We've been busy doing all the Christmas nonsense lately: drinking egg nog, playing super nes, and watching the muppets christmas carol so much it hurts. Our newest holiday animation is now in the post production phase and we plan to release it on the one month anniversary of Christmas. We hope everyone is enjoying their break as much as we are.... Here's our 2008 holiday animation which was filmed in Jenna's parents garage in South Carolina to hold everyone over....
Smile For London
Smile For London is a contest Vimeo is holding which will pick and then place fifty, 20 second silent videos/animations onto the plasma screens in the London Underground. We've scraped together ten pieces for submission and they are currently chilling on the group page on vimeo. If you happen to be reading this and also happen to have the next eight seconds to spare, we certainly would not and could not complain if you simply went to this LINK and pressed the little "heart" button on a few of our videos on the first page. If you were here with us we might just make you a damn good cup of coffee for doing so...
Our Generation
http://i.imgur.com/CfuPR.jpg
Today while working we watched casper, the first wive's club, while you were sleeping, cool runnings, wallace and grommit, and 42nd street on an unearthed vhs tape player in Tripp's parent's basement. The first scene of our holiday animation shall hopefully be completed tonight!
Today while working we watched casper, the first wive's club, while you were sleeping, cool runnings, wallace and grommit, and 42nd street on an unearthed vhs tape player in Tripp's parent's basement. The first scene of our holiday animation shall hopefully be completed tonight!
We were able to unearth some HD footage of Morning Teleportation performing before the Flaming Lips from a more than friendly videographer who we stumbled across at the Boca Raton show. We were allowed use of the Flaming Lips's epic LED screen to mix live visuals, which made for quite a spectacle. We were ready to tack our walmart bed sheet-screen up on stage when they told us to just use their setup instead. Their setup being a $250,000 half carnival ride half LED curtain that was invented on a napkin and brought to life by Wayne and his right hand man-video scientist Satchem. It will be very humbling to return to that Dell projector and wrinkly semi stained wal mart sheet....
And in other news.... We are currently in the midst of steam-training out another fully stop-motion animated holiday card. This will be a sequel to our holiday card from two years prior and we plan to have it completed by mid December.
And in other news.... We are currently in the midst of steam-training out another fully stop-motion animated holiday card. This will be a sequel to our holiday card from two years prior and we plan to have it completed by mid December.
DEEP FALL
DEEP FALL
Here it is. Our newest playlist for the time of the year when the oranges and reds are starting to shrivel their ends every so slightly and the sun seems to almost always be hiding behind a gray veil. A little 80s, a little punkish, and a little inspired by John Hughes, this playlist is perfect for pulling the windows open and letting the air rush in. Its also even better when played on some nice headphones, tucked underneath a favorite hoody, whilst strolling around a nearby forest. Kick around some leaves and take some deeper breaths, the seasons are changing.....
Lips
Tour with Morning Teleportation has been wonderful and whole heartedly adventerous on every level. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips was gracious enough to allow us the use of his quarter of a million dollar LED screen to project visuals for both Florida shows. Everyone involved with the Lips surpassed their standards as being the most friendly and helpful people around. You can see a very small clip taken from some bloke in the crowd (thanks bloke!).
Also apparently Wayne snapped this photo of Tripp's feet for his twitter as he was mixing visuals in the midst of the show.
We'll be filming the next music video for MT tonight in Bowling Green before we head for New York early tomorrow morning. If you feel like dressing up like a skeleton and prancing around a dojo all evening give us a call.....
Also apparently Wayne snapped this photo of Tripp's feet for his twitter as he was mixing visuals in the midst of the show.
We'll be filming the next music video for MT tonight in Bowling Green before we head for New York early tomorrow morning. If you feel like dressing up like a skeleton and prancing around a dojo all evening give us a call.....
Dead
Back in 2005, amidst the beginning of our senior year in high school, a few of us tv pro students slipped on some goodwill suits, stole miscellaneous "weapons" from Tripp's dad's garage, and set out to film our first scripted film. "Oh Snap, The Dead are Walking" is an eleven minute Kill Bill inspired, shot in two days, spaghetti-gore fest of a flick that won us a prestigious first place prize at the New Hope community churches annual Halloween night party. I think we ended up with $100 in best buy giftcards which we probably bought crap with but oh well. This film was a blast and marked the first time that we ever actually planned what we were setting out to film. Before this, the only planning put forth was what terrible techno song we were going to mash our piles of nonsense to. Before this, our films had plots revolving around sandwiches and any ol excuse to throw in a lightsaber effect or two.
So in the spirit of the fall and halloween and reckless terribleness and nostalgia....we present to you one of our finest films to date. Oh Snap, The Dead are Walking.
