas Weynants in Belgium. Also some cool stuff on Fairground Arts and Conjuring Arts.

Virgil Widrich's labor of love: "Fast Film"

One of my all time favorites: 1000s of color copies and cutouts of Hollywood film stills.



And, how it was done: