Thursday 12 March 2009
Best Stop Motion- This Is Where We Live by 4th Estate
This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.
This Is Where We Live by 4th Estate
Talk about your book coming to life. This is a stop motion animation piece produced by Apt Studio for 4th Estate Publishers 25th Anniversary. Just look at how beautiful the lighting is and how long it must have taken the animators to craft such a thing!
The film was produced in stop-motion over 3 weeks in Autumn 2008. Each scene was shot on a home-made dolly by an insane bunch of animators; you can see time-lapse films of each sequence being prepared and shot in our other films.
Monday 9 March 2009
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Eye Candy-1,474 maegapixel super zoom pic
"What you're looking at is not a single image. The photo, which was shot using a Canon G10 and Gigapan Imager, is comprised of over 200 different shots that were then combined over the course of six hours using Gigapan software. The final product has a resolution of 1,474 megapixels and a TIF file size of almost 2 gigabytes"
This is amazing i think that this is really useful with the thought of design in mind, you could take absoloutly amazing landscapes and for editing in photoshop you could use some unreal detail, also you could print these pictures massive.
Saturday 31 January 2009
Pocket Fish eye
DEMEKIN POCKET FISHEYE CAMERA
Super portable, tiny pocket fisheye camera - it's literally not much bigger than a roll of film!
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Thursday 15 January 2009
The Monkey King
Birth and early life
Sun Wukong was born from a mythical stone formed from the primal forces of chaos, located on the Huāguǒ-shān (Chinese: 花果山；mountain of flowers and fruit). After joining a clan of monkeys, he earned their respect by discovering the Shuǐlián-dòng (Chinese: 水帘洞；water-curtain cave) behind a large waterfall; the clan made it their new home. The other monkeys honored him as their king, and he called himself Měi Hóuwáng (handsome monkey king). However, he soon realized that despite his power over the monkeys, he was just like them, and was not beyond mortality. Determined to find immortality, he traveled on a raft to civilized lands, where he found and became the disciple of a Buddhist/Taoist Patriarch Bodhi. He was able to acquire human speech and manners through his travels.[1]
Bodhi was initially reluctant to take him because he was not human, but the monkey's determination and perseverance impressed the patriarch. It was from him that the monkey received his official name Sun Wukong ("Sun" implies his origin as a monkey, and "Wukong" means aware of emptiness). Soon, his eagerness and intelligence made him one of the favorite disciples of the patriarch, whose guidance and training taught the monkey a number of magic arts. He acquired the powers of shapeshifting known as the "72 transformations", supposedly the more versatile and difficult set of skills that allows him to transform into every possible form of existence, including people and objects. He also learned about cloud-traveling, including a technique called the Jīndǒuyún (cloud-somersault), which covers 108,000 li (54,000 km) in a single flip. Finally, he could transform each of the 84,000 hairs on his body into inanimate objects and living beings, or even clones of himself. Sun Wukong became proud of his abilities, and began boasting to the other disciples. Bodhi was not happy with this, and cast him out of his temple. Before they parted ways, Bodhi made Wukong promise never to tell anyone how he acquired his powers.[1]
Back at Huāguǒ-shān, Wukong established himself as one of the most powerful and influential demons in the world. In search of a weapon worthy of himself, Sun Wukong traveled into the oceans, where he acquired the "As-you-will Golden-banded Cudgel", known as Ruyi Jingu Bang (also known as Lork bong Jin Jan in Khmer), which could change its size, multiply itself, and fight according to the whim of its master. It was originally used by Dà-Yǔ to measure ocean depth and later became the "Pillar that pacifies the oceans", a treasure of Ao Guang, the "dragon-king of the Eastern Seas". It weighed 13,500 jin (8.1 tons). Upon Wukong's approach, the pillar started to glow, signifying that it had finally found its true master. Its versatility meant that Wukong could wield it as a staff and keep it inside his ear as a sewing needle. This drove fear into the magical beings of the sea and threw the sea itself into confusion, since nothing but the pillar itself could control the ebb and flow of the ocean's tides. In addition to taking the magical staff, Wukong also defeated the dragons of the four seas in battle and forced them to give him their best magical armor: a golden chain mail (鎖子黃金甲), a phoenix-feather cap (鳳翅紫金冠 Fèngchìzǐjinguān), and cloud-walking boots (藕絲步雲履 Ǒusībùyúnlǚ). Sun Wukong then defied Hell's attempt to collect his soul. Instead of reincarnating like all other living beings, he not only wiped his name out of the "Book of Life and Death", but also scraped out the names of all the other monkeys known to him. The Dragon Kings and the Kings of Hell decided to report him to the Jade Emperor of Heaven.