So in the spirit of the fall and halloween and reckless terribleness and nostalgia....we present to you one of our finest films to date. Oh Snap, The Dead are Walking.
Wonderful Weekend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NtrjiMNHYo
Wonderful weekend indeed in Kentucky. First live visual show for our friends in Morning Teleportation.
Crystalline by Morning Teleportation.
Starry Night Festival
10.2.2010 12am
Thanksgiving
A total humungous thank you to all of you (KyleChrissyLeviPerryEvanandErisy) who came out and hoopla-ed and feasted with us all in the name of a how-to video. We had a blast and we're even more ready for the fall to come. Enjoy this little video that was thrown together in the same amount of time it took to write this post. You guys are so awesome and we're still eating your leftovers.
Devil's Dungeon
Two nights ago we found ourselves standing behind a warehouse in east nashville being spat on numerous times by a bloke guzzling mouthfuls of fake blood. for the folks at devil's dungeon haunted house this was not just the only way to apply realistic looking blood to their actors, but it also serves as a sort of initiation for newbies like us. fake blood is thick too. like mcdonalds hot cake syrup that drips in your mouth and sticks your eyelids to your forehead. after slicing our costumes to bits, dying our hair, and mooning the general jackson as it passed by on the cumberland, we were herded into our spots within the building where we spent the next five hours heaving ourselves into unrestrained insanity for the benefit of the paying customer. Tripp wielded a skill saw and flapped around on the floor like a madman, occasionally chopping off a fellow actresses legs whilst screaming. Jenna managed to stalk an entire room by herself often spinning a baby around on a rotating dartboard. We've always been connoisseurs of haunted houses, in a way they're like the ultimate art installation, where everyone involved gets a little dose of dementia. One day maybe we'll open one....
squish. squeesh. whatever.
you can eat this to lunch with a bottle of skunks. weeeeeyooooooop. deathray.
Well we've finally walked the old demo reel woefully out to the back tool shed, eased it against the outer wall and blown it to smithereens with a suppressed sob. However! Phantasmic now has a new parade of clips representing itself to future seekers of weird animation and quirky films. Let us know what you think, if you're reading this there's probably a good chance you made it into this thing somewhere (seeing as most of you who do are more than likely just our close friends.) anyway.... mmmm hot totties.
Summer is Dying
the pools we used to sneak into every night are slowly being covered. leaves are ever so subtly beginning to ease their way off the trees and take their first small flight to the decorate the once beaminginly green grass. we're even beginning to drink less iced coffee. enjoy this mix of music as your summer easily drifts to the southern hemisphere. we're most certainly looking forward to an exquisite fall. get it HERE.
SCREENING
OFFICIAL SCREENING PARTY:Friday
7pm
801 Katheridge Ct. - Brentwood
Call Tripp at 646-457-9844 for directions or details or anything else pleasant. We will also be playing a few surprise oddities as well leading up to the video.
Peace!
COMPLETION
beginning with a 2am phone call which lead to a 2:15am freezing conversation atop our apartment roof on 94th street in new york we've been plotting and scheming and sketching and twirling our hair erratically leading to what would eventually become this video. Our first idea for the thing involved a centralized stop motion figure which was supposed to be duplicated and animated to perform a sort of experimental dance segment amdist an alienish space station. From March until early April we storyboarded each shot for this idea to the exact frame and picture count required. We created concept art, mock ups and a fully functional central character. Three days from our shooting date we arrived to the studio to proceed with test shots and found that the spray paint we chose to cover our wonderful model in, munched straight through the armature wire, rendering him a stump.
tripp stamped on his hat a couple of times and we left the studio fuming about the aspect of rebuilding the thing. the next morning Tripp moped to Fido for a cup of coffee with his sketchbook and began doodling about with what could be done to fix the situation. four pages of scribbled nonsense later, a new idea was drawn out - we chucked out our previous plan and went with a new one that felt much more lightweight and exciting in a childish sort of way. we described the idea in one phone call to our friend and lead singer of the band as a hippy's Mr. Toad's wild ride, a kitsch confetti explosion of stop motion, classical, and motion designed animation scenes all sewn together into one long tunnel walt disney world dark ride. Tiger said he'd love whatever we made so we began shooting two weeks later.
returning to old sketchbooks from the days of new york and savannah and Tripp's childhood drawings, we began to gather as many ideas as we could muster to cram into 3 minutes 42 seconds. the original list of proposed shots spans six pages front and back. out of all of them probably only 15% made it completely into the video, most either got changed, 86ed, or couldn't be read from their original illegibly scrawled conception. because our studio was situated comfortably alongside the cumberland river it became annihilated by May 1st in the floods of Nashville. we managed to get most of the expensive stuff out but were left with nowhere to begin shooting.......until we hauled the rest of our junk to the basement of Tripp's father's house in the suburbs. From May to June we constructed, shot, animated, scouted, acted, casted, choreographed, painted, and designed all that would appear in the video.....all within Tripp's dad's basement. It became quite humbling....
