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Help In Finding The Animator Of This Video

ASSISTANCE SVP:

 

I was just introduced to this video – which, the only way to describe it is hauntingly beautiful when paired with the music. However I have no idea who created the animation.

 

Anyone out there on the inter-web have any ideas? if you know, please pass it on to me. I would very much like to do an interview with him / her / them.

 

FYI The music is by Awolnation and titled Sail.

 

This is a MUCH WATCH video.

 



Advertisement: Design By Humans

Ninety Nine Dreams I Have Had

(Based on the song ‘99 Red Balloons’ by Nina)

A short story by William DeSouza

 Summer was in full swing, and in the little section of Berlin near the Volkspark on the tiny street Senegalstraße, the sun was high in the blue cloudless sky. Song birds competed with each other and a slight breeze caused the grass and trees to sway only slightly.

The toy shop was practically empty, only a couple of other young people with their parents, and the shop owner. Henry and his younger sister, Brigitte, stood at the shop window looking in; each one having their hands pressed against the glass peering inside at all the toys.

Toy sail boats, wooden and metal trains sitting on their tracks, kites hung from the ceiling flowing slowly by the breeze from the fan. You could not miss the dolls, stuffed animals and a stand with boxes of puzzles with bright pictures on the covers.

 It was all too much for the two youngsters to hold back their excitement. Brigitte turned to her brother, “You know mom and dad will not give us more money, but I see so many things that would look wonderful in my room.” She beamed.

“I agree. We should just go and see what we can get with the money we have. It’s not much, but I’m sure we can have some fun with it.”

Their parents were visiting friends nearby, only a couple of houses down the tree lined street, and this left  Henry, ten years, and his eight year old sister time to wonder. They pushed open the large red door and went inside the little toy shop, one of the only stores on the narrow street of mostly single homes. A tiny brass bell above the door rang to announce their entry. 

Inside they passed shelve after shelve of handmade toys, dolls and stuffed teddy bears. There were of course the factory built toys but for Henry and Brigitte, the handmade items held their interest. With only five marks to spend, they settled on a bag of red balloons. They had just enough to also get a can of helium and intended to set all of the balloons free to float in the summer sky.

“We’ll have to wait till tomorrow morning though, Mom and Dad wanted us to get back for dinner soon.” The two young children thanked the shop owner and went on their way, only slightly disappointed they would have to wait to play their game.

In the morning the two youngsters woke early, and with their bag of balloons and little can of helium set themselves up in the back yard. One by one the two kids blew up the red balloons. Brigitte blew them up and Henry tied each one, making sure that there was no leaks.

 It was finally time to set them free one by one, to float in the summer breeze. And in time they were gone; to the delight and joy of the kids.

 Henry and Brigitte watched together as the ninety nine red balloons floated away; first clumping together then spreading out as they rose higher in the summer sky.

 Back at the nearby air force base, in a back room deep in the underground bunkers, technicians worked on the early warning computer system. Three tech’s, dressed in their work uniforms and wearing white lab jackets, attempted to diagnose a bug in the programing. At first they thought it was a virus but after several verification checks, realized it may be part of the original coding in the program itself.

An officer opened the door slowly, peaking inside from the main Command and Control room, “How long are you boys going to be with this thing? We need access as soon as possible.”

 The lead tech, a flight Sargent, spoke up, “Sir, I think we can let you have access to the main sensor and radar data. I don’t think the issues are with that. I’ll release the lock out and you can power up the early warning terminal.”

 It was all very normal for the men and women on duty in the early warning station at the base. They were considered a back up to the main radar network that would alert the West of any aggression by the Eastern Block. Something that was not likely to happen anytime soon.

 At least that’s what Captain Sommer, the officer in charge, believed.

 A senior sergeant at the computer terminal called Sommer over, “Sir! I think you need to see this.”

 “What is it sergeant?”

 
"The system just flashed the message that there is something out there.” 

“What do you mean something is out there? What is out there?”

Trying to remain calm, the sergeant adjusted the radar to a wider field. He typed in commands to the computer and it came back with the same alert. “Sir! The computer still says that there is something there; but just a few minutes ago there was nothing,” he paused and turned to face his captain directly. “Whatever it is, its moving south toward us.”

“Right, no need to panic lads!” the Captain seemed to be doing all the panic for everyone in the early warning room.

“Alert condition Red. Focus all assets on the sky. I want to know what’s out there.”

The base sprang to life as the red alert signal ran out. Ninety nine decisions needed to be made and every facet of base life stopped to focus the war machine eager eye on what was seen as clear threat. War Ministers had to meet, scurrying around trying to decide if they needed to call the troops out in a hurry.

