Plaid friends. There is a new mystery that I need your help in solving.

The story:

I got a random friend invite on the 30LBS Skunk YouTube channel the other day from a user I’ve never viewed, called Lights Over Paris.

At first glance it just looked like some bullshit spam from some ridiculously rich OC band that hasn’t released anything. The Lights Over Paris band website is just a temporary one linking to their various social media accounts.  I dismissed it immediately as spam.

But something about it struck me as being slightly off.

Upon second glance it looked like a band that could be serious contender for the biggest bunch of douchebags in the history of the music industry. I didn’t understand why these idiots wanted to be my friend. How did they even find me?

The next day I still had a remaining friend invite. Oh yeah, those bozos again.

At third glace it looked like a devilishly brilliant and unprecedentedly smooth execution of a biting satire on the creative process (rather, the lack thereof) behind manufactured pop music. I looked at all the comments on their channel and noticed a lot of people didn’t get it. Their satire is very subtle, but if you watch more than 2-3 of the videos it will start to come through. Even the Lights Over Paris Twitter feed reeks of sarcasm.

Is it really satire? Are they really this clever?

The riddle:

I want to believe. Have a look at the videos after the jump, and tell me if I’m crazy to think that a parody exists in this stuff. Or, is this some kind of viral marketing? If so, what are they pushing? Is it the studio? Are these guys actors trying to gain exposure? What’s your theory?

The first video I saw was the bio on the band’s “DJ”. Douchebag material for sure.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There was one brief moment in the clip that made me raise an eyebrow. Tell me if you recognize it.

The following video is much less subtle, and is the one that made me start to think that this is actually a satire:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then, these next three videos will make you question how so much production value could be injected into something so asinine.

The mic stand:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The custom tour bus:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The studio tour:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ll leave you with that. I’ve you’ve made it this far, let’s crack the code. Leave your thoughts in the comments. Is this the evolution of viral marketing? Some actors with a knack for satire? Or is this a real band in the OC wonderland of riches?

Made this last week using FCP7 and Magic Bullet Colorista. Mainly I was just experimenting with Colorista. It’s pretty simplistic/versatile.

Anyhow, tried to give it that 70s vintage coloring.

What’s good kids?  How’s your health?  ….your creative muscles?  They workin’ out good?  I’d hope so.  So here I’ve promised to finish the Heavy Weapons Guy, and I have done so.  It’s not my best, but I am proud considering I did the ENTIRE set of lineart without reference or previous sketches.  Although I’ve realized, I will probably never do it again.  I found it to be waaaaay to inefficient and I ultimately end up screwing up anatomy and great tangents that can pretty much make the image look pretty terrible.  So, lesson learned.  What I was going for with the pose in the image was the Heavy attempting to closeline some poor sap. (preferrably the Scout that stole his “Sandvich.”)

Here are the respective wallpapers at 2048 x 1152 resolution so that you may adorn your beautiful widescreen monitors with my art.  Please?  No?  That’s okay, I understand.  ::sniff::

Once again kids, If you need to shrink the image down, they should fit just fine at any 16×9 aspect ratioed resolution.

The Blu Russian.

..also in venetian!!

Made it back from Vegas in once piece.  I had a blast.

Busy month so far.  I had another commission to finish up this week for a Cobra racing event that’s supposed to go on this coming weekend.  Aside from that I started on the rough for the next Team Fortress 2 class.  The Heavy Weapons Guy.  The Heavy is what his name implies.  This brick sh*t-house of a Russian is a giant wall of high calibered, rapid firing death in boots.  His role is generally on the frontlines soaking up damage from all sides.  He’s an even greater force to be reckoned with when he’s allied with The Medic.  While the medic provides constant healing, the Heavy can spray death upon his opponents.

So far, I think he’s shaping up alright.   Here’s the upper half of em.  I’ve been stuck trying to figure out the rest of his pose.  I’m swaying between a few…which is completely normal for me since I generally ALWAYS start out with some sort of thumbnail first, but I’m trying to create art completely digitally now, whether it be freehand via my tablet or in Adobe Illustrator.  Anyway, it’s really rough, as you can see a number of issues, which for me at the moment outside of a completely finished pose, are his eyes and eyebrows.  On his actual design he’s pretty beady eyed compared to everybody else who’s eyes you can actually see, so he’s obviously going to undergo some serious changes down the road.  Wish me luck.  Once this is finished, I should be able to work on the double featured item I spoke about a few weeks back.

Ahhh, you don’t care.

The doctor is OUT.

With what time I had this week I finally got around to finishing the colors for the Scout wallpaper.  During the course of laying down the colors, I had some issues recreating the sketchy shaded effect that I had with the Spy.  I’m not sure why, but I just couldn’t pull it off as well.  Largely because I forgot which filters to use where and how.  Silly me.  Here’s what I was coming up with using the shading method that I used on the spy:

Yeah…it totally wasn’t coming out as well as I planned.  I started feeling the way I lined up the shadows on the original.  So I went back to that one and worked out some other line issues across the board.  I still don’t know what it was that just wasn’t working out with the textured shading.  I’ll probably have to look into it more to find out what was going on.