The entire project was edited solely in After Effects CS5 and Final Cut Pro. Each scene was handled separately and then later carefully "sewn" together to form one seamless shot. Here are some stats for the finished video:
15,033 pictures taken
121 individual after effects save files
119 hours render time for Master file
669 layers created in the first comp of the finale in AE
All together equaling 511 gb of space total
This video has set a few records for us and we've learned an unfathomable amount while working on it. The ending scene turned out to be so confusing it required a few math equations to structure correctly. We are both very excited about how it all came together and look forward to showing it to all the people who helped us put it together. We will be screening the video in full quality this MONDAY NIGHT at 7pm in the projection room of our friend Reece Tucker's basement In Brentwood. The facebook event page can be found HERE or call Tripp at 646-457-9844 for directions/info. Hope to see you there!
Luggage has appeared underneath Tripp's eyes in the form of overstuffed suitcases packed for international travel. Sleeping schedule = reversed and shortened and dreaming is filled with mathematical equations plotting xyz values for creatures in a symmetrical circle. The finale scene for the Morning Teleportation video is ALMOST complete and has established itself as the apex of all that is absurdly and intricately confusing to edit. Assuming After Effects does not crash, we should have a finished version of the whole shebang around tomorrow evening. Now how exciting is that.....
Bohemian Paint
A Bohemian throws paint on a canvas in a grungy studio. Second to last shoot on the music video! crack editing days will soon be ending. Tripp's eyes are going to turn into squares!
CRACKIE DAY 4
arose at 1pm. drank refrigerated iced coffee for breakfast and skipped a shower to cruise around with my sister and car dance to sleigh bells, gunther, and morning teleportation. edited endless staircases, tunnels with curtains made of legos, plant cells, and a wobbling hillside manor. in the background played Hook, Roger Rabbit, Ponyo, High Fidelity and Ace Ventura interrupted continuously with music from Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and Midnight Vultures. and its a venti americano to split with Jenna and sushi at the bar afterwards at Peters. Day 5 shall begin at approximately 2pm. welcome morning.
Crackie
Today commences the 5 Day Crack Editing session. Tripp is only taking bathroom and scooter ride breaks and will be eating at his computer for the next five days to try and bust out the Morning Teleportation music video. Jenna will be editing other projects and not so much like a crackie. There will be a lot of movie watching/listening and more coffee than usual this week and we can't wait!
Last Weekish
a recap of the last weekish or so:
*Rok and Twiggy DJed/VJed a miscellaneous party in the boro to a crowd of partially dressed up cult film characters, and many not so dressed up characters that could however have passed as anyone from Dazed and Confused.
*caught SLEIGH BELLS at the The End, which turned out to be one of the most explosively energizing shows we've seen in quite a while. After a week of solid after effects editing it felt more than liberating to heave ourselves freely into strangers whilst belting lyrics until our voices gave out--all while having beer poured on our heads by Alexis Krauss and the occasional crowd surfer tumble onto our foreheads. To sum up the evening we steal a perfect quote from a disheveled looking girl smoking a cigarette outside, post show: "I don't know if I was fucked or baptized!"
*about two weeks from now we'll be finishing the epic music video for MORNING TELEPORATION that has been unofficially in the works since a 2am phone call from the roof of our apartment in Manhattan in January.. a couple stills below:
*we will be adventuring to Chicago this weekend for the Pitchfork Music Festival (read "hipster fest 2010") where we will catch two of our favorite modern musicians Noah Lennox and James Murphy in the same evening.
*and in case you haven't heard it yet here is the first track off of Panda Bear's newest upcoming album in the Fall of this year. We highly recommend plopping on the headphones and going for a nightly stroll on the first listen. Highly ethreal....
*Rok and Twiggy DJed/VJed a miscellaneous party in the boro to a crowd of partially dressed up cult film characters, and many not so dressed up characters that could however have passed as anyone from Dazed and Confused.
*caught SLEIGH BELLS at the The End, which turned out to be one of the most explosively energizing shows we've seen in quite a while. After a week of solid after effects editing it felt more than liberating to heave ourselves freely into strangers whilst belting lyrics until our voices gave out--all while having beer poured on our heads by Alexis Krauss and the occasional crowd surfer tumble onto our foreheads. To sum up the evening we steal a perfect quote from a disheveled looking girl smoking a cigarette outside, post show: "I don't know if I was fucked or baptized!"