Captain Sommer paced back and forth waiting for confirmation when the sergeant shouted, “Sir! The President is on the line and we’re getting confirmation that there are multiple contacts heading this way.”

“This is what we’ve been waiting for; this is it boys, this is war!” Sommer straightened to attention, pulled his tunic down on both sides, and walked toward the handset with the waiting President.

After a few minutes on the line with the President, Sommer hung up and shouted, “Scramble all jet fighters!”

Back at the air base, ninety nine super high-tech jet fighters were readied for takeoff. Ninety nine jet pilots, everyone a Captain Kirk, ran toward their waiting chariots to take these ninety nine knights of the air on their mission. With orders to identify and to clarify, they scrambled into the summer sky; chasing down ninety nine red balloons as they floated by.

On the other side of the ‘wall’, ninety nine other pilots scrambled, not knowing why. It was said that they also saw something out there, but that didn’t matter, for in the end, they had to stop the threat. Each plane was armed and loaded with bombs, and each pilot released there bombs where they were told.

Life changed that day for everyone. No one was innocent and no one was spared as the carnage swept around the world. No one would know why it happened, when ninety nine red balloons floated by.

Its been years since that faithful day, when Henry and his younger sister, Brigitte, stood at the shop window. Henry stood alone now, in the dust that was a city. Not knowing what happened, he looked over the rubble, missing his sister.

In the years since they played in the park, he has had ninety nine dreams; and in each dream everyone had a red balloon. They were happy, content and alive.

The wind blew dust around him now, loose paper flew by along with ripped up clothing and anything light enough to get carried away. Dark clouds hung low in the summer sky, an orange glow off in the distant horizon and a chill in the air.

“I miss you Brigitte, and mom and dad. If I could find just a souvenir, something to prove that the world was ever here…”

As he turned to walk away, he spotted something. It was round, red, handing just above the ground and caught on a string. There it was; there was the sign, a red balloon. In all this death and despair, he found his dream.

Henry walked over, lifted the rock from the string and held the balloon in close to him. “I see this red balloon and think of you, pretty Brigitte.” 

Then he let it go, watching the tiny red balloon float off in the summer sky, never to be seen again.

 

 

 

Infants...

The fear continues to grow; yet when asked what we are afraid of, we say nothing.
The alarm bells ring out and panic grips us; yet when asked what is wrong, we know nothing.
We are but infants of time and space and have not yet learned to crawl.
How can we know what to fear if we have not yet opened our eyes?

What to do.....

When time stops, are we ready to get off and explore?
Or do we stay on the bus cowering in the back, not yet ready to face the unknown.
Do we embrace our future?
Or shun its existence, and our own role in its destruction.

Where Are We?

In time, as we measure it, humanity stands in the Twenty First Century.
Yet our minds continue to languish in the dark ages

A Journey....

We are moving at the speed of light to a time in the not so distant future.
Are we, humanities’ descendents, ready for what is at the end of our journey?

SPECIAL: An Interview with Travis Wright

Travis Wright, born in Australia and now lives in Japan, is the talented graphic artist responsible for the new cover art for DEATH'S DOOR:  Where Right and Glory Lead.

Travis has been kind enough to take some time out of his extremely busy schedule to do this interview with me and I would like to thank, and welcome him.


WD: Hello Travis; can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Travis: Originally, I'm from Brisbane, Australia and I moved to Tokyo, Japan in 2005 to get a new outlook on life and the world. Experiencing new cultures and all that.

WD: How long have you been a graphic artist?

Travis: I started out working for free on PC game mods in 2008 just to get some practice and experience and my work must have been noticed as I was offered my first paying job in 2009 and have been working professionally since then.

WD: Is this your 'day' job or do you have a different profession

Travis: I have a separate 'day' job in the IT industry here in Tokyo that I work at full-time while I freelance with my art part-time. I try to find sleep in there at some point too.

WD: Where did you study?

Travis: With my art, I'm completely self-taught. The information is out there, you just need to be dedicated enough to find it and learn and know that you'll never stop learning. Practice as much as you can, just keep drawing and painting.

WD: What type of technique do you prefer to create with (air brush, computer, sketching, etc.)

Travis: The majority of my final work is digital though I will always keep a sketchbook handy for ideas, practice and fun.

WD: When creating your work, what do you feel is the most important aspect: Planning, design or implementation ... And why?