Basically I’ve got the Scout class in both the Red and Blu (The “E” is supposed to be missing.) flavors below.

Now in Cherry Flavor!

Blu-berry Too!

I know I promised a double feature, but in order for me to get this post ready ahead of time, I had to skimp on working on my other project since I’m goin’ to Vegas this week:  “Loose women, money, and alcohol.  The way life should be.”

I’ll see you kids next week.  I might have some photos from Vegas. We’ll see.

I’m out.

The Antlers – “Two”

It is such a simple film. The images carry the story, the music enhances the images, and the dialogue is almost non-existent. The Red Balloon shows and does not tell, and because of that the audience is allowed to have their own reactions to it.

It is an historical artifact and a fantasy. As Doc Salvatron pointed out, The Red Balloon showcases a part of Paris that does not exist anymore. But not only that. In its 34 minutes, the film succeeds in portraying the brevity, the fragility, the innocence of childhood. By the end of it, the balloon’s death leaves the boy forever changed, and seemingly stuck on earth — until all the balloons in the whole city gather round him, Up-style, to carry him away from the source of his pain, to places we do not see.

But what does the film mean? Should that question be asked?

Many viewers have already asked it. They cannot help themselves, like the child who asks, “Why is the sky blue?” And since The Red Balloon is an allegory, a cinematic fable, it welcomes those kinds of questions.

The big question I would ask is “Why are those other boys so mean?” One fact is clear after watching the film: not everyone has a balloon. Why is that?

Maybe everyone gets a balloon, but through bad circumstances in life the balloon is lost. So when these kids see another kid with a balloon, it reminds them of the one they once had, and so they react with sadness and anger and jealousy, and try to take that kid down.

Or maybe some people don’t get to have a balloon, or get balloons that aren’t as shiny and happy and healthy as the one the little boy has. Their balloons aren’t as good, and they don’t last. So when they encounter this boy, they see him as being superior to them because his balloon is cooler. They’re threatened by the grace and ease of the boy’s friendship with his balloon and, unable to find that feeling for themselves, they decide to destroy his balloon. Only with that balloon out of the way can they feel better about their misery.

There are many other interpretations. Some have said that The Red Balloon symbolizes Christianity. Some have said it is an argument for socialism. Maybe the red balloon is like healthcare in this country: not everyone has it, but when someone loses it he has to take away from everyone else to pay for it.

The Red Balloon is a film that can be enjoyed without asking these questions. It can transcend meaning because it connects viewers, children and adults alike, with something we all experience: the unfairness of life. All of us identify ourselves with the little boy, and not with the mean adults, or the other mean kids. The film is magical in that way, and at the same time, like a childhood friend, does not ask too much of us in return.

]]> http://www.plaidcreature.com/2009/08/03/le-ballon-rouge-part-deux/feed/ 0 http://www.plaidcreature.com/2009/08/02/la-ballon-rouge/ http://www.plaidcreature.com/2009/08/02/la-ballon-rouge/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:27:41 +0000 Dr. Salvatron http://www.plaidcreature.com/?p=2160 Finally, after seven days of living sans computer, mine has returned with a new fully functional graphics card. Enabling me to view and enjoy Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 film, La Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon).
For this week, Dr. Hyperbolus and I are swapping days.

Not even a minute into this shit it’s already proven itself an award-winner. Did other films in the 50s list their accomplishments before the main title card? Hubristic?

We open on a little boy in Paris… petting a stray cat.

So this kid climbs a lamppost to save the entangled red balloon.

He asks a groundkeeper to hold his balloon while he’s at school.

I assume the groundskeeper did his job, because in the next scene the kid is leaving his class with it in pristine condition.

To protect his sentient-like bloodred dustinhoffmansharonstone-esque floating sphere, he sequesters the help of an old man by getting permission to share his umbrella.

The old man makes his destination and can no longer assist. So the boy starts piggybacking on pedestrians.
A lady.

A couple of nuns.

Another dude in a trench coat.

French police? or Spartan army in Fascist leather coats?

No matter, they pass on by. No harm done.

This film has some beautiful shots of Paris.

So the boy returns home. His housekeeper shoves the balloon out the window, but it stays and floats nearby.

NEXT DAY.
A shopkeeper opens his business.

A woman receives the mail.

Some dude carries a giant sheet of glass on his back.

The boy makes it a point to establish supreme dominance.

Yelling at the balloon to come down, the Balloon decides to fuck around and stay just out of reaching distance.

Whose the supreme dominator now, bitch!

Holy balls, watch out for that fucking stray dog! Jesus H Macy!

No worries, the next scene it’s as if it never happened.
Unable to board the bus the balloon chases it.

Actually making it to school on time this day, the boy and his balloon are met with a feisty mob of classmates, hell bent on gaining control of the red balloon.

The balloon tries to follow the boy into the school but is caught by the headmaster.
The headmaster (aka Hitler) punishes the boy for it and locks him in a confined space.

For the next couple minutes, the red balloon stalks and tortures the headmaster until he lets the boy out.