*about two weeks from now we'll be finishing the epic music video for MORNING TELEPORATION that has been unofficially in the works since a 2am phone call from the roof of our apartment in Manhattan in January.. a couple stills below:
*we will be adventuring to Chicago this weekend for the Pitchfork Music Festival (read "hipster fest 2010") where we will catch two of our favorite modern musicians Noah Lennox and James Murphy in the same evening.
*and in case you haven't heard it yet here is the first track off of Panda Bear's newest upcoming album in the Fall of this year. We highly recommend plopping on the headphones and going for a nightly stroll on the first listen. Highly ethreal....
DEADBEAT SUMMER
Here it is. Finally completed. The summer playlist brought to you with exquisite research and toil by us here at Toad Hall. Put on some waterproof headphones and crash lazily into the deep end of someone else's pool and vibe away with this warbley comforting haze.
Experimental Party in the Boro!
We'll be djing and vjing to an extraordinary party in the Murfreesboro tonight. Being that its the boro it will always be a whimsical hoot. this is an open invitation to everyone ready to come dress up as your favorite cult film character and dance to the soul energizing beats of ROKI and MAGE with live visuals by Twiggy and the AfriKan.
address = 1810 Jordan Ave, Murfreesboro, TN
time = tenish?
we call this one "those paint splotches"
address = 1810 Jordan Ave, Murfreesboro, TN
time = tenish?
we call this one "those paint splotches"
"Those Paint Splotches" from twiggy watt on Vimeo.
Exit through the gift shop
We just caught Banksy's first film "Exit through the Gift shop" at the Belcourt. We left the theatre struck with inspiration and wanted to head straight to Wally World, pick up a dozen cans of spray paint, cardboard boxes and a matte knife. We can't seem to go anywhere after the film without noticing would be brilliant spaces for a bit of street art. There is something fascinating and awe inspiring about street art. Some pieces only stay up for a matter of hours and usually the artist goes with little to no recognition. It is definitely art for art's sake.
The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit. - Banksy
The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit. - Banksy
XXXX Magazine Surrealism Premiere
Two of our more recent films, "Danse/Florae" and "The Spell", commissioned by fashion photographer Indira Cesarine, premiered at two different galas in New York City over the past couple weeks. XXXX Magazine held a launch party for it's second issue revolving around surrealism on June 23rd. We collaborated with Indira last April to put this short piece together, involving found objects (which we purchased in junk stores around Brooklyn) and some very friendly models from Ford Models. "The Spell" can be seen by clicking on our project tab to the right. Photos and videos from the event can be seen at the XXXX Magazine website.
Our other film "Danse/Florae", starring our very lovely sister, Erisy Watt, premiered at the Louve benefit gala "Soiree Au Louve" on the 25th. More to come with Indira in the near future--but be sure to check out the XXXX website which is filled with all sorts of amazing visual artwork.
we're inspired
we're inspired by fang island, surfer blood, harlem, and martin denny
by super mario kart on snes and the soundtrack to sonic the hedgehog 2
we're inspired by the band dreams come true from 1991
and floating in the neighborhood pool past hours
and by doing inverted canonballs and eating watermelon
we're also inspired by razor scooter treks around the country roads
and irish coffee in the evening and iced irish coffee in the afternoon
and by brave new world and buffy the vampire slayer
what is everyone elses inspiration?
by super mario kart on snes and the soundtrack to sonic the hedgehog 2
we're inspired by the band dreams come true from 1991
and floating in the neighborhood pool past hours
and by doing inverted canonballs and eating watermelon
we're also inspired by razor scooter treks around the country roads
and irish coffee in the evening and iced irish coffee in the afternoon
and by brave new world and buffy the vampire slayer
what is everyone elses inspiration?
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.
IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg has been playing on repeat here at Toad Hall for the past couple weeks. We really love this video directed by Keith Schofield
listening to the strokes and fang island. had an amazing conversation with Paul, the bassist of Morning Teleportation. An amazing fellow of an extraordinary band. They just finished playing Bonnaroo and are now on their way, in their lovely van, to the west coast to play a show in LA. They're music is incredible and we're so psyched to be collaborating with close friends. Again check out their music at their myspace. Enjoying the rain and about to shoot a rollercoaster in stop motion made of KNEX.
*peace*
the crystal castles will the playing in nashville in september. we hope there are other people out there who are as nerdily excited as we are.
