Illusions (Part One)

This is the first of eight parts of a short film series called 'Illusions'. I very much enjoyed the visual concept as well as the mesmerising voice-over that just kinda sucks you in. Directed by Animal VFX.

FITC Amsterdam 2013 Titles rediscovered

About a month ago, the FITC Amsterdam 2013 Title were released, designed by the one and only GMUNK, produced and directed by dutch Onesize. I really liked the title design, but it was only a couple days ago that a friend told me that these titles we basically hand crafted, shot on camera and then treated in post-production, though they looked totally CG to me. This fact made the titles even more appealing and therefore I want to feature them up here and show you the making of.

// Making Of

Back-to-the-Camera Shot

Plot Point Productions decided to set up a great video taking sequences of different actors filming movies back. This creation “Back-to-the-Camera Shot” is just great, to remember these beautiful plans present in films like Fight Club, Star Wars or Black Swan.

And I totally love the score / Moby - God moving over the Face of the Waters

I'm on pinterest now

Yesterday I found some time to look into Pinterest and immediately fell for it. Guess I'll be using it from now on to keep my boatloads of randomness together.. have a look and follow me if you like it.

click image to view my profile

Single Shot

Rad trailer! Definitely looking forward to this one..

Bali Surf Trip 2012

Finally, I managed to finish editing some selected shots from my last surf trip to Bali in October/November 2012 with Mike and Tommy. Here you go..

Bali Surf Trip 2012, a set on Flickr.

James Blake - Voyeur [Bear//Face Bootleg Edit]

Good morning everyone!

Have the courage
to change the things
you can.
Have the courage
to accept the things
you cannot change.

Your Perfect Life

My buddy Phil shared this article today, and I have to say the author does make a strong point here. Maybe it's time to think about making some changes to the way we present ourselves and focus more on what's really making our lives so unique and beautiful..


Instagram's Envy Effect (see the original article here)

I keep having the same conversation over and over. It starts like this: “I gave up Facebook for Lent, and I realized I’m a lot happier without it.” Or like this, “Pinterest makes me hate my house.” Or like this: “I stopped following a friend on Instagram, and now that I don’t see nonstop snapshots of her perfect life, I like her better.”

Yikes. This is a thing. This is coming up in conversation after conversation. The danger of the internet is that it’s very very easy to tell partial truths—to show the fabulous meal but not the mess to clean up afterward. To display the smiling couple-shot, but not the fight you had three days ago. To offer up the sparkly milestones but not the spiraling meltdowns. I’m not anti-technology or anti-Internet, certainly, but I do think it’s important for us to remind ourselves from time to time that watching other peoples’ post-worthy moments on Facebook is always going to yield a prettier version of life than the one you’re living right now. That’s how it works. My life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the internet than it does in real life. The Internet is partial truths—we get to decide what people see and what they don’t. That’s why it’s safer short term. And that’s why it’s much, much more dangerous long term.

Because community—the rich kind, the transforming kind, the valuable and difficult kind—doesn’t happen in partial truths and well-edited photo collections on Instagram. Community happens when we hear each other’s actual voices, when we enter one another’s actual homes, with actual messes, around actual tables telling stories that ramble on beyond 140 pithy characters.

But seeing the best possible, often-unrealistic, half-truth version of other peoples’ lives isn’t the only danger of the Internet. Our envy buttons also get pushed because we rarely check Facebook when we’re having our own peak experiences. We check it when we’re bored and when we’re lonely, and it intensifies that boredom and loneliness.

When you’re laughing at a meal with friends, are you scrolling through Pinterest? When you’re in labor with your much-prayed-for-deeply-loved child, are you checking to see what’s happening on Instagram? Of course not. We check in with our phones when it seems like nothing fun is happening in our own lives—when we’re getting our oil changed or waiting for the coffee to brew.

It makes sense, then, that anyone else’s fun or beauty or sparkle gets under our skin. It magnifies our own dissatisfaction with that moment. When you’re waiting for your coffee to brew, the majority of your friends probably aren’t doing anything any more special.

But it only takes one friend at the Eiffel Tower to make you feel like a loser.

I’m a writer. I use Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Pinterest and my blog as part of my professional life—as a way to connect with readers and be part of a conversation that we’re creating together, a conversation about creativity and faith and writing and parenting and community and life around the table. It’s a lovely conversation, and part of my work involves reading many blogs and commenting on lots of photos and scrolling through status after status.

