As work continues behind the scenes on the new Epic Fu blog network, I wanted to show you a blog that will be part of the network: Audioesque.
Created by Michael (Giannii) Calvert, Audioesque reviews an album each day of the week, uncovering the artistry of musicians and their creative process for each digital wax masterpiece they produce. With each review they reward one viewer for "filling in the blank" on one unanswered question within the show.
Here's a draft of the intro for the videos that Giannii's been putting together -- he's got a lot more up his sleeve.
We're still a few weeks away from launching the network, but we'll keep dropping tidbits to preview things as they become available.
Fans from around the world are joining forces to recreate the classic, Star Wars: A New Hope.
The entire movie is split up into 15 second scenes. Claim a scene, film it, and upload it! When it's all done, it'll be stitched together so we can watch the magic happen.
Check out the official Star Wars Uncut Tumblr blog as well.
A fun collaboration by students at the University of Quebec at Montreal!
[ Via: Ricky Van Veen on Tumblr ]
Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, and DJ Big Wiz make up the team known as Hail Mary Mallon. Their new music video for the song "D-Up" is pretty wild in concept. The single is available now on the Definitve Jux Presents IV compilation.
Directed by Alexander Tarrant and Justin Metros
Friend of Epic Fu and general good guy Dave Seger is one of the creators of Ikea Heights, a melodrama (read: understatement) set in an Ikea store in Burbank, California. And I mean they literally film the show in an Ikea store without the store's knowledge, and with customers milling about.
They produced the show for Channel 101, the grandaddy of all funny video sites created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab that keeps on chugging along and discovering new talent. This is episode 1 of Ikea Heights. Check out the others on Vimeo (Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4) or at the Channel 101 show site.
Hey friends! We've been away for a bit, but gearing up for the next episodes of Epic Fu. Yes, we are coming back! In the meantime, check out the Epic Fu TV spot Steve Woolf and I produced for Jinx (as well as another for Empire Arcadia). It's for their "Get Into It" campaign, and is currently airing on G4. Steve also directed the spot.
Big thanks to Ray Doustdar for working with us on the campaign as well as Sean Gailey, Tim Norris and the rest of the Jinx team. Also thanks to our DPs Lan Bui and Vu Bui, makeup artist Tracie Cotta, as well as Sarah Atwood and Rick Rey for their amazing production work.
We're revving our engines. Stay tuned! :)
This is a great series of videos from Current of Mos Def busting some acapella verses from songs on his new album. Embedded above is a verse from "Casa Bey" and after the jump are two more. He's promoting his new album The Ecstatic, which comes out today. From what I've heard so far, it's a great album.
[ Via: NewTeeVee ]
YouTube user avoidantconsumer recently posted a mashup video that combines scenes from 80s brat pack movies with Phoenix's "Lisztomania". In the video's description section, she simply says, "this song just struck me as 80's movie-ish. so i made it happen."
[ Via: boingboing ]
A sad story about a clearly intelligent and thoughtful human being who has suffered a great deal and made many mistakes. D-Nice, yes, that D-Nice, is a talented videographer and editor who has over a dozen videos posted on Vimeo as part of his "True Hip-Hop Stories series." For any fan of hip-hop, it's a nice journey. Also, I'd like to know what camera/lens he is using, because I absolutely love it.
Update: Just noticed that the camera is indicated on the Vimeo video page. It's a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, same camera we just used to shoot a tv commercial (yes, it's an SLR!).
Metal Gods, a new film by Matt Porterfield, follows the lives of two damaged teenagers living in a Baltimore suburb. We follow Sean and Jenny's life routine over the course of a week, revealing who they are as they're thrown together by a sudden act of violence.
Quiet complexity comes to mind when I look at the test footage. It'll be cool to see the finished film, which begins shooting this summer. You can make a donation and contribute to the production of the film.
Check out some of the casting test footage with Sky Ferriera, who plays Jenny in the film.
The Beatbox Battle World Championship recently held an open-submission contest for the competition's "wildcard" category via YouTube. One of the people that answered the call was 18-year-old Daichi from Japan. With 687,000+ views in less than a month, this guy is sure to build a strong name for himself within the hip hop community. Check the video for proof.
[ Via: @judy12345 ]
On this week's show we talked at some length about the firestorm of coverage and conjecture surrounding the conviction of the Pirate Bay founders on charges of aiding copyright infringement in a Swedish court. Warners, Fox, Sony, and EMI led the fight and hailed it as a great victory.
They couldn't be more wrong.
With all that's happening in online entertainment, it's inspiring to see people take more innovative approaches to making and sharing media. Case in point, Brett Gaylor, creator of Open Source Cinema.
Long-time videoblogger, web activist, and filmmaker, Brett's most recent project is an open source documentary about copyright and remix culture. RiP: A Remix Manifesto, focuses on the state of media in the age of free-flowing information. Featuring Girl Talk, Lawrence Lessig, Gilberto Gil, and Cory Doctorow, all influential media figures, the film is set to really delve into some serious issues.
When N.A.S.A.'s Gifted with Kanye West, Santigold, and Lykke Li came out in Feburary, we had just started our ten week break for the show and I was so disappointed we couldn't get this in front of people earlier. Even a couple of months later, it was so good we had to make it the spotlight video. This is the second time we've spotlighted a N.A.S.A. video. This one was created by Three Legged Legs.
Just the other day Zadi and I were walking up the stairs to our apartment here in Los Angeles and we looked at the shelf where the mail carrier leaves oversized mail. And on that shelf was a circular for a local retailer with t-shirts for sale. What was on those t-shirts, you might ask? Fred.
Nothing short of a YouTube phenomenon, Lucas Cruikshank, the creator and star of the Fred videos (link to the show site), crossed a milestone the other day when he signed up his one millionth subscriber to his YouTube channel. It's incredible when you think about it. Some things just take on a life of their own, and when you try to deconstruct why something caught fire and took off, it can help you understand what went right.
Royksopp is known for their experimental music videos, and Happy Up Here fits that perfectly. To be honest I've probably watched it way too many times. The song is awesome and the video fits it to a tee. The electronic duo is from Norway, and if their music sounds familiar, according to their Wikipedia entry a bunch of it has been used in commercials.
For the past week or so, the web and Hollywood has been buzzing about the leaked workprint of the new Wolverine film, which opens May 1st. If you haven't heard, somehow a DVD-quality copy of the movie, with some incomplete special effects, has been downloaded millions of times through P2P file-sharing networks. Apparently Fox is so freaked out it that they called in the FBI to investigate.
A parody of the Where the Wild Things Are trailer.
