Epic African Posters

I don't know what I Googled this time, but I found these amazing hand painted movie posters from Africa. What do I have to do to get this quality of work?

Please, enjoy.

These are too good.

Deathly Hallows

Trailer Property of Warner Bros.
Copyright 2010

Epic!

Deep Down

Q. If you managed to escape an uncharted cave with mutated albino cave creatures, why would you go back?



Image Property of Celador Films
Copyright 2009

A. For more blood, guts and gore.

The Descent: Part 2 is not all that the first film was, but it's worth your time. It's a decent attempt at extending the story of cave divers and all around bad ass women, Sarah and Juno, respectively.

Object

Image Property of Sony
Copyright 2006

Today I woke up and put into my Playstation 3 a DVD disc with the documentary Objectified on it.

Please, please, watch this film if you haven't already.

There are a hundred things I could begin to say after the 85m mins. I spent with the documentary, but the one idea it triggered in me most, was the idea of design and self-expression or form over function.

Yesterday, while some friends and I watched the Laker game on TV, someone requested we play Street Fighter IV after the game. Nagging quickly ensued. Everyone had complaints over their effectiveness at winning all due to the game controller in use. Most of us argued that the Microsoft controller was too big and clunky and was very restricting, in terms of what we could and could not do in game. We all came to the consensus that we preferred Sony's Dualshock 3 controller to its Microsoft counterpart. But why?

Because it functions. The user never even notices that the controller is what it is because they don't have to. The invisibility of the pad makes them engage with the software they're using and helps them to never disengage until they themselves are ready. You pick up and play.

It's my presumption that Sony hit the nail in the head when it comes to game controller design. If it were up to me, there would be no other option on the market. It's so well designed in fact, that third party developers have used it as the model for their more affordable options. Even the Microsoft pad has a similar design, although it's different enough to not be presumed a copy.

Ever since it's debut for the Playstation in 1995 the form of the controller has seen very minimal change, all of which came based on necessity towards function.

So why is it not the standard?

Because in the end all that matters is fashion.

We all want a means to differentiate ourselves and be individual.

Not just the end user, but the designer.

As humans we have a need for self expression.

Jose prefers his Xbox 360 and I prefer my PS3. What do they say about us? Essentially that I prefer things to be less complicated. In gaming, Sony is the Apple of its industry.

Take something as simple as a toothbrush and weigh your options.

How many times can we redesign the chair?

We can redesign it endlessly, because as people we are constantly evolving and changing, and one chair for us could never last a lifetime nor could it tell the story of us.

Jay

Thank you Netflix.

Last night and this morning I finally had the opportunity to view the Jay McCarroll documentary Eleven Minutes. You know, the first winner of Project Runway?

First off, I loved the film, even if it brought with it feelings of anxiety I haven't felt since the CalArts graphic design show. Secondly, it taught me that fashion is something better suited for a schizophrenic (it seems you have to be everywhere and nowhere all at once). I'm too emotional for such a loveless world of fashion. Third, it had me contemplating what it means to be inspired and how exactly that inspiration is manifest in the work you create. Can you really just say, "My collection is inspired by vaginal discharge." and Archigram and hot air balloons? Where does the circus of inspiration end? In the end it seemed like the collection was at it's core inspired by Japanese culture. Tokyo? Finally, the collection itself was incoherent and unexciting, it really just felt, blah. Too bad, because the small and tight collection created for the finale of Season 1 of Project Runway I thought was amazing.

Gentle

An unkempt nail is bad enough down there.



Images Property of New Line Cinema
Copyright 1984 and 2010

Sunday I visited Michelle in Pasadena.

After leaving the Sierra Madre Villa station we met for lunch, a trip to the mall and a movie.

A Nightmare on Elm St. was not at all the disappointment I assumed it would be. It provided some much needed scares.

This or That

Images Property of Toby Ng
Copyright 2010

During my search for the Creep poster set I came cross another set of posters for the London Horror Film Festival.

Now, while I like the idea, I will say that I don't think they're the most amazing pieces of design.

Basically the posters were meant to show the dichotomy of a horror movie viewing experience; a dichotomy of extreme opposites.

Creep

Images Property of Face37
Copyright 2010

Recently while visiting Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra I came across the book Design: Play and discovered in it a set of posters that I just absolutely fell in love with. The set were for a Horror Film Festival in Manchester, England called Creep. The festival featured all the usual fare, but the posters were just a little bit more than what you would expect for the genre.

Done in the Swiss style, it's not exactly what you would expect for a horror festival, but they're effective. Not necessarily for their typography but their simple gimmick of revealing an image of any particular film's iconic killer. When the lights go out, the glow in the dark screen printing ink reveals a glowing menacing face peering back at you. Very cinematic if I do say so, although it's not exactly where the designer was looking to connote the idea. His hope was that cropped type at the top and bottom would help you refer to scrolling credits at the end of a movie, but it turns out that the image appearing after turning down the lights comes off more as the opening of any movie experience.