The buddies are back. Fuck tha police.

After a short stint at a street market where they almost lose each other because the balloon identifies itself in a mirror and can’t look away, they pass a girl carrying a blue balloon.

Blue tries to follow red.

FUCK. NO. YOU LITTLE SHITS! WTF ARE YOU DOING?!

YOU MOTHER FUCKERS! NOOOO!

Whew! They make it home. The mob follows and waits outside. You little shits.

I imagine this is later in the day or the next day, but this is the longest couple of shots we’ve seen without the balloon. I feel a slight sense of nausea.  The framing is kept in such a way that the open gate remains in view.

The balloon slowly makes its way into the church.

After some rustling noises, the boy emerges with the balloon followed by an armed guard. What the hell kind of church is this?!

They run away.
Into another beautiful shot.

The boy Tony-Danza-Style reminds the balloon who the boss is as he goes into a pastry shop to get some sweets.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. These little fuckers are back.

WHAT THE FUCK?! They’ve tied the balloon to a rock and are beating the balloon with a stick as they travel to god knows where.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOUR FUCKING BALLOON WENT?! YOU STUPID BASTARD! YOU DUMB BASTARD!

THEYRE PELTING IT WITH ROCKS!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!

This boy has NO FUCKING CLUE WHATS GOING ON! Get the FUCK OVER THERE!

The fucking door won’t open so he calls the balloon to come down to him.



YOU PIECES OF SHIT!


THE ROPE BROKE! IT BROKE! IT BROKE!
RUN MOTHA FUCKA RUN!!!

….

SURROUNDED!!

The boy pleads for the balloon to escape as they hold him down.


Another hit with the slingshot. The balloon is dazed, injured.

Balloons across the city gather.

This film was an emotional rollercoaster. Showcasing a range of human states, from indifference to joy to cruelty.
Only the children in this film have a strong reaction towards the balloon.
All of the adults either find it a nuisance or don’t notice it at all. And, unfortunate for us, the children who are unable to capture the balloon end up wanting to destroy it out of jealousy.
The cruelty of kids.
While the film dabbles in the fantastic throughout, the ending is of course, the most fantastical. And why not make it the most fantastical! For this film is a dedication to, and a reminder of, the kid we have in each of us. Our sense of curiosity, playfulness, and wonderment.

In the end, we watch him float away with our innocence
our childhood.

Wikipedia – Sidenote: the 1956 Oscar Winning short film “Le Ballon Rouge” also known as The Red Balloon was shot in Belleville and featured many parts of the region which were subsequently demolished in the 1960s.
IMDB Side Note: (from User Comment by Nicholas Rhodes) “This truly magical and picturesque film is the colour record of the Belleville area of Paris which was razed to the ground during the late 1960′s and left as waste land for 20 years.

Ninety-five percent of what you see in the film exists no more, the bakeries, the famous Y-shaped staircase situated just beyond the equally famous café “Au Repos de la Montagne” , the long-gone steep steps of the rue Vilin where Pascal finds the balloon initially etc, the waste ground where all the battles took place. All this has gone for ever, disappeared into another dimension, and has been replaced by a featureless modern-day park surrounded by ugly high-rise blocks built in the seventies and where it is not always safe to walk alone – the kids there certainly aren’t running about after balloons these days, they’re more interested in throwing stones at passers-by ! I personally visited recently on several occasions the site of where this was filmed and couldn’t believe my eyes – it was like two different worlds !

One or two shots are taken in Montmartre and there is a brief glimpse of the Seine but be advised that the quasi-totality of the film was shot in Belleville and the adjacent “quartier des Pyrenees”. Only the large church ( Notre-Dame de la Croix, between the Place Maurice Chevalier and the Place de Ménilmontant ) remains today, dwarfed by the high rise blocks I mentioned earlier. Only when you look to the top flats of the houses in the rue des Envierges and the sky beyond, can you maintain the illusion that time has stood still! The opening scene in the film where Pascal is just about to go down the staircase cannot be reproduced today – both the bakery to his left – and the “Maison du Meunier” to his right (as well as the staircase) have been completely demolished!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

That’s gotta be one of my class favorites.  The design of the Scout class in the game is amazing.  The voice actor they chose for the game itself is hilarious when he’s speaking in-game during heated firefights.  So far, I’ve had a lot of fun working on the wallpaper for the Scout.  I’m probably going to provide the same set of colored options that I used for the Spy, but I’m digging the way the scout is turning out thus far.  It’s probably a bad thing being an artist and all.

The Scout.

The extra lines that you can see within the image are where the “sketchy” shading is going to appear.  I’m tempted not to do that on this one, but I want some consistency within all of the actual backgrounds I’ve created up to this point.  Next week will be a double feature, giving way to what else I’ve been working on over the last week aside from the Team Fortress 2 wallpapers.  I’ll catch up with you guys before then…but I’m goin’ to Vegas courtesy of the few doctors around here.  I’m goin’ back to cause some damage.

Next week, kids.  Nighty night.  (Aww…you don’t care.)