Marcos Efron’s short-film Common Practice is an exercise in the conceptual beauty of who and what comprises our neighborhoods. Using a young and gifted main character, a Latin streetblock is brought to a standstill as his talents are displayed.

Care of Efron: “Common Practice was conceived as a moving tribute to music’s power to cross cultural boundaries and touch the hearts of everyone.”

Continue Reading Common Practice | A Short-film by Marcos Efron »

Based on the Pointmen character that inhabited the first two UNKLE albums, famed special FX guru John Nolan – whose previous work has included the Harry Potter franchise and Where the Wild Things Are, was commissioned to create an animatronic interpretation of the slightly disconcerting icon.

The robot itself formed part of the Daydreaming with… James Lavelle exhibition along with an accompanying video sound-tracked to the instrumental re-working of ‘The Runaway’ (Lupe’s Revenge).

Continue Reading UNKLE’S Animatronic Wonder »

Playing on the fears and expectations that many have faced in a world now preoccupied with terrorism, Paranoia is the animated short film crafted by four students as part of their senior project at India’s Thakur-Toonskool Advanced Animation Academy.

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Filmed by Almuhannad Alkadam over 5 days at Mecca, Hajj.. A Journey of Purity offers viewers a time-lapsed vantage point into the holy pilgrimage made by millions of Muslims each year.

As one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world and as the fifth pillar of Islam, the religious duty must be carried out at least once in the lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to make the trip. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and ultimately, their submission to God.

When a pilgrim is about 10 kilometers from Mecca, he enters a state of holiness and purity known as Ihram, and adorns himself with two white sheets wrapped around the body. The individual then walks seven times, counterclockwise around the Ka’ba. After entering into the shrine, the pilgrim kisses a sacred stone in the southeast corner.

Once a believer has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, men may add the title al-Hajji to their name; hajjiyah for females.

Continue Reading Hajj.. A Journey of Purity »

Urban exploration, often times referred to as infiltration by those familiar with the pastime, is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of an urban area or industrial facility. And although the risks of such activities aren’t just limited to the physical dangers -cities often punish trespassers with heavy fines and even jail time- enthusiasts remains steadfast in their love for the hunt.

Care of the filmmaker behind Steve Duncan, Urban Underground (a clip examining one of these such enthusiasts):

“Steven Duncan explores the vast underground drainage system -pipes big enough to drive a truck through under Kissena Park in Queens, New York and documents an underground spring. He does a survey of other ventures up the WIlliamsburg Bridge, through Moscow’s underground rivers, into a Titan I Missile Silo and up on an abandoned LIRR line in Queens residents’ backyards. The photos he takes are for his book to be published next year. I shot Steve’s explorations in the summer of 2009. His work is an exploration of the link between the natural and man-made in the urban environment. This kind of exploration has been sharply curtailed in the past ten years because of enhanced security concerns in New York.”

Continue Reading Steve Duncan, Urban Underground »

Maybe it’s the fact that winter’s icy grip is slowly taking hold of the mainland. Or perhaps it’s the fact that the following short-film is just that good…

In either case, today we present one of the best-produced pieces of surfing ephemera that we’ve ever witnessed. Created for the 3rd Edition: Zot Movie Festival, the film was shot in a period stretching from January to July in different surf locations at Reunion island in the middle of the Indian Ocean: St Pierre, La Tortue, 03 Roches and Les Brisants.

Showcasing Maxime Huscenot, Christophe Allary, Adrien Rapp and others, this piece of eye candy might just encourage U.S. action sports filmmakers to step their own game up in 2011.

Continue Reading Press Pause »

It’s inevitable that if you’re between the ages of 18 and 40, you’ve probably coughed up the twelve dollars to witness the cultural juggernaut of 2010, The Social Network. And for as obsessed as some have been over the film, many others have been as equally studious of its soundtrack alone, helmed by none-other than Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Today we take at look at the behind-the-scenes craftsmanship that went into not only the music, but also the moments of David Fincher’s masterpiece that were defined by ambient noises and textures, often overlooked by the masses who have seen the movie.

Care of the SoundWorks Collection, two members of Fincher’s sound team, Supervisor Sound Editor Ren Kylce and Sound Re-Recording Mixer Michael Semanick, take the viewer through an insider’s look into their process and the importance of matching visual and acoustic aesthetics.

Continue Reading More Than What Meets the Eye »

As a short-film collaboration between Diesel Young Voices and Dazed Digital, Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul, follows a group of young skateboarders in, of all places, Afghanistan. Operating against the backdrop of war and bleak prospects, the Skateistan charity project is the world’s first co-educational skateboarding school, where a team of international volunteers work with girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 17.

Care of the program itself:

” Our students come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They will not only develop skills in skateboarding and skateboarding instruction, but also healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts, and languages. The students themselves decide what they want to learn—we connect them with teachers who will enable them to develop the skills that they consider important. Since Skateistan has been active in Kabul, we’ve seen that Afghan youth of all ethnicities, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds love to skateboard. Skateistan brings them together, equipping young men and women with the skills to lead their communities toward social change and development.”

Continue Reading Kickflips & Bullet Casings »

Dub Fx is something of an anomaly. The Australian-born street performer and beatbox wonder claims to be completely independent, using only live performance, word of mouth, social networking and a number of easily accessible free samples to promote his work.

Check out the recent extended edit to his track “Flow,” the viral phenomenon of a song that swept across the land last year.

Continue Reading Dub FX | Flow feat. Mr. Woodnote »

Today we woke up and decided to share the latest clip that found its way into our email overnight from renowned viral production troop and website La Blogotheque. We’ve been a fan of their live performance shorts for some time now, but it was their latest for Aloe Blacc that has had us glued in front of our monitors while we wolf down our cereal.

Much as the case with the location of the shoot, if anything, it serves as a bit of inspiration in realizing that the best art comes at times when we all least expect it.

Continue Reading La Blogotheque Presents Aloe Blacc »