October 2008 Archives

Donkeys ... or Elephants?

Did you know that the United States of America are about to have an election? It’s true. The candidates range from the maverickiest guy the world has ever seen — Arizona’s Republican senator John McCain — and a guy who Hopes America Will Change or Dreams About My Hope or thinks that, Yes, We Can Change Hope or some such. He’s the Democratic Senator of Illinois, and his name is Barack Obama.

I’m terribly sad that this campaign is coming to an end. The effervescent Alaskan Sarah Palin has been a gift, an endlessly entertaining series of goofs and endearingly nonsensical non sequiturs. We are all indebted to Senator McCain for his wisdom in providing us with light relief during a global financial meltdown. Of course — even if the Democrats do take the White House — this is far from the last we’ll see of Governor Palin; I suspect she might reverse the trend of movie stars becoming politicians (Reagan, Schwarzenegger) and begin wildly successful franchise of action/comedy flicks, the ass-kickin’ hockey mom with a cheeky wink, à la College Humor’s Head of Skate trailer.

For a final look at the contenders, you could do a lot worse than watch PBS Frontline’s intriguing documentary. It filled in a bunch of gaps in my knowledge (although, rest assured, there are no end of gaps remaining) and comes with enough additional interviews, articles, and timelines to slake the most politically-parched viewer.

Frontline: The Choice 2008.

The Coveted AGDA Spoon

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On the weekend, Australia’s pre-eminent designers descended en masse upon Adelaide for some heavy imbibing and back slapping. It was the AGDA (Australian Graphic Drinking Association or something) Awards, which apparently takes place biennially. Which apparently means “every two years”. I didn’t get to go, but the idea of polar neck wearing designers having one pinot gris too many and slapping someone in the face because they’d criticised Bauhaus – well actually … yeah, it would have been fun. In any case, I am humbled and honoured to have participated in no fewer than three pieces that picked up Distinctions.

We were awarded one distinction apiece for the 2007 and 2008 Sydney Theatre Company season launch videos. The first was put together from over 4,000 still photographs and assembled with a series of scripts and some After Effects wrangling to the amazing tunage of Peter, Bjorn, and John – “Young Folks”:

The second was for the 2008 season launch. We used an incredible piece of software called Syntheyes, which reverse engineers moving footage to extract 3D information about the scene, using motion tracking and parallax and, I imagine, some freaky hardcore mathematics. In plain language, it lets you put 3D objects into the scene that weren’t really there. Mr Cate Blanchett (that’s Andrew Upton, to you) is featured with a beverage of some description, while the ever-so-versatile Hugo Weaving puts in a cameo near the end. Philip Seymour Hoffman was at STC when we were filming (he was directing “Riflemind”) but declined to make an appearance, no matter how many donuts we offered him. The soundtrack is “Wastin’ Time”, by Eagles of Death Metal:

Finally, I was surprised to learn that the photos I took for Chris Doyle’s identity guidelines won a distinction, too (see my previous post here). I suspect it was more to do with his superlative modelling than my photography, but I’ll take it anyway, thanks. AGDA awarded Chris a Pinnacle for his guidelines – it was very well deserved. I thoroughly encourage you to download them here:

Christopher Doyle Identity Guidelines 2008.pdf

And – oh yeah! – I won a spoon. I have yet to make a cup of tea with it, but I just know it’s going to be the best cup of tea I’ve ever made.

The Coveted Agda Spoon by haighy, on Flickr

Americatown

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What an interesting premise:

What if the current financial crisis in the U.S. becomes so severe that Americans start to flee the country?

A new series being developed on HBO. Via kottke.org.

Christopher Doyle™

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My esteemed colleague Chris Doyle has taken his personal brand to the next level. He designed the Christopher Doyle™ Identity Guidelines 2008 (and requisitioned me to take the photographs), with examples of colour palette, clear space, incorrect use, horizontal and vertical formats and more. Very witty and thoughtfully designed, it’s just been featured on the Johnson Banks Thought of the Week. Well done, that man.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from October 2008 listed from newest to oldest.

September 2008 is the previous archive.

November 2008 is the next archive.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from October 2008 listed from newest to oldest.

September 2008 is the previous archive.

November 2008 is the next archive.