F5
 | Author: Team | Posted: April 22nd, 2009 | Filed under: Art, Digital, Events, Film, Technology | | Comments Off |
Last week I had the chance to take part in the first F5 conference put on by Motionographer.com. If you’ve never heard of Motionographer be prepared to lose the next three hours of your life watching short animations and commercial work from the top guns in the industry. Rumor has it that it began as Justin Cone’s senior project, but has since spiraled into a mecca for creative minds to display their latest creations whether it takes the form of a music video, television commercial, online viral or anything else that seduces us on screen. Here’s some samples of work from a few studios put together specifically in preparation for F5.
F5 RE:PLAY / SNEAK PEEK from F5 on Vimeo.
Speaking at the event was everyone from The Black Heart Gang, who came all the way from Cape Town, South Africa to Brian DiLorenzo from the legendary BBDO. The topics discussed here weren’t necessarily what you’d expect from this tech heavy industry. One or two video game trailers did pop up, but countering that was Jonah Lehrer, editor for Seed Magazine, who discussed metacognition and the psychology of the creative process or Charlie White giving us insight to the research that goes into his photographs. Without corporate sponsors for the event, presenters seemed to feel especially free to talk about whatever they wanted. Developing personal work was a theme that kept popping up. I caught up with Jannes from The Black Heart Gang and spoke to him about the delicate balance between doing the work that makes you happy and work that keeps you fed. For them, this came in the form of their new company Shy The Sun. “You know, it’s like having two jobs now, so it’s a bit harder, but if you’ve worked so hard building something you love the last thing you want is to have someone come in and tell you to change things.” Still keeping true to their their style with animal based characters and elaborate landscapes and they produced an outstanding spot for United Airlines. Keep yours eyes open for the new book they’ll be putting out as well as some hand-crafted designer toys that are sure to impress.
Sea Orchestra from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.
Andre from Shilo also had a bit to say on personal development and getting up, out, and away from the computer. Instead of showing off Shilo’s impressive back-catalog of Emmy Award winning material. He chose to show a montage of stuff he shot on 16mm with a home-made dolly, not a speck of animation. Props for bringing it back to the basics. Pes also kept it real with his humorous stop-motion creations. We even got a step by step walk through of a few of his pieces. I never caught it before but the goggly eyes he drops in his Western Spaghetti are meant to be see salt. clever.
PSYOP was on point as always, their Converse spot with Santogold, Julian Casablancas and N.E.R.D is proof that they still got it. But what happens when you take this idea of motion design and story telling and apply it across multiple platforms like the web, TV, mobil devices, etc… Brian DiLorenzo brought with him a bag a tricks that really blew me away. With campaigns like the BMW Films and HBO Voyeur it’s plain and simple that these guys don’t think small. My personal favorite was their Burger King campaign as sadistic as it was. Luckily I managed to escape unscathed, but for those of you that were de-friended on Facebook for a 1/10 of a cheeseburger just know that hunger is an age old technique of persuasion. Nothing personal.
Quick thanks to Scott and Andre at Media Temple for hosting the after party at Touch, Wonho for being on the mic, and of course Bernie for keeping things moving smoothly. With such a good turnout I wonder when Justin and the folks at Motionographer will consider dreaming up an F6.
– Stephen