Travis: That's a tough one; Planning helps a lot but isn't necessary to create a good piece. More important is that you have a good understanding of the basics (anatomy, form, lighting, composition, color, etc) and can implement them. Design is also very important, especially if you want to work in the game or film industry. Learn the basics first and everything else starts falling into place.

WD: Is there a major difference in creating for the computer or poster (print) medium? Can you tell us which you prefer and why?

Travis: Nowadays, most software can emulate traditional mediums so well that there's not much difference in how the final product looks so the choice comes down to other considerations. For me, working digitally is much more convenient as I have all the colors I need as soon as I open up a new canvas and it's easier to share it with other people to promote yourself.

Having said that, it's always nice to go back to traditional paints and get a little messy.

WD: What do you do for inspiration?

Travis: Books are an awesome source of inspiration as you are creating images in your head as you read and those images belong to you. The author may have written the words but how you perceive them in your mind is entirely yours and you can do whatever you want with that imagery. Films are also great to study lighting and composition and I also keep folders on my computer filled with work from my favourite artists that I enjoy browsing through.

WD: Is there a particular artist that you have taken inspiration from and what about that individual do you find most fascinating?

Travis: If I can only pick a single artist I would probably choose Feng Zhu, he's a Industrial Design artist from Singapore. He's one of the most prolific artists I have ever seen and his methods most resemble how I enjoy working so there's a level of understanding in his work that I appreciate.

WD: What do you think are the most important qualities in a graphic artist?

Travis: Quality of work, Speed and Approachability.

WD: Art, of any nature, can be appreciated by one and less so by others. When you create a piece of work, are you creating it for yourself (what you like) or toward a more general audience?

Travis: If I'm not working for a client, my art is usually something that I want to see or want to paint. Maybe I'm selfish in that way but I'm really just painting for me most of the time but I also believe in sharing it just in case someone else out there might enjoy it too.

WD: Is the client 'always right'; even if you are not happy about a piece of work?

Travis: When you're being paid, your main goal is to give the client or your Art Director what they want... even if you have to show them what it is they really want. I've been pretty fortunate in my career to work with a lot of good people who either trust me or know exactly what they want and are able to get that idea across to me clearly.

WD: How well do you take criticism?

Travis: I'm probably the toughest critic on my own work but I'm always open to other perspectives and ideas so long as it's constructive and informed.

WD: Do you sketch your designs first before converting to a digital format?

Travis: I'm always sketching. The best part of sketching is that you can do it almost anywhere at any time. It's a good idea to sketch out a few rough ideas when doing work for a client or Art Director, as sometimes you can surprise yourself with the alternatives you didn't consider in your first idea.

WD: How long does the 'average' piece take to produce (from initial planning to final product)?
Travis: Probably around 8 to 10 hours for an average piece.

WD: How many design or design concepts do you usually produce before choosing one?

Travis: It really depends. Very rarely, I'll get what I really want the first time and other times I have to keep going through dozens of ideas and sketches. Most of the time, it falls somewhere between the two opposites.

WD: Can you tell us about some of the projects you are currently working on?

Travis: I just finished up work on a PC Fantasy game where I designed a few of the main characters and also a series of book covers (six covers in total). Right now, I'm working on several designs for my own universe that I hope to compile into a book.

WD: As a writer, I sometimes collaborate with others to create a story. Is this something you, as a graphic artist do often? If so, what sort of work can you point to as examples of your collaborative efforts? How did you find the experience?

Travis:  So far, my only collaborations with other people is when I've been part of a team creating a game or when I've worked with an author to create cover art for their books. These are times when I've been able to share my own ideas but the end result is still entirely another person's vision and I just give them the occasional friendly nudge.

I'm certainly not against the idea of collaborating with someone on a project and I'm sure it's something I will eventually do in the future.

WD: Is there one project that you have created that stands out the most for you?

Travis: I would say it was my first paying job working for Interwave Studios. I was working on a game called Nuclear Dawn and at the time they hired me, I had no idea what I was doing but I was too scared to say no to anything. I just jumped into the deep end and learned as I worked... and I learned a lot! The Producers must have liked my work as they came back to me when the game was nearing release and hired me as a freelance artist to do their promotional artwork and cover for the game's box.

WD: Finally, what upcoming works do you have planned? Can you tell us about some future projects?

Travis: The only one that I have a solid plan for in 2013 is all of the work I have to complete for my own proposed book... that's enough stress for me for the moment.


Thank you again Travis for taking this time for me; and I look forward to working with you again soon.
You can visit Travis's web sites and see more of his great work at:

• http://apneicmonkey.deviantart.com/
• http://neechart.blogspot.ca/
• http://neechmonkey.carbonmade.com/

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