This video called “Motion Feel” by artist Shinji Inamoto isn’t just a bunch of objects undergoing a series of bizarre transformations. Ok, maybe that is all there is, but it’s also a mind-bending visual and auditory treat, with a touch of horrific lurking around the edges. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, you should watch it.

And let’s be honest: That makes it awesome. What’s amazing to me is not only how many custom weapons are used, or how many custom minifigs are completely destroyed in showers of Play-Doh blood, but how fluidly the characters move. LEGO stop motion animation sure has come a long way.

You can do a lot with eBooks: Carry hundreds of them in a device that weighs a few ounces, read them across multiple platforms, you can even loan and borrow them. However, I don’t think you’d be able to create as impressive and charming an animation as this one from a husband and wife team over many nights at the  Type Books store in Toronto. Made using only the books in the shop, this video is a love letter to the printed word.

In space no one can hear you scream, but they can apparently hear your righteous dub. This video, from animators Ryan Todd and Chad Turner, positively drips with that old-school sci-fi feel. It’s got funky spaceships, all-seeing eyes, crystals, spheres, and some guy with a beard. What more could you want? The music is by Chllngr, if that’s your thing. If not, just sit back and enjoy the wiggy visuals.

Every work of art seeks distinction, but few do so by using 288,000 jelly beans to create a stop motion animated music video. Directed by Greg Jardin and using the body and music of Kina Grannis, this incredible video took 1,357 hours over nearly two years to make. In that time, the production team shot 2,4360 still frames featuring Grannis and thousands of jelly beans. Amazingly, the whole thing was done without any CGI wizardry or greenscreening.

Not only is it a visual marvel, but it’s a catchy tune and utterly charming. Watch it after the break and be sure to take a minute to see the making-of video, that gives us a peek at how something like this gets made.

Flying into space is, for the most part, far more gritty and uncomfortable than Desrumaux Celine’s slick animated short film “Countdown.” However, this animation does capture the incredible effort and tension in the days and moments before a space launch. No matter how impressive future space vehicles may be, I doubt they’ll ever look this good.

If this upsets you, I’m sorry. Sort of.

If you need proof that animators are climbing out of the monstrous uncanny valley and producing some superb CG work, look no further than this video from Janimation. The face not only wrinkles and curls realistically, but retains the same broad range of motion that an actual face has. Watch as this CG fellow goes from “angry” to “surprised,” and the movements in between, all very naturally.

(Reddit, Kotaku)

Modern animators are finding some really great ways to spice up the traditional approach to animation, and this video promoting MTV Brazil is no exception. This quick little cartoon uses balloons popping sequence filmed with a camera moving along a track, appearing to move flip-book style. Best of all? Ozzy eats a bat.

(via Dude Craft)

Last year, 205 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In his info-tastic video Oil’d, Chris Harmon poses a provocative question: What would we have done with the oil if it had never been spilled? His answers are staggering, but also underline human dependency on oil. Sure, we could have done a lot with those 205 million gallons, but maybe we could have done even more — or less.

(via Reddit)