I am a hardcore believer that if a band/singer is going to cover someone else's track, especially an iconic track, you better have a new spin on it and make it your own. The Flaming Lips do exactly that with this positively EPIC cover of Madonna's song, "Borderline."
The original video is embedded after the jump (note that there is a pre-roll ad before the video).
[ Via: Eric Mortenson ]
We're getting ready to leave for Austin, Texas, the site of the biggest party of the year, also known as the South by Southwest (SxSW) conference! It's a convergence of film, interactive, and music panels, discussions, and parties that always has amazing people attending and interesting new things to find out.
This year we're excited to be partnering with PBS! We will be producing a series of interviews with filmmakers, online video people, and social media experts as part of our involvement with PBS Engage. If you're going to be in Austin, come by and say hello at the PBS interactive social media and video studio!
video by ladimcbeth on flickr
EPIC FU friend (not to mention a blogger right here on the EPIC FU blog!) Paul Dateh released his eponymous album last Tuesday, and last night at the Dakota Lounge here in Los Angeles he and his band tore it up to celebrate!
Dan Martin is a funny dude, and it's the good kind of funny which effortlessly weaves itself into whatever the topic of conversation may be. When we visited him for an interview, he made us feel right at home in what he called his dollhouse - a very pretty house styled by his wife, actress Arden Myrin. As we sat and talked, he led us through the beginning of his career as a writer to the current projects he's working on for the web.
Clyde (Douglas Sarine) and Clark (Nick Armstrong) bring us a video which details the assessment President Obama would probably get if he took America to the shop. :)
Bodies of Water is a Los Angeles-based band led by husband-and-wife team David and Meredith Metcalf. In a review from last summer, Slant Magazine said, "Bodies of Water take their sweet time setting up their songs, building them in dense layers, bending and peeling those layers back, and then folding them onto each other."
We met Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab in 2007 when we invited them to give the closing keynote at Pixelodeon. They delivered a memorable talk about the process of creating Channel 101, a website founded in 2003 that invites comedy filmmakers to create pilots for original short web shows which are then screened for an audience who votes on which shows get a return engagement.
Dan and Rob took the idea for Channel 101 to television with Acceptable.tv on VH1, and they have also been creating other awesome tv shows, like The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central, which they co-created with Sarah Silverman. They also wrote the screenplay for Monster House, which won the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
A couple of pencil-outlined birds escape from a little girl's drawing, leading us through the life she dreams of.
You can find more about the creator Carlos Lascano and the making of this video here.
[ Via: aut0matic ]
Metronomy is a group that sounds to me like an interesting cross of their influences, which include David Bowie, Kraftwerk, and Devo. They hail from London, and their newest video, A Thing For Me, (embedded above) has a catchy melody and really fun and imaginative visuals. Metronomy is Joseph Mount, Oscar Cash, and Gabriel Stebbing.
Jay Smooth created and has been hosting The Underground Railroad on WBAI for a long time. In fact, it's New York's longest running hip-hop radio show. In addition to that, Jay launched Hip-Hop Music, one of the first hip-hop websites, in 1997 and started his videoblog, Ill Doctrine, in June 2007 (one of my favorite entries is embedded above). And, he's the owner of one of my all-time favorite quotes about the new media revolution: "At the end of the day, a medium is only as valuable as the ideas you're transmitting through it."
Stefan G. Bucher is an artist and illustrator who turned a blog about drawing monsters into a great video compilation and an interactive project. Visitors to the site created names for the monsters, as well as stories about them, which they posted in the comments for each entry.
Invaders Must Die, from electronic gods The Prodigy, is freaking kick-ASS! They are already releasing their fifth album (time flies), and Invaders Must Die is the first track.
[ Via: Daniel Merlot via Twitter ]
On this week's EPIC FU, Rick Rey put together a great ride through some of the top conspiracies on the web, including the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, Project Bluebeam, HAARP, and Reptilian Humanoids. Check out the show page for all the links and watch Zadi run it down.
But we also had to leave out some of the stuff Rick researched due to time constraints. So what better place to pick up where we left off than with UFO's!
[ Via: Rick Rey, conspiracy maestro ]
On this week's show the FU of the Week is served by Wreck and Salvage, three guys working across the web to remix videos. If only it was that simple. The results of their collaboration run the gamut from hilarious to profound, and sometimes both. W&S is Erik Nelson, Adam Quirk, and Aaron Valdez, who have all been around web video for years already.
In my view they represent a part of web video production that, in these early days of online video, reminds me of hip-hop in the early 80's when music producers were creating a new genre by repurposing the work of others. The undercurrent of that movement was about giving a voice to a part of our society that was ignored, and I think what is happening with creators like Wreck and Salvage is very similar, except this time they are giving a voice to the utter absurdity of popular culture in the Western world.
This video is all over the web after premiering on SNL Saturday night. The three guys from The Lonely Island, who are honing their skills on SNL for something much greater down the road, knocked it out of the park with this one.
From The Mighty Underdogs debut full length album, Droppin' Science, we're featuring the video for "Gunfight" this week! It's a pretty awesome video by Ben Stokes they have going on, and I just love the opening verse that contains the lines, "I stepped out the saloon / About a quarter to noon / Might as well have been a quarter to doom!"
Today we received a box that contained a locked metal briefcase and a letter. Here's the text of the letter:
I saw a list with your names on it at Armacham & I need your help.
Armacham will be initiating a fear lab in New York City and they are going to try to contact you to take part in the test. Do not participate!
Post a video or image of this case on your website by December 3rd. After I verify you have done this I will release the combination to open the case on the forums at ProjectOriginCommunity.com/forum.
I will log in under "Case Man" on December 5th.
—R
It's the Rick Roll to end all Rick Rolls. This morning as the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends float rolled on by, Rick Astley himself came out and Rick Rolled the entire nation with his revived web hit Never Gonna Give You Up. I think this pretty much caps what you can do with a Rick Roll.
In the Spring of 2005, indie filmmaker and Vancouver native, Jeff Macpherson, got together with some friends and decided to take his creative career into his own hands. Along with Kevin Gamble (Johnny Johnny) and Lara Doucette (Lala), Jeff built a swank tiki bar in his Canadian apartment and created Tiki Bar TV, a fictional webseries about a doctor (Dr. Tiki) who prescribes medicine for the ailments which surface in each episode.
The 88, a three-piece rock/pop band from Los Angeles, has been appearing all over your television set in shows like How I Met Your Mother, The OC, Grey's Anatomy, Weeds, Gossip Girl and many others.
