Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is probably one of my favorite videos on YouTube. Although there are many reasons why this short is so great, the main one in my opinion is that it makes me smile. For those of you who have not seen it before, I’ll give you a little idea on what it’s about. Both videos are about a tiny little conch shell with shoes on named Marcel. It is basically as if someone is interviewing this little shell and asking him all about his life. The voice of Marcel is also one of the reasons this video is so cute. He has a high-pitched little voice that really adds a punch to all of his one-liners. The second video is basically the same thing, just with some different jokes. All in all, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On might not be for everyone. But if you enjoy cute little videos to help you pass the time, these are definitely for you.

The Impact of Vine

As most of you guys know, there's this app called Vine. Vine is a little app that allows any smart phone user to create and share 6-second looping videos on Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and other places. Since it's release on January 23, 2013 Vine has exploded in popularity. It was originally just for iPhones, but it has since branched out to all other smart phone platforms like Android and Windows phone. Vine was first created and founded by Dom Hofmann, Rus, Yusupow, and Colin Kroll in June of 2012 and the company was acquired by Twitter in October of 2012.

Vine is an immensely popular app for a few reasons. First of all, Vines are very easy to make. It uses the camera in your phone so it is accessible. It also features the touch and record process. You touch the screen for the duration you want to record and all you have to do to stop recording is let go of the screen. This makes is easy to use for even the most novice videographers (or Viners). This technology also makes it easy to make stop motion videos. All you have to do is just tap the screen for the duration of the video and there you have it!

This app is also immensely popular for viewing purposes because the videos are so short. You don't have to invest a great amount of time to watch a vine since they are only 6 seconds long. They also loop so you don't even have to click replay if you missed something in the last 6 seconds. This makes it perfect for people to get out their short stories and it is even now being used for news and marketing. The possibilities for this little app are endless. It is just the start and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Music Video Editor's Nightmare

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about musical adaptations from stage to film, and then further explained my love for the combination of music and film. Well, here goes again! How better can you combine music and motion pictures? the answer: music videos. This is where I hope to see my career going at some point. I love music videos, because there's only 3-4 minutes of time to make a masterpiece, so you better be on your A-game. Every single shot and every pixel of the frame needs to be perfect. My dream is to edit music videos for rock bands. Unfortunately my favorite bands have stopped recording new music and thus stopped making music videos; for example, google "80's hair bands," and any name that pops up. Anyways, back to the topic at hand: music video perfection. I have a few examples of great music videos, however I have them split into two categories - ones that inspire me, and ones that could theoretically put me out of business. We'll start off with the latter.

This is a fantastic video, and extremely entertaining in a very quirky way. It was a viral video that is one of the main reasons the band got the amount of popularity that they have today. But what is my fear of this video? The fact that its all one shot. No editing. A lot of choreography, but no editing. This saddens my heart.

Similar thing. Great music video; its about as simplistic as it gets. Blank background, black and white picture, three dancers, pretty much one shot. But, this time more camera motion, more choreography, and a few cuts here and there, but still, my heart is sad.

Now we're getting somewhere! This throwback jam from the 80's has probably one of the coolest effects I've seen, and its pulled off fairly well. The blending of sketches and live-action footage arises so many questions in my mind. How did they do it? How long did it take? Why is that guy's voice extremely feminine? And most of all, this inspires me to edit and make effects that can blend fantasy with reality and become a timeless work of art such as this. This makes my heart say "mmmmmm fairies," which is good, I think.

Finally, this video is like crack to me. Delicious. This must have taken an eternity to edit. And at least three to set up and film it. And seeing that many drumsets makes me drool. This is beautiful, and my heart might just explode with excitement and inspiration to film and edit a combination stop-motion, with live-action footage.

I could take up this whole blog with links to all my favorite music videos, but i think you get my point now. In sum, I love editing, I love music, I love drums, and finally, I love my parents... in that order. Just kidding Mom! Happy Birthday.

Sincerely,
Scott Walle