Havoc in the Heavenly Kingdom
Hoping that a promotion and a rank amongst the gods would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Wukong to Heaven, where the monkey believed he would receive an honorable place as one of the gods. Instead, he was made the head of Heavenly Stables to watch over horses. When he discovered this, Wukong rebelled and proclaimed himself the "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven", and allied with some of the most powerful demons on earth. The Heavens' initial attempt at subduing the monkey king was unsuccessful; although they were forced to recognize his title, however, they attempted to put him off as the guardian of Heavenly Garden. When he found that he was excluded from a royal banquet that included every other important god and goddess, Wukong's indignation again turned to open defiance. After stealing the empress Xi Wangmu's "peaches of immortality", Lao Tzu's "pills of longevity", and the Jade Emperor's royal wine, he escaped back to his kingdom in preparation for his rebellion.
Wukong later defeated the Army of Heaven's 100,000 celestial warriors - each fight an equivalent of a cosmic embodiment, including all 28 constellations, four heavenly kings, and Nezha - and finally proved himself equal to the best of Heaven's generals, Erlang Shen. Eventually, through the teamwork of Taoist and Buddhist forces, including the efforts from some of the greatest deities, Wukong was captured. After several failed attempts at execution, Wukong was locked into Lao Tzu's eight-way trigram cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the most sacred and the most severe samadhi fires. However, after 49 days, the cauldron exploded and Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever. He now had the ability to recognize evil in any form, through his huǒyǎn-jīnjīng (火眼金睛) (lit. "fiery-eyes golden-gaze"), an eye condition that also gave him a weakness to smoke.
With all of their options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven appealed to the Buddha, who arrived from his temple in the West. The Buddha made a bet with Wukong that he could not escape from his palm. Wukong, knowing that he could cover 108,000 li in one leap, smugly agreed. He took a great leap and then flew to the end of the world in seconds. Nothing was visible except for five pillars, and Wukong surmised that he had reached the ends of Heaven. To prove his trail, he marked the pillars. Afterwards, he leaped back and landed in Buddha's palm. There, he was surprised to find that the five "pillars" he had found were in fact the five fingers of the Buddha's hand. When Wukong tried to escape, Buddha turned his hand into a mountain. Before Wukong could shrug it off, Buddha sealed him there using a strip of paper with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum written thereon in gold letters, and Wukong remained imprisoned for five centuries.[1]
Disciple to Xuanzang
Five centuries later, the bodhisattva Guanyin went out in search for disciples that could protect a pilgrim from the East to journey to India to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. In hearing this, Sun Wukong offered to serve this pilgrim, who turned out to be Xuanzang, a monk of the Tang Dynasty Empire, in exchange for his freedom. Guanyin understood that the monkey would be hard to control, and therefore gave Xuanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical headband which, once Wukong was tricked into putting it on, could never be removed. With a special chant, the band would tighten and cause unbearable pain to the monkey's head. To be fair, she also gave Wukong three special hairs, which could be used in dire emergencies. Under Xuanzang's supervision, Wukong was allowed to journey to the West.