Explanation behind the band name, from their website:
88 keys on the piano....88 constellations in the sky....the infinity sign....the most auspicious number in China....88 mph to get Back To The Future...88 cities in Los Angeles...a great French Kicks song. Welcome to the world of The 88.
Web video behemoth, YouTube, had their first online Live event today. Attended by the geekerati, YouTubers (Lisa Nova, Michael Buckley, Tay Zonday), and pop stars (Katy Perry, Will.I.Am) alike, the Live event seemed poised to be an online event to end all online events. So how did it do?
A rather charmingly bizarre adventure that makes me simultaneously, a) wish that the world was like this, and, b) wonder why they are vomiting rainbows into each others mouths. You'll see what I mean.
Video credits:
Director/Animator/Characterdesign: Kristofer Strom
AE/Filmmaestro/Cutting: Erik Buchholtz
Producers: Bart Yates, Nicholas Wakeham
Studio: varelsen.com / ljudbilden.com
Music: Minilogue.com
Track: Animals
Label: cocoon.net
[ Via: via: Bre Pettis on Twitter ]
Kelly Sutton and Chris Lesinski over at Hack College went around their campus and asked students if they knew what Twitter was. The responses may surprise you.
Apparently I'm super-late to this video, but file it under Incredibly-Awesome or If-It-Doesn't-Make-You-Feel-Good-You-Have-No-Soul, if only for the woman toward the end singing along. Awesome marketing for the group Naturally 7. Bravo, fellas. You make me miss NYC.
[ Via: via: soupsoup ]
FAIL.
Barry Manilow does Never Gonna Give You Up.
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. Wait... It's Barry. The Manilow. He's ironic. WIN!
WIN!
I'm confused.
[ Via: via: Wardere ]
Bravo to our friend and colleague Jamie Wilkinson, who created this video visualization of the edits made to the Barack Obama Wikipedia page using the open source code_swarm and his own wikiswarm script that ties into the Wikipedia API.
[ Via: via: jamiew on Vimeo ]
Written, produced and edited by A.M. Peters, Hacker Ethic is a documentary which explores the latest generation of hackers, and the culture surrounding a world where there are "do-it-yourself (DIY) electricians, programmers, security consultants and artists who may operate in grey areas yet to be defined by law."
[ Via: via: Noneck Twitter ]
I discovered the video for Feast of the Dead by the Connecticut death metal band Autumn's Eyes through MTV's Headbanger's blog. I'm not much of a headbanger, but how can you not love a low-budget, fun, slasher video with an insane death metal track?
[ Via: Via: MTV's Headbanger's Blog ]
I don't know what's happening to my eardrums lately, but every time I hear a song I really like, the band ends up being from Australia. The Temper Trap is no exception, and their recent single, Sweet Disposition, is my current favorite tune. Dougie, the lead singer, has a brilliant voice.
We actually featured this song as this week's credits video because we wanted the song to stay with you... I hope it did. This song has definite legs and is only a taste of their forthcoming album in 2009. I hope to see these guys making it big soon.
Have a listen to Australian musician, actor, and comedian Tim Minchin's song Not Perfect. It's the first time I've ever heard of Mr. Michin, but now I'm completely hooked. If you like what you hear here, visit his site -- he has a bunch of free songs you can download onto your MP3 player. Great stuff.
[ Via: via: information nation ]
Our ingenious friend Rupert Howe created this screencast mashup masterpiece. I don't know if any of you have ever seen the film The Mystery of Picasso, but I highly recommend you check it out -- you can see Picasso at work actually creating a number of paintings. That's what this screencast is like -- you get to see Rupert's whole process. Sure, it's not exactly 15 seconds, but hey, rules are made to be broken! Thanks very much, Rupert!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
More after the jump!
Michael sent in his mashup (also posted on YouTube) where we ride the thumping bass through space! Thanks, Michael!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Angel from Philly sent in a mashup (posted here on Vimeo) that makes it looks like we're at one helluva a party, baby! Thanks, Angel, and awesome job!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Our old friend Lee comes through with a very cool mashup (posted to MIX here) that gets its abstraction on! Thanks, Lee. Check out his blog on MIX and his site, too!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Jonny hooked us up with this mashup (posted to Vimeo here) where we all seem to be dancing under the watchful LOLcat Oracle eyes! Thanks, Jonny! The music is by Now You See Them, and check out Jonny's blog, too!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Dale sent in a mashup that, er, seems to put an end to us all! But check out the titles he added at the end for the inside jokes (also posted on YouTube here). Thanks, Dale! Be sure to check out Dale's site and his Project 2357.
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Big shout to Josh for his mashup video (posted on Vimeo here)! Mashups come in all flavors and colors, including rainbows! ;) Music by Glassell Park 3!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
By the way, this is version 2 of Josh's video. Check out version 1 after the jump with music from Josh's old band Nadine Rose!
The mashups have been flowing in since last week and we wanted to get them up on the blog for everyone to see!
Here's one from Daniel (posted to Blip here) that puts us all in the great city of Seattle! Thanks, Daniel! Check out his MIX profile, too!
If you want to create a mashup video, here's the info! You could get a free EPIC FU t-shirt!
Our friend Brian Lerner co-created and writes a new web series that has been showing some damn funny promos the past few weeks, and today the first episode launched! We always get excited any time people associated with the show do their thing. Let's not forget that Brian was part of the team for the first few months when we rolled out Jet Set Show back in June, 2006, and recently did a correspondent interview with the band Drive A. So we go waaaaay back!
[ Via: (cross-posted to OMGRICK) ]
I found this via Amber MacArthur's blog while perusing my feeds. Not sure how I missed this one by a fellow named Ben Walker from the U.K., but now I can't stop singing the chorus of this song! For all the good humor on the Internet, I'm still waiting for a huge backlash against the insiderishness of videos like these. For now, though, enjoy this gem!
Oh, and, duh, here's Ben Walker's twitter and Amber Mac's twitter.
[ Via: via: AmberMac ]
By now the image of Bree sitting at her computer in her bedroom is iconic. Everyone has heard the story and the massive hubbub over the "discovery" that Bree was in fact a fictional character played by actress Jessica Rose in a serialized universe called Lonelygirl15.
What people now realize is that Miles Beckett, Greg Goodfried, and their fabulous creative team at Eqal invented a world that extended beyond the videos that the characters inhabited. Imagine a book extending beyond the last page or a movie continuing past the last film frame. Now imagine that you could play a part in the way the story unfolded. That is immersive stuff, and that is the future of entertainment. That's why they are this week's FU of the week.
Our friend Jeff Marks from Moblogic pointed us to a story they covered a couple of days ago about Troy Davis, a man on death row in Georgia. Jeff wrote:
I'm trying to spread the word about this story we've got up on MobLogic. This dude on death row in GA, Troy Davis is set to be executed on Tues. night. There are very serious questions about whether this guy is really guilty or not, but his legal options have run out, and it looks like the system is just going to grind him up. Lindsay [Campbell, host of Moblogic] did a great job of laying out the details in this show we posted on Friday. When you hear the story, you'll get what I'm saying about how shocking the whole thing is, and how the story barely rates on the MSM radar.
There's more on Troy Davis' website and a letter from Troy posted on the Moblogic blog.
With seven of nine eyewitnesses against Troy recanting their testimony, and claims that the real murdered has confessed, why hasn't his execution been put on hold for further investigation?
UPDATE: Troy Davis received a stay of execution less than two hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection. More here.
Noel Hidalgo posted this video on a MIX thread. It's the incredible beat-box baby!
We've been laughing at the ninja cat comes closer while not moving video all weekend. Yes, it's another one of those internet cat videos, but trust me, this one will start your day off right.
There's already a new version called sneaky cat coming closer while not moving HORROR!
How cool for the people at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle this weekend! The awesome Jonathan Coulton and the multi-talented Felicia Day did a duet of "Still Alive" with the crowd. Enjoy!
In case you've forgotten, Jonathan was on our first episode back, and we talked to Felicia Day just before Dr. Horrible came out and she took over the world!
What a special time this is for new media people!
There is an amazing amount of protesting going on at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The folks at The Uptake are right in the middle of things, as usual.
They have tons and tons of videos on their site and on Qik, and they are constantly live-streaming.
I can't stop watching this -- so much fun it makes me want to dance! Brought to you by the Bui Brothers.
Looks like Josh is about a mile from Invesco, where Obama will be giving his speech. Dedication. He has it.
Josh was filming some of the atmosphere outside the convention when he caught a bit of Code Pink, singing for peace. It's about 20 seconds in to this video. After the jump is another video from Josh of what appears to be a yelling, protesting toilet (?!). Interesting...
Zadi and Josh head back to their hotels after a looooooong day. They shot tons more interviews for us to post, which we'll do as quickly as possible. Sorry about the dark video, such are the perils of live streaming. :)
Zadi talked to Mai Sakai, the Art Director of the DNC. The look of this year's event has been widely praised, and it has to be an enormous undertaking to design and oversee the creation of the look of such a massive event. Zadi and Josh are getting some great behind-the-scenes viewpoints on the people who make things actually happen.
Josh shot a video as the process of roll call started among the delegates from each state. This is where the delegates give their nomination decisions.
UPDATE: Added a second video of the proceedings directly from the event floor! After the jump!
Zadi and Josh talked to Michelle Robinson, the production supervisor for the DNC. Let's just say that she runs shit.
Looks like Zadi and Josh got themselves a nice view of the events!
One more quick (Qik) video after the jump.
There are a lot of stories coming out of China recently which aren't hitting the main stream press.
Recently, we had a webcam interview with citizen journalist Noel Hidalgo and Students for a Free Tibet Founder John Hocevar. They were deported from China during the Olympics for flying the Tibetan flag while speaking up for Tibetan rights.
From the vault of music videos we never get a chance to spotlight on the show, here's the latest from French electropop singer/songwriter Yelle. It's off her debut album POP-UP. I like the sexy retro-euro feel of the video and the song itself is fun, catchy, and a nice hump day pick-me-up. A definite win from France.
Check out her Myspace page and website.
What is it about the 80's that I love? Is it the oversized pastel sweaters? Is it the big poofy hair? Is it the cheesy synthesized music? I can't quite put my finger on it but I think its a combination of all this and much, much more. I was a young child during this decade but I have tons of memories. My mom and I built our schedule around watching the evening sitcoms. The music and television made quite an impact on me. Good times!
To relive these carefree times, I like to scour the web for 80's TV intros. I have put together a selection for your viewing pleasure. Please enjoy!
Hey, we love The Guild, we love Felicia Day, we love independent artists doing their thang. So why not pick up a copy of The Guild on DVD and help support production of Season 2! We did!
No one is more deserving of this week's FU of the Week (check out the full episode here) than Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Zack Whedon, the notorious writers of the epic three-part musical mini-series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. If you haven't heard the story of the evil Freeze Ray toting mastermind with a heart of cold created by Joss Whedon, where the heck on the InterWebs have you been?
This is what happens when you break up with the one you love... well, hopefully not. It's the third single from Gnarls Barkley's album The Odd Couple. Great blues sound. Also love that Jorma Taccone is in it. Directed my Chris Milk.
Thanks to Adam for the heads up. :)
Check out this music video for North of Ping Pong. It's a Cockney rap narrative, directed by Adam Smith, following the passengers of a taxi cab as they spit out some pretty fresh rhymes to the cab driver's beat.
This is a fascinating short film documenting the life of deaf children. The narrator does an awesome job narrating, which leaves us able to absorb and actually pick up a few words. I now know how to say "smile" in sign language.
What was most enlightening is how they say their parents don't understand what they're saying some of the time, which is frustrating to them. The kids in this film (most seven to nine years of age) struck me as eloquent and wise beyond their years -- and most of all, they seem to have a talent for listening above many of us who are able to hear.
I'm not a huge Moby fan but the video for I Love To Move In Here by director Toben Seymour is a lot of fun. Lots of creativity here, and the octo strip/dance sequence at the end is a great pay off. The video also features hip-hop legend Grandmaster Caz (AKA Grandmaster Casanova). Seymour also directed a recent video for EPIC FU alums Honorary Title.
With The Dark Knight opening this weekend...which you all are going to LUV...I've got superheroes on the brain. So, I checked out some superhuman entertainment that you might want to check out too!
Those Dancing Days is 5 young women: Linnea Jonsson (vocals), Rebecka Roifart (guitar), Cissi Edraimsson (drums), Lisa Pyk (keyboards), and Mimmi Evrell (bass guitar), who got together in 2005 to play music while they were still in high school. The band, which hails from Stockholm, Sweden, was just recently signed to Wichita Recordings, home also to bands like Bloc Party, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Peter Bjork & John. The singer's voice (and hair) is amazing, and its plain to see that the girls have a great time making music. Their video for "Run, Run" is super cute and fun to watch as well.
Radiohead's new music video, directed by James Frost, for "House of Cards" was created using all kinds of neat technology instead of cameras. Lasers were used to scan Thom Yorke, a party scene, and a cul de sac to gather three-dimensional data about these objects. The data was then rendered and manipulated to produce this amazing video.
