Brain Food: Congrats from NASA & Gallic Simpsons
We go to space and back with some more creative treats.
1. Intergalactic Congratulations
A lot of people have, very deservedly, congratulated the talented folks at Framestore for their perfect trio of Oscar, BAFTA and VES awards. But this one’s the best, surely?
2. HUVr
Back to the Future fans had their dreams come true and then almost immediately smashed this week with the launch of the HUVr hoverboard. The whole affair, which included this launch video with Christopher Lloyd, a.k.a. Dr. Emmett 'Doc' Brown from the film trilogy, and ex-pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, was obviously a hoax. We can all live in hope, though. After all, it’s not quite 2015 yet.
3. The Simpsons’ French Makeover
A snail obsessed Homer and Bart force-feeing geese? It can mean only one thing: Les Simpsons ont transformé en français. The hilariously exaggerated Gallic vision comes from th1ng animator Sylvain Chomet, who joins an honoured list of Simpsons title creators that includes Banksy, Bill Plympto and Guillermo del Toro to name but a few.
4. Speed-Reading with Spritz
Lend me a book and you won't be seeing it for a long time. Not because I've lost it, but because I'm such a slow reader. Spritz promises to help not just plodders like me, but even the most avid of bookworms read quicker. According to its creators, our eyes seek a certain point of a word - called the 'optimal recognition point' or ORP - when we read. That 'hunting', so to speak, means we spend only 20 per cent reading time actually processing content and a whopping 80 per cent exercising our retinas from word-to-word. The Spritz app cleverly cuts that out by firing text on to your screen with the ORP in the same place that you're already looking. Learn more at: http://www.spritzinc.com/
5. Happy Camper - The Daily Drumbeat
This is like the most sinister game of musical chairs ever. Inspired by the cheery-sounding song’s quite sombre lyrics of 'The drumbeat will beat you up', studio Job, Joris & Marieke crafted these not-as-innocent-as-they-look stripy characters that dash from rooftop-to-rooftop in an attempting to outwit their counterparts.
6. I’ll Have What He’s Having
Manuel Ferrari, of Dutch VFX house The Ambassadors, lets loose with this short film of a strange creature with the jitterbugs. I'm hoping that you'll all follow suit and throw some shapes like that this weekend.