Isolation

Image Property of Blumhouse Productions
Copyright 2007

This past Sunday Michelle and I went to the movies to see the new film Paranormal Activity. Similar to The Blair Witch Project the movie was done on an almost non existent budget, but looks to make a whole lot more. Also, like The Blair Witch Project the film is shot in that shaky cam style that films like Cloverfield tried to cash in on. Unlike Cloverfield though, this film convincingly uses less as a whole lot more.

The story basically picks up on Micah's recent camcorder purchase to capture his girlfriend Katie's recent unexplained occurrences. Occurrences that we learn have haunted her since her early childhood. These strange phenomena don't just jump out the first minute we begin watching, but roll out slowly as you get to know the characters and their haunting story.

This is what I think the film does nicely, establishing mood. Everything seems relatable and authentic. The cuts of home footage don't seem unlike something you and your family might have shot yourself. The environment is also to my knowledge very authentic and not a Hollywood set. You feel like you've been there or could have lived there. The last thing the film uses extremely well and to its advantage is isolation and claustrophobia. The couple is pretty much alone the entire film, only once or twice does a friend stop in and make a visit and aside from the paranormal investigator no one is ever in the house with them. Except for one shot early on, you never see the rest of the neighborhood or any of the neighbors. Not only are you isolated from what you see, but what you hear. There is no ambient sound, which you don't realize at first, but notice once you begin to analyze the film. It's just the couple and the entity who provide the audio.

With a very relatable and authentic set up you then get very simple and terrifying scares. The intensity raises a few levels every progressing night of the experience. Some nights it's not as bad as the last, but it's definitely not any better and eventually it just gets worse. All the events take place at night, but eventually move into the day. Making things just that much more scary. The experiences are subtle and effective. Never over the top and never too elaborate. Without giving anything away, the haunting or demonic infestation or possession or whatever you want to call it is very real. The sights and sounds are what you come to expect of such an event. It's what you hear from accounts of any paranormal activity. The phenomenon
escalates from mundane to very supernatural, but with a natural progression. As you watch you begin to feel this impending doom and that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Sunday's viewing was the first time I had a unified audience experience. If someone jumped we all did. We all held our breath together and eventually let go with relief. It was like being around a camp fire and hearing a spooky story, you know, where you jump at the end. Although I never experienced that being from LA. This movie may be the closest I come to being led around like a Cub Scout.

Trick 'R Treat

Poster & Images Property of Warner Bros. Entertainment
Copyright 2009

Last night, Michelle and I were out and we thought maybe we'd swing by Blockbuster and pick up a couple of movies. I was wandering around not really seeing anything too exciting and then Michelle suggested we watch Trick 'R Treat. Never heard of it, but she had seen the preview and was excited about seeing it. Not expecting anything special, I actually really enjoyed this movie. It is in the vain of movies like Creepshow
and a non-linear story in the fashion of Tarantino. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say there were good twists and good scares. I actually was a little scared getting into my car this morning and had to take a peak in the back to make sure I was riding home with any unwanted passengers.

Elm St.

Images Property of New Line Cinema
Copyright 1984 & 2009

I just saw the trailer for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and I have to admit I'm a little disappointed. It doesn't look very scary at all. Which is strange because a lot of what is in the trailer are iconic scenes from the original, like the bathtub scene (I hated bathing after that) and the bedroom scene (not the one with Johnny Depp).

Being a remake, of course there is a new Krueger, Robert Englund is out and Jackie Earle Haley is in. You might know him as Rorschach from Watchmen and as Kelly from all the Bad News Bears movies, funny I always thought he was a girl, but as Krueger he kind of looks alien.

In any event, I'm not that enthused over seeing this one. I think I'll rent it.

Batmanny

Image Property of Warner Bros. Entertainment
Copyright 1989

October is three days away, but that hasn't stopped talk between Michelle and I over what to be this coming Halloween. With that in mind I thought I'd post a nostalgic image of me in my Batman costume from 2nd grade.

I still remember being in love with Tim Burton's Batman and strongly deciding that I wanted to be Batman for Halloween. With a VHS tape in hand and my mother on board to be my workhorse, I set out to have her create the best homemade Batcostume ever. This might have been my very first design job, I still have the memory of art directing my mother. Making sure that I got exactly what I wanted. I would sit in front of the tv and pause the tape and say, "Look mom like that." I have to say that at that time you couldn't just go to Target and get a $20 costume and call it a day. Mom had to make it.

Thank you mom. It's okay I didn't win that year's costume contest.