This is not the first time Radiohead has done something outside the box. Last October, Radiohead initially released their album "In Rainbows", online through a pay-what-you-want system. This was after they finished out their record contract with EMI... so essentially, Radiohead served their own FU to the record industry. Word.
Look for a "Making-of" video and more after the jump.
Why am I so fascinated by Full House mashup videos? For some reason the ridiculousness of the show's content itself lends itself to poignant and hilarious remixes. This one by YouTube user bents75 attempts to "tap into the most primal thoughts of father extraordinaire, Danny Tanner."
You may also get a kick out of the last Full House mashup I posted a few months ago.
(via Spout Blog)
On Thursday's episode, Zadi talked to Peter Brauer and Juan Carlos Piñeiro, the director and producer of Second Skin, a film about MMOs. The film goes way beyond the video game addiction that gets so much attention in traditional press and covers the social aspects of games, both virtually and in real life. World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Everquest create worlds where players can truly come as they are, or take on entirely different personas. Second Skin asks whether or not our lives are really becoming encapsulated inside these virtual worlds.
Ill Doctrine recently remixed the Obama "Yes We Can" video as a tribute to George Carlin, and it is awesome. He mentions in his YouTube description post that Carlin's "7 dirty words" court case happened at his radio station.
The Black Ghosts is comprised of British duo Simon Lord and Theo Keating. The two actually met on the internet and wrote the first half of their album before meeting face to face. They sent music and lyrics back and forth in emails... in an interview last year they said it was "a bit like a musical version of chinese whispers."
Hello Gang I'm Rick and Thank you for your interest in my program! It's been quite a whirlwind experience getting featured on the Wonderful EPIC FU. However I am sadly disappointed that Steve and Zadi have cut down my 43 minute program to just 1 minute!
I believe that my program The Rick Factor will upset some viewers, because I take a hard stance on the issue of Twitter clones. Sometimes I find it's important to take hard stances because otherwise we are all just floating in a sea of complacency.
Please Find my Twitter page at http://twitter.com/rickrey and Email your questions, comments, and feedback to therickfactor@epicfu.com. I Will be happy to hear what you have to say. Until next time, I'm Rick Rey and thank you for reading this Blog.
The week before last Zadi and I flew to New York to meet up with the Diggnation crew and Revision3 team. They taped a live Diggnation and held a Digg meetup at a venue in Brooklyn, about 20 blocks from where we lived prior to moving to Los Angeles. To make the announcement about EPIC FU joining Revision3, we were super excited to appear on Diggnation as the first guests they've ever had on the show.
Our appearance is really quick and the audio levels on the mic were low, but we hit the stage at about the 35-minute mark in the show. Big thanks to Kevin and Alex for having us on the show, and a special thanks to the Revision3 team -- Damon Berger, David Prager, Sarah Lane, and of course Jim Louderback -- for getting us to New York to take part in the festivities!
This week we're spotlighting several members' videoblogs on MIX. First up, ksawyer does a weekly music round-up show called New Sound Now. In this first episode, he showcases some great music videos, sources for free music, and discusses the usefulness of artist videos. I love the video he features from the Raveonettes, the chorus from "Dead Sound" has been stuck in my head since. ksawyer also fosters some thought-provoking discussion on censorship.
Pencil Face was written and directed by Christian Simmons for the Dandy Dwarves and Savannah College of Art and Design's Scad Shorts.
It's a short, cryptic story about a girl and her pencil. It's also the kind of film that evokes emotion and questions rather than lay out an entire story arc. And as far as emotions go -- this one really creeped me out.
There's also a really well made behind-the-scenes video.
I'm equally amused and repelled by this Facebook parody, which demonstrates why all social networks need to develop new and innovative ways to keep out the creepy old guys. The backup vocals guy reminds me of a douchebag version of Michael McDonald.
Pivot's new video for Sea of Blood is being called the "world's goriest puppet shark attack." It's not that I enjoy seeing puppets mutilated, it's just... well... OK I do. And just yesterday Steve and I were talking about burning puppets in the desert.
If you like the music, check out Pivot's website for a free MP3 of Didn't I Furious.
If nothing else, we will always know that Bill O'Reilly knows how to get a party started. I can see the hands flying up in the nightclub air right now... And just in case you missed the original, here you go.
[ Via: Steve Garfield / Chuck Olsen ]
French director, Romain Gavras, directs Justice's newest music video for the song Stress. If you could epitomize what stress would look and sound like in a music video, I think this would be it. Romain and Justice take you to that place that gets the heart pumping with frustration and anxiety. I love how this video really grabs hold of the beat and just doesn't let go. A great marriage of video and sound.
[via mdfsmash.com]
Reformat the Planet is a documentary about the "chiptunes" music scene and its premiere event -- the annual Blip Festival in New York. Chiptunes music is inspired by video game and computer soundtracks of the 80's and 90's -- when music was synthesized in real-time by a sound chip capable of only a limited number of sounds.
In this interview, Zadi speaks to Paul Owens, the director of the film, and Chris Burke, one of the most recognized chiptunes artists in the scene. Chris also gave us a private live performance, which you can watch in its entirety.
Just before we spoke with Chris Burke and Paul Owens about the Blip Festival documentary, Chris (AKA Glomag) gave us the pleasure of an impromptu live performance in an atrium of a hotel. Aside from being a pioneer in the chiptune scene, Chris is also the creator and host of the Halo machinima talk show This Spartan Life.
Over the next week I'll be posting a few segments that didn't make it on the show. In this first installment, Zadi sits down with the creators of the new film Super High Me, which follows comedian Doug Benson as he pledges to smoke pot every day for 30 days.
This cartoon never gets old. I remember watching it as a kid, but it was already retro by then (the toon was released in 1969). Classic pwnage at its finest.
(via shey.net)
Brooklyn's Santi White (AKA Santo Gold) is often compared to fellow proghopper M.I.A. The video is an homage to the 1973 cult film The Holy Mountain. I expect to see more dancehall/reggae influenced hip-hop artists rise up over the next few years.
Because when you look down at cars passing by on the highway of life, you totally think of guitar hero! I do! :)
4.11.08. we all belong. from paul dateh on Vimeo.
Paul Dateh recounts his personal experience with friends who were victims of gang violence. I wanted to pass this on because in this online web 2.0 world of ours, these are stories we often times don't get to hear (or speak about), but are all too familiar. These are the stories we need to share with each other.
M83's forthcoming album Saturday = Youth is supposed to capture the essence of teenager angst in the 1980's. The band's sole member, Anthony Gonzalez, has specifically referenced John Hughes movies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Watch the video for Graveyard Girl and tell me you don't see a Molly Ringwald resemblance.