Some days it feels rich and multi-faceted. I learn and I’m inspired. I find recipes I want to try and stories I want to live. I feel connected and thankful to be part of such an intelligent and creative internet community.

And then on some days, I feel like I have nothing to offer, like I must be the only one who isn’t a graphic designer and hasn’t yet managed to display her entire darling life online with lots of chevron and mint accents. I feel so certain that my life is a lot less darling than other peoples’ lives.

But that’s the Internet. The nature of it. I so easily fall prey to the seduction of other people’s partial truths and heavily filtered photos, making everything look amazing. And their amazing looking lives make me feel not amazing at all.

Let’s choose community. Let’s stop comparing. Let’s start connecting.

Some days when I sit down at my laptop, instead of choosing to be an observer via Facebook, I choose to be a friend via email. Instead of scrolling through someone else’s carefully curated images, I use those few seconds to send a text to a person I really know and really love and really want to be connected to.

It’s not about technology or not. I’m not suggesting you get all old-school-pen-and-paper about it (unless that’s your thing.) It’s about connecting instead of comparing. Instead of using the computer to watch someone else’s perfectly crafted life, enter into someone’s less-than-perfect life. You can use Facebook if you want, but you might find email, Skype and phone calls work better.

The distinction I’m making is public vs. private, not in person vs. long distance. I have very close, very honest friendships that depend on phone calls and Skype dates and long wandering emails, and I’m thankful that technology allows for those connections. But I don’t think you can build transforming friendships that take place only in a public sphere like Facebook or Instagram.

For many of us, walking away from the Internet isn’t an option. But using it to connect instead of compare is an option, and a life-changing one. Using technology to build community instead of building carefully-curated images of ourselves is an option, and a worthwhile one.

And on the days when you peer into the screen of your laptop and all you see are other people’s peak experiences that highlight your lack in that moment, remember that life isn’t about the story you tell about yourself on the Internet. It’s about a million more beautiful and complex things than that, like love and faith and really listening. It’s about using what you’ve been given to craft a life of gratitude and passion and grace.

Remember that the very best things in life can’t be captured in status updates.

REVOLUTION

I'm already very curious to watch Revolution - the sequel to Sharkwater, which has already been so incredibly stunning and enlightening. It's about time that people acknowledge that nothing we got is understood and that nature gives us everything we need, if we are only willing to act responsibly. We have destroyed so much of it already and this really needs to come to an end. Change is overdue.

"Revolution is a film about changing the world. The true-life adventure of Rob Stewart, this follow-up to his acclaimed SHARKWATER documentary continues his remarkable journey; one that will take him through 15 countries over four years, and where he'll discover that it's not only sharks that are in grave danger – it's humanity itself."

- - -

Follow-Up

Revolution on Facebook
Sharkwater on Facebook

Watch Sharkwater. Heroes of the Sea. on YouTube
Sharkwater Pt. I
Sharkwater Pt. II
Sharkwater Pt. III
Sharkwater Pt. IV

X Games Detroit

Detroit itself has always caught my attention as a city with quite some history and stories to tell. A new collective now wants to bring the X Games to Detroit. Operating as Action Sports Detroit LLC, they are working with ESPN to create a new type of X Games partnership that uses conventional structures to create unconventional experiences all with the hope of reinventing the city and state.
Some more info and links here.

But first check out this rad teaser, combining great shots in an industrial setting with quite ear-piercing sounds.

EVERYDAY

Sweet story line and visually absolutely matching execution in this lovely short directed by Gustav Johansson. Love the concept of the whole thing, they way the idea is presented to the viewer. Kinda makes one wish for it to happen for real..

Bjørnøya teaser

My buddy Roman featured this on his blog today. This just makes me wanna get out there so bad!!

Martin Söderström - Season 2012

This guy is just so fucking insane, love his style! Sick..

Oblivion OST by M83

M83's Anthony Gonzalez, in collaboration with Joseph Trapanese, has scored the Tom Cruise-starring sci-fi film Oblivion. It features the new M83 track "Oblivion", featuring Susanne Sundfør.
Oblivion is in theaters April 19.

MeTube: August sings Carmen 'Habanera'

Pretty damn weird, yet really good one here..

Expectations

[2013/04/01].frankfurt_de

Stuck

The two songs I'm listening to the most lately.


Here I'm alive.
Everything all of the time.


Ben Howard - Old Pine (Everything Everything Remix)

Kodaline - All I Want (Everything Everything Remix)