Summer Mix
Our wonderfully talented and ever so lovely friend Jessica Collins, known to many as BERU has just put together an awesome summer playlist. We were lucky enough to collaborate with her oh so many years ago to create a video in a supposedly haunted Savannah attic. Jessica's personal projects are amazingly unique- she explained to us once that her music is created like journal entries, often incorporating field recordings and inspiration taken from simply strolling around your every day street. download the summer mix HERE and play it at your next summer shindig or when truckin down the interstate to hop the fence into that neighborhood pool.
Tripp just arrived back from an incredible week long adventure in Austin. Nashville now seems prude in comparison and he's wishing he was sitting again in the shade at the Bouldin Creek Coffee House drinking Horchata with espresso with his awesomely talented friend Matt Kern. Wound up catching an unannoucned Neon Indian show at Emo's which was warbley phenomenal and featured some pretty sweet yet kitschy visuals (which we always love).
Back to work now here at Toad Hall finishing up some last minute shots for the Morning Teleportation video (we swear it will be completed soon) and listenin to the new Uncle Skeleton album which is available as a "pay what you like" download here. We also have a depressed basset hound......
Back to work now here at Toad Hall finishing up some last minute shots for the Morning Teleportation video (we swear it will be completed soon) and listenin to the new Uncle Skeleton album which is available as a "pay what you like" download here. We also have a depressed basset hound......
currently in Austin. sitting on a couch, just woke up, listening to surfer blood in a michael jackson t shirt. about to adventure to a coffee shop, record store, and some local swimming.
Twiggy and Roki played The Ultimate Space Party in the Boro last Thursday. it was an incredible first night and we hope to do it again very very soon. "a feast of hallucinogenic visuals and an ethereal musical soundtrack created live in your living room." amazing new music from our friend KARIUS VEGA as well. Trinh was an amazing party host and the crowd was an eclectic mix of space men and fairies.... Have an amazing week everyone!
Twiggy and Roki played The Ultimate Space Party in the Boro last Thursday. it was an incredible first night and we hope to do it again very very soon. "a feast of hallucinogenic visuals and an ethereal musical soundtrack created live in your living room." amazing new music from our friend KARIUS VEGA as well. Trinh was an amazing party host and the crowd was an eclectic mix of space men and fairies.... Have an amazing week everyone!
The New Location
the wonderfully epic Cumberland river flood otherwise known to us Tennesseans as the poop river has placed us in a new homebase location. within the basement of a suburban home atop a hill we now create and work. now that all is well we will be here much more often! We are currently in the midst of an equisitely ecclectic project and are lucky enough to work with some of the most extraordinary people. Morning Teleporation's first LP is being produced by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and will be released on cd and vinyl later this summer. Here's an assortment of photographs from today's adventures.
Also listen to the song and follow along at their page www.myspace.com/morningteleportation. They're on their way back to Portland as we type but begin their tour with Modest Mouse in four days. They'll be in Knoxville on July 18th and also at Bonnaroo. weeeeeyooooop!
We've been away for a while! Grinding away at our most recent project that has just been completed as of two days ago today! Here's a few stills of what we've been working on here.
The six minute animation blends hand crafted and sewn characters composited into various constructed sets made of a variety of assorted materials. The film was created for a company based out of St. Lois who rebuilds old houses in the more impoverished areas of town. --We'll have the full video ready to view once everything is cleared!
****FOR EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED THE DANCE PARTY ON THE 10th.. WE HAD AN AMAZINGLY AMAZING time with you! Pictures and strange videos will be uploaded in the very near future.....
The six minute animation blends hand crafted and sewn characters composited into various constructed sets made of a variety of assorted materials. The film was created for a company based out of St. Lois who rebuilds old houses in the more impoverished areas of town. --We'll have the full video ready to view once everything is cleared!
****FOR EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED THE DANCE PARTY ON THE 10th.. WE HAD AN AMAZINGLY AMAZING time with you! Pictures and strange videos will be uploaded in the very near future.....
POST EASTER EPILEPTIC DANCE PARTY HERE AT TOAD HALL
*Join us for a post Easter adventure featuring a live visual / auditory feast of cosmorphic color from DJ Roki and The Scientist. Easter Sunday dress attire or anything bright and colorful and clashy is recommended. Come ready to dance and jump around to some of the BEST/WORST technodance music around with our strange cast of characters. Creation is encouraged and everyone will be able to manipulate the music, paint visuals, play kazoos, and film each other! Unpretentious dancing will ensue raucously so prepare to be jig in a super uncool fashion. Bring your friends and their friends as always we would love to meet all of you!
April 10th 2010 from 10:45-3:00am
Questions or Directions call Tripp at 646.457.9844.
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