(via Stereogum)
Umbrella - Rihanna (lip dub in High Definition) from TP CMM on Vimeo
[ Via: [Via Pop17's Tumblog] ]
Just received a message from Vance (Behold the Mundane) alerting me to these super cool Super Mario Drum Pads for Rockband! He and his friend/co-creator Jennifer toiled long and hard on these, so show some love. There are also Flickr pictures.
[Thanks Vance]
Our friends at Moblogic did some interesting street interviews in New York to see what people thought of Martin Luther King, Jr's legacy today.
How do you think his legacy is doing today? Seems to me it's a mixed bag. I don't know if it's progress, but economic factors seem to be the most dividing elements of today's world. There's more tolerance on the surface between the races, but if you scrape your fingernail along the surface of America, what you find underneath is pretty ugly.
We were watching this yesterday at Epic-Fu HQ and almost forgot to post it.
Here, the boys of South Park end up at the Department of Internet Money attempting to collect the riches they've made from their successful web video: What, What in the Butt. In the end, they learn a valuable lesson.
If you scrub to about :53 you'll see that we're now forever stamped in Rick Rolling history. Later in the video you'll see Tim Shey from NNN who was Live Rick Rolled by Rocketboom. LOL.
Is it finally the death of the Rick Roll -- or does this now mean I'll start getting Rick Rolled by my mom? Ooh boy...
Whether or not you're a fan of singer/songwriter Ryan Adams' music, I'm sure you can appreciate the honest, provocative, and insightful nature of his Tumblr posts. His video Shopping is Genius is an inspired narrative on how a newly sober rock star spends a day enjoying life's more mundane pleasures.
This is why I love internet video. Multimedia artist Paul Slocum accumulated footage for this Full House homage over a period of 3 years and found actors across the globe (via Craigslist) to depict the classic confrontation between Joey and DJ.
Aside from the obvious humor of a corny scene being depicted over and over again, it's really quite interesting to see just how many ways it can play out.
(via A.V. Club)
ThinkGeek is finally taking preorders for the groundbreaking Wii game Super Pii Pii Brothers, featuring a bundled Wii remote strap-on peripheral. Finally, a game that really captures the spirit of the Wii system. What do you say guys... Pii Pii party at EPIC-FU HQ?
From the product page:
According to the Japanese text on the box "Super Pii Pii Brothers promotes good bathroom skills and allows women to experience for the first time the pleasure of urinating while standing."
WARNING: Not appropriate for younger viewers!
Check out the new creation from the peeps at Aviary. It's called Dodo and it's a "new [web] tool which will allow you to age and de-age people, places and things from any browser with Flash 9 enabled." It actually looks pretty damn cool. You can sign up on their site to beta test the sucker.
I guess the pixel calibration ratio is in direct proportion to [insert clever yet something something here... I can't think straight right now...oh God help me, it's 4am and I'm still up...]
Are you guys ready for a ride? Because today just feels like it will be filled with many... but that's just a hunch.
So there's not much backstory that I can find about this DJ, so if anyone has any additional info let me know and I'll add it to the post. It's pretty impressive how this guy uses his feet as good as anyone would use their hands.
Sure there's the Macbook Air, but just look at all the stuff you can get for almost half the price. I mean really -- I'm thinking The Bureau crew is onto something here.
'Perfect Strangers' from mike ambs on Vimeo.
Our friends are brilliant -- and totally gay for each other! :) If only we were all so gay for one another, the world would be a wonderful place... especially with the Perfect Strangers theme song playing as our eternal soundtrack.
On Saturday March 29th at 8pm over 200 cities around the world will participate in earth hour - a global movement symbolizing the need to take action against global warming. World Wildlife Fund is working with city governments, power companies and large corporations to raise awareness and turn off major landmarks in each of their regions. Last year 2100 corporations and over 2 million people in Sydney, Australia joined the movement resulting in a 10% energy reduction in the city.
Whether or not you believe global warming is man-made, an hour of complete darkness might be really fun. So go ahead and unplug -- take a break. Think about how many fun things you can do in the dark! :)
http://view.break.com/468548 - Watch more free videos
There is nothing more to say than: "just watch." And... "this puppy freakin' rocks."
I wouldn't normally post television content, but this is just too damn funny to pass up. Ellen demonstrates the Hawaii chair, which apparently is supposed to work your abs as you go on about your work day. Thing is -- can you actually get any work done sitting on something like this??
If you are amongst the legion of coding noobs, you better listen up to The Poetic Prophet's (AKA The SEO Rapper) Design Code rap. :)
When you use CSS, your page will load quicker
Client satisfied like they eating on a snicker...
For those of you who loved the 1982 classic, you will probably get a kick out of this. It's funny how one of the first computer generated movies is remade here into cardboard stop motion craziness. This definitely follows my rule of: "If you're going to remake something, you better give it a twist." I think introducing cardboard into the equation is a pretty good twist.
Club Iraq from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.
When I watched this video by the awesome Wreck and Salvage guys, so many conflicting feelings came up. Coming from a semi-military family (dad and uncles), the emotional effect of service and war definitely resonates on a deeper level. To me it's both crazy and sad. Crazy that these guys, who would normally be goofing around in a college dorm, are thrust into a world completely emotionally unequipped. Crazy that this war is happening. Sad that we're completely, irreversibly entangled. Sad that history repeats itself all too often.
What do you think?
The new video for "In The Night" by Basia Bulat is an instant pick-me-up. It features an interesting cast of characters, including furries and dancing skeletons, and that instrument she's playing is apparently called an "autoharp." Also the whole thing is shot in one long take -- no cuts. This track has "Apple ad" written all over it.
Now that we're back from SXSW and Berlin, it's time to catch up on everything that we've been doing.
Tim Shey of Next New Networks organized a panel at SXSW that was titled, "Quit Your Day Job and Vlog."
The video is the full length of the panel, so it's about an hour. Just fyi. If you're interested in online video and know a bit about the people on the panel (or want to know), this was very interesting. I couldn't help but sit in the audience and be struck by what a special time this is for those of us working in this industry. And how open and giving almost everyone is.
Our friend Justine Ezarik, better known as iJustine, decorated a few Easter eggs this year. Lucky for us, we landed smack in the middle and got the YouTube thumbnail. I enjoy small treats. :) Happy belated Easter!
It was only a matter of time until the CoS launched their own offensive against Anonymous. Since January, the nameless group of hackers and activists have protested the church... sometimes using classic hacker techniques e.g. DNS server attacks, black faxing, and leaking confidential documents. The Anonymous Exposed website itself is really just a container for the video, which is honestly much tamer than I anticipated. This comes just days after the most recent CoS protest. I wonder how Anonymous will respond to the video?