Throughout the epic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong faithfully helped Xuanzang on his journey to India. They were joined by "Pigsy" (猪八戒 Zhu Bajie) and "Sandy" (沙悟浄 Sha Wujing), both of whom offered to accompany the priest in order to atone for their previous crimes. Even the priest's horse was in fact a dragon prince. Xuanzang's safety was constantly under threat from demons and other supernatural beings who believed that his flesh, once consumed, would bring them longevity, and Wukong often acted as his bodyguard. Wukong was given free access to the powers of Heaven to combat these threats. The group encountered a series of eighty-one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. Wukong was granted Buddhahood for his service and strength.[1]
Sun Wukong was born from a mythical stone formed from the primal forces of chaos, located on the Huāguǒ-shān (Chinese: 花果山；mountain of flowers and fruit). After joining a clan of monkeys, he earned their respect by discovering the Shuǐlián-dòng (Chinese: 水帘洞；water-curtain cave) behind a large waterfall; the clan made it their new home. The other monkeys honored him as their king, and he called himself Měi Hóuwáng (handsome monkey king). However, he soon realized that despite his power over the monkeys, he was just like them, and was not beyond mortality. Determined to find immortality, he traveled on a raft to civilized lands, where he found and became the disciple of a Buddhist/Taoist Patriarch Bodhi. He was able to acquire human speech and manners through his travels.[1]
Bodhi was initially reluctant to take him because he was not human, but the monkey's determination and perseverance impressed the patriarch. It was from him that the monkey received his official name Sun Wukong ("Sun" implies his origin as a monkey, and "Wukong" means aware of emptiness). Soon, his eagerness and intelligence made him one of the favorite disciples of the patriarch, whose guidance and training taught the monkey a number of magic arts. He acquired the powers of shapeshifting known as the "72 transformations", supposedly the more versatile and difficult set of skills that allows him to transform into every possible form of existence, including people and objects. He also learned about cloud-traveling, including a technique called the Jīndǒuyún (cloud-somersault), which covers 108,000 li (54,000 km) in a single flip. Finally, he could transform each of the 84,000 hairs on his body into inanimate objects and living beings, or even clones of himself. Sun Wukong became proud of his abilities, and began boasting to the other disciples. Bodhi was not happy with this, and cast him out of his temple. Before they parted ways, Bodhi made Wukong promise never to tell anyone how he acquired his powers.[1]
Back at Huāguǒ-shān, Wukong established himself as one of the most powerful and influential demons in the world. In search of a weapon worthy of himself, Sun Wukong traveled into the oceans, where he acquired the "As-you-will Golden-banded Cudgel", known as Ruyi Jingu Bang (also known as Lork bong Jin Jan in Khmer), which could change its size, multiply itself, and fight according to the whim of its master. It was originally used by Dà-Yǔ to measure ocean depth and later became the "Pillar that pacifies the oceans", a treasure of Ao Guang, the "dragon-king of the Eastern Seas". It weighed 13,500 jin (8.1 tons). Upon Wukong's approach, the pillar started to glow, signifying that it had finally found its true master. Its versatility meant that Wukong could wield it as a staff and keep it inside his ear as a sewing needle. This drove fear into the magical beings of the sea and threw the sea itself into confusion, since nothing but the pillar itself could control the ebb and flow of the ocean's tides. In addition to taking the magical staff, Wukong also defeated the dragons of the four seas in battle and forced them to give him their best magical armor: a golden chain mail (鎖子黃金甲), a phoenix-feather cap (鳳翅紫金冠 Fèngchìzǐjinguān), and cloud-walking boots (藕絲步雲履 Ǒusībùyúnlǚ). Sun Wukong then defied Hell's attempt to collect his soul. Instead of reincarnating like all other living beings, he not only wiped his name out of the "Book of Life and Death", but also scraped out the names of all the other monkeys known to him. The Dragon Kings and the Kings of Hell decided to report him to the Jade Emperor of Heaven.
Havoc in the Heavenly Kingdom
Hoping that a promotion and a rank amongst the gods would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Wukong to Heaven, where the monkey believed he would receive an honorable place as one of the gods. Instead, he was made the head of Heavenly Stables to watch over horses. When he discovered this, Wukong rebelled and proclaimed himself the "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven", and allied with some of the most powerful demons on earth. The Heavens' initial attempt at subduing the monkey king was unsuccessful; although they were forced to recognize his title, however, they attempted to put him off as the guardian of Heavenly Garden. When he found that he was excluded from a royal banquet that included every other important god and goddess, Wukong's indignation again turned to open defiance. After stealing the empress Xi Wangmu's "peaches of immortality", Lao Tzu's "pills of longevity", and the Jade Emperor's royal wine, he escaped back to his kingdom in preparation for his rebellion.
Wukong later defeated the Army of Heaven's 100,000 celestial warriors - each fight an equivalent of a cosmic embodiment, including all 28 constellations, four heavenly kings, and Nezha - and finally proved himself equal to the best of Heaven's generals, Erlang Shen. Eventually, through the teamwork of Taoist and Buddhist forces, including the efforts from some of the greatest deities, Wukong was captured. After several failed attempts at execution, Wukong was locked into Lao Tzu's eight-way trigram cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the most sacred and the most severe samadhi fires. However, after 49 days, the cauldron exploded and Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever. He now had the ability to recognize evil in any form, through his huǒyǎn-jīnjīng (火眼金睛) (lit. "fiery-eyes golden-gaze"), an eye condition that also gave him a weakness to smoke.
With all of their options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven appealed to the Buddha, who arrived from his temple in the West. The Buddha made a bet with Wukong that he could not escape from his palm. Wukong, