the predatory bird

Tag: Joe Pease

  • Paper Trail

    The live-action performance in the intro to Joe Pease animation experiment ‘Paper Trail’ is truly exquisite.
    In this post Joe answers 3 quick questions about animation and the animators he considers to be some of the greats.

    Joe Pease on set

    What’s the first animation you remember watching that got you sparked on the medium?
    I would say Disney movies would’ve been the first. The Jungle Book and Sword in the Stone. In Aus we also had these short claymations between programmes called Pingu, have you seen that?
    Yes! I used to love Pingu, it was consistently pretty hilarious.
    So good! I don’t think Americans know about it.

    What do you think is the appeal of animation rather than live action?
    I like the look of certain styles of animation. I’m really into line drawn animation. Also, the fact you don’t need to rely on other people to work on it. There are not really any boundaries to what you can do either, which is cool.

    Which animators do you find inspiring?
    Frank and Ollie, the original Disney animators are incredible.

    This guy Bruce Bickford who did Frank Zappa music videos.

    Ray Harryhausen for how epic his stuff was before anyone.

    I’ve also been super into motion graphics recently. Here’s one by a production company in the UK called Animade

    What about Matt Stone and Trey Parker?

    Of course! How could I forget?
    Joe Pease up close

  • Attack of the Memes: The Strange Connection between Joe Pease, Saatchi and Saatchi and Professor Richard Dawkins

    At Cannes the opening speaker of Saatchi and Saatchi’s 2013 New Directors’ Showcase was Great British evolutionary biologist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

    Never afraid to be the provocateur Dawkins is hated, with vitriol, by many of the same people who oppose gay marriage, for his publicly expressed sentiment regarding a belief in God. Regardless of whether you’re bothered about his joyous banging of the atheist drum I rank The Selfish Gene as possibly my all-time favourite popular science book.

    At the 5-minute mark of Dawkins’ NDS intro, the ensuing new-media-nightmare-trip – designed to illustrate the idea that the spreading and transformation of internet memes is analogous to (and even an extension of) evolution by genetic mutation – doesn’t really do justice to the memic beauty that flowed from Antoine Dodson’s brilliant Hide Yo Kids, Bedroom Intruder, news segment (this all ties in with the theme of the showcase this year). But, the floating Dawkins head, the Mars Attacks brain graphics and Dawkins electric recorder performance is well worth checking out.

    Besides all that, Peter Brings the Shadow to Life by friend-of-the-bird Joe Pease ended up being featured in the showcase. He shot it on his telephone, during various afternoons and evenings between November ‘11 and Summer ’12. That it’s been included in the reel is a wonderful, encouraging, positive, turn of events for the oftentimes persecuted young warehouse manager.

  • Everything Goes

    A photographer waltzes with hydrants while following a loose board around a city block.

    Shot and edited by Joe Pease

  • Skate Teleportation: Only Built for Cuban Linx

    Sometimes, when my cat jumps into a cardboard box I’ll quickly shut the lid and carefully carry the whole special package to another part of the house. I’ll set it down, open it up and he’ll pop his head up and look around at his new surroundings.
    “You went in the teleportation module!” I’ll announce, grinning at my furry friend.
    The cat will stare me down with his piercing feline eyes.
    “You reckless bastard” his little cat expression says. “You did not take adequate clean room precautions!” he reprimands. “There could have been a fly in here and our DNA could have got all jumbled up together! What the hell were you thinking?”
    He’s right. It is dangerous.
    This is why the latest Following video is the best so far. Virtuoso sidewalk surfer and solid friend of the bird Kyle Leeper already knew about the perils of teleportation yet he forged ahead all the same.
    Here’s how it came to be: I transported my life to Portland to wallow in the misery of a northwestern winter. My departure from Southern California of course left a gaping hole but instead of getting depressed about what was gone Kyle got sparked on all that remained; smart Kyle. Joe Pease and him blasted around the streets of San Diego fearlessly hyperlinking between spots with little regard for the inherent hazards. If the results of their efforts don’t make you want to skate then we can be of no further help to you. Good day.

    Stereo Skateboards pro, Kyle Leeper, lives in Carlsbad, California, with his wife, his son, his fish, 2 dogs and another baby on the way. Below we discuss 7 profound topics including sponsorship deals, human reproduction, this video project and generally being stoked.
    Kyle Leeper at Moonlight BEach with Gull in Flight

    1. When’s the 2nd child due?
      Due right around the same time date as my first son was born, late August.
      Damn! So you guys must get horny right around the same time of year.
      Yup, right around December I’m ready to go!
      Well, it gets cold.
      Yeah, these harsh Carlsbad winters get pretty gnarly.

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  • Peter Brings the Shadow to Life

    Peter Brings the Shadow to Life

    The title of this post comes from this essay. If you can’t be bothered to read it that’s fine but if you can then your life will be a little richer; although maybe not in the diamond earring sense of the word. It sums up some of the themes that might possibly be floating around inside the following amazing video by Joe Pease. Let us know in the comments if we’re reading way too much into it and should probably just chill (‘n’ shit).