What do you guys think about the church's claims in the video? Since the video is directed at unknowing Anonymous members, do you think it will resonate or have any effect on would-be members?
Trent Reznor of NIN posted a video to YouTube asking fans to create visuals to accompany the 36 instrumental tracks from Ghosts (we featured Ghosts on EPIC-FU a couple weeks back). The project is billed as a film festival rather than a contest and entries are being submitted via a YouTube group. As of right now, there are 99 videos posted to the group. Very cool idea, and definitely a great way to spread your music and let others participate in it creatively.
As most of you probably know, we just launched the 100th episode of EPIC-FU! In celebration, the folks at Next New Networks created a video for Steve and Zadi. Check it out!
From the Next New Networks blog:
Marc Boxser from our team shot a tribute video featuring many of us from the New York office talking about our favorite EPIC FU moments of the past 100 episodes.
Rounding out the EPIC-FU and Indy Mogul videos from the Spirit Awards, the good people from Indy Mogul shot this great video of Cate Blanchett in the press tent after winning her Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. They also grabbed an interview with fellow New Yorker Marcus Carl Franklin. Great job, Indy Mogul'ers!
This is a few months old but I just stumbled on it. And boy oh boy I feel like I just struck gold! One of my favorite indie rock bands The New Pornographers asked fans to cover one of their songs in the style of Michael McDonald (a Yacht Rock legend) -- and post the results on YouTube. What a brilliant idea for a contest! The winning video by dancebuffet almost, almost brought me to tears.
First listen to the original:
Then watch dancebuffet's cover:
What will happen? It's like Y2K all over again. The horror!!
Check out this mashup of stop-motion animated Transformers toys with dialogue taken from the cartoon. Really cinematic use of the camera positioning!
[ Via: [Via Channel Frederator Blog] ]
Yesterday we got a chance to hang out and talk to a lot of interesting people at the Independent Spirit Awards. Here, Juno screenwriter, Diablo Cody, answers some questions in the press room.
(Sorry about the shaky camera. The other one was in use.)
I just love this too much. An example of how even the most simple visuals can be compelling in the hands of a talented artist.
[ Via: [Via Eva Olive] ]
We had the fortunate experience of being on the red carpet for the Independent Spirit Awards this weekend thanks to the good folks at Next New Networks! Vanessa Pappas and Michelle DeForest made it an easy time for us, and we talked to a ton of celebrities and filmmakers. On this week's episode of EPIC-FU we'll bring you our take on things, but Dave Seger and Mike Ambs were there with us as the L.A. Indy Mogul correspondents and they did a great job putting together this video.
[ Via: [Via Indy Mogul] ]
Our friend Paul Dateh was in New York and went to see our friends at Rocketboom. The result? A charming casual Friday episode. :)
Here's an interesting project called Sound of Color. Five musicians, including Swizz Beatz, The Ravonettes, and YouTube star Marie Digby, were assigned colors and asked to write original songs. The tracks were then given to 5 directors who made music videos, also inspired by the colors.
All the songs are downloadable and I like the diversity of music genres represented. On the downside the project was sponsored by GAP, which makes me wonder about the clothes they're wearing and how it plays into GAP's marketing campaign. But still worth checking out.
The guys over at Barely Political do it again. Oh John, you prankster. I don't blame Hillary for looking grossed out. :)
Props go out to Michael Stevens for mixing this one up.
Sometimes not having a loved-one on Valentine's day isn't the worst thing in the world, especially if the person you're dating hails from Psychoville. So for your listening (and viewing) pleasure, here are our top 10 songs to remind you that sometimes being alone and a little sad is far better than being together and totally creeped out... or dead.
I mean, what would you think if someone dedicated one of these songs to you after a few first dates?
Our friend Brian Lerner had introduced us to the guys in The Honorary Title some time back. We listened to their album Anything Else but the Truth and knew we had to interview them for the show. That was a year ago. Since then, they've been rising to the top, releasing a new album (Scream and Light Up the Sky), playing to sold out audiences, and now making appearances on television shows like One Tree Hill. The lead singer, Jarrod Gorbel, also made a guest appearance on our most recent New Year's episode.
There's a behind the scenes preview of the OTH appearance that aired tonight on Justin.tv.
What a crazy ride. Congrats guys! Can't wait to see and hear what comes next!
Jedi Ginsu Knife Commercial
If you're not that handy in the kitchen, perhaps the Jedi Ginsu knife can help. Just keep in mind, the fact that you own a Jedi Ginsu knife, does not now, or will ever make you a Jedi.
Remember to watch your fingers.
I saw this trailer and got pretty excited. An official selection of the 2008 SXSW film festival, Second Skin takes a look at the people and lives of those who inhabit Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games like World of Warcraft, Everquest, and Second Life.
Second Skin introduces us to couples who have fallen in love without meeting, disabled players who have found new purpose, addicts, Chinese gold-farming sweatshop workers, wealthy online entrepreneurs and legendary guild leaders - all living in a world that doesn't quite exist.
Sounds pretty damn awesome. Can't wait to see it.
Remember that inspirational "Yes We Can" music video we posted a few days ago? Well, now John McCain has his own.
OMG. This is brilliant. How did we miss it!?! :)
The Teenagers video for Starlett Johansson was a runner-up for this week's spotlight video. For me its equally amusing as it is catchy. This YouTube comment pretty much sums it up:
"It's a wet dream translated into music with a creepy deep voice." -Wheelsgr
On EPIC-FU the other week we spotlighted Aesop Rock's awesome jam, "None Shall Pass." In this "making of" video, Aesop talks about the meaning of the imagery in the video. The artist who created the pieces in the video is Jeremy Fish, a really talented San Francisco-based artist who created the artwork for the album. For fans of the song and the video this is great stuff.
Barackula the musical will be making its online debut this month. It's Michael Jackson's Thriller meets Jesus Christ Superstar meets... vampires. What more can one ask for?
The fictional story tells of a young Obama fighting off the forces of darkness at Harvard Law. Obama (played by Justin Sherman) must convince the secret vampire society that opposing political philosophies can co-exist or else he gets swallowed by the dark side.
Doesn't matter who I'm voting for, I'm sold just on the dancing vampires.
I went through a range of emotions watching this. From huh, to WTF, to wanting to dance along, to complete terror. It's strangely addicting and for some reason I couldn't turn it off.
Explore the music video for Arcade Fire's Black Mirror at rorrimkcalb.com while deconstructing its tracks while you listen. Press the numbers shown underneath the video to enable/disable the tracks. A very haunting experience.
One of our viewers, Jimsin, sent us a link to this awesomely bizarre music video. It's by a band called The Native Hipsters, and it's the creepy off-beatness that makes it great.
Jimsin says:
...they recorded their first (and only) single in their bedroom back in 1980 and it got played by John Peel and made it to number 5 in the indie charts & they had to stamp all 5000 copies of the single by hand using a rubber stamp.
Thanks Jimsin!
Rick twittered this a while back, and it's the funniest LOLcat animation ever. :)
Another Robot Sunset is Postal Service meets Commodore 64. They are pretty much your typical 2-white-dudes-and-a-robot hip-hop group. Here's a snippet from their bio:
cadence used to be a rapper. then he died. but he died while jacked in to the matrix, and an imprint of his personality and rap skills was preserved on his deck. this deck was purchased by a delightfully nerdy scientist named paul padgett, along with a poster of 2Pac that said "Only God Can Judge Me" and a previously unused Roomba. [Read more]
Everyone loves a good practical joke right? We are pranksters in hiding here at EPIC-FU HQ, and revel in a good laugh. So it was great to see that humor knows no boundaries... especially when it involves a phone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a politician running for office. :)
So what did Hillary do before she ran for office? She was in a band of course. Seriously folks, you haven't heard her riff on a geetarrr? I'm sure there's some lost footage out there waiting to be found.
Check out this music video inspired by Barack Obama's Yes We Can speech. It's one of others starting to pop up and features a star cast including John Legend, Scarlett Johansson, Herbie Hancock, Amber Valetta and others.
Thanks to Steve Garfield for pointing it out to us.
We've been laughing at this all day and we figured we'd post it here for those of you who may not have seen it yet. It has to be one of Sarah Silverman's funniest bits. Enjoy. :)
As we get this week's show ready to upload, we didn't really have a place to leave in this blooper. But we can't help but keep giggling at it, so we figured we'd share it.
When things are going well with a shoot, Zadi can't keep a straight face. :) So I told her to make a serious face and she got into this whole evil-eye baby meme thing (embedded underneath) that was really funny. Here it is:
And here's the original:
Maybe you've heard the controversy surrounding Google's Street View feature in Google Maps. Check out this funny yet poignant video by The Vacationeers that gives us a glimpse into what our Google overlords might be planning next.
Check out this video from iwouldntsteal.net. It's a response to the "piracy is a crime" video that has aired on television.
They express that making a copy and sharing does not equal stealing. They also believe sharing expands culture and supports the artist.
What Happens When Google's Parents Leave Town for the Weekend?
Jason on MIX found the latest Jon Lajoie joint, and as usual it's hysterical. We spotlighted Everyday Normal Guy a few weeks ago on EPIC-FU and it got a great reception. The guy is definitely a talented comedian, I think he's going to do great stuff in the future that will reach a large audience.
Check out Everyday Normal Guy 2!
Last week we were at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and Zadi joined Tom and Molly on the CNET stage for Buzz Out Loud. They had 3 cameras going and a crane set up for the big sweeping shots -- it was really impressive. A huge thanks to the good folks there, and especially to Randall Bennett for hooking me up with a DV tape! ;)
Click the image to go to CNET's site and watch the video in their player!
You can subscribe to the Buzz Out Loud podcast here.
Episode Six: 64 Days - Part 1 from mike ambs on Vimeo.
We have some talented friends. Mike Ambs and Amanda Walker have been working on Project Pedal for quite some time now, a documentary film about a cross-country biking journey and the inspiring people that cross their path. Mike has been documenting the experience through a behind-the-scenes videoblog and most recently releasing Part 1 of a series meant to take you on a narrative journey through their production experience.
What I've seen so far is beautiful, layered and rich. I can't wait to see the entire film once its finished. Check out the videoblog, watch it in HD, and let them know what you think.
We featured Natasha Wescoat and her artwork on the show previously. She recently twittered that she had a new video up for her artist guide series about artist pet peeves. If you're an artist, or aspiring to be one, definitely check out her blog posts, art and videos at natashasartcandy.com. Good tips and good inspiration. Also, I hear her birthday is coming up. Happy birthday Natasha!
A 16-year old Australian kid threw a huge party, got busted by the police and was interviewed on TV shortly after. The rest is history. Watch for the naked guy running out of the house.
Sit back and take a 30 minute trip down memory lane with some of the more popular cartoon openings of the time. I promise when you're done, you'll feel right as rain. ;)
Semanal, is a group of dedicated videobloggers inspiring each other to post just one video per week for the entire year.
Started by Rupert Howe of Twittervlog.tv,the idea is to just pick up a camera and start filming. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to move. And don't worry if you're late, people will be joining throughout the year. Just tag your video semanal08 and you're good to go. It also helps that there are already over a hundred members - you'll have plenty of people inspiring and pushing you to create. So go and create!
I just finished watching this really cool six-part documentary series called Eternal Children about the freak folk music scene. It features two of my favorite musical artists, CocoRosie and Devendra Banhart, among others.
It's a pretty interesting look into the thoughts and lives of these artists as they navigate their own very unique creative waters. Definitely worth checking out. The complete series after the break.
Our friend Ajit sent us this video through the submission form. It's a completely charmingly told story, well worth checking out. He writes on the blog post entry:
My good friend, JaCynthia Shepherd, recalls her experiences on the Public School Bus system. It seems she received much of her education while riding to and from school.
This fantastic mashup montage, "the many faces of zadi," was created by Patrick, who works as a video editor in The Netherlands. He writes:
Hi Epic-fu! My name is Patrick. i recently discoverd the show and i instantly loved it, in just the last 2 weeks i've watched almost all the episodes.
i work as a video editor for a tv station in The Netherlands (europe) and i hobby around alot, i love being creative and creating things
and because i love the show so much i put together a video for you guys. Consider it my Christmas present
What can we say??? Thank you SOOO much, Patrick. We loved this so much we are re-editing our end of the year special to include part of it. Our fans are the best!
Check out the Holiday Sweater Song music video our friends at Indy Mogul made - a whole bunch of our friends are in it. It was written, directed and edited by Justin Johnson and the music and half of the lyrics were written by Steve Nelson. We TOTALLY missed the deadline in sending in our holiday sweater portion - but the video turned out great. Happy Holidays! :)
Zadi's video originally posted to her Karmagrrrl videoblog in December 2005.
Lest anyone forget what an exceptional filmmaker Zadi is, just thought I'd bring it back since it's so wonderful and (sadly) still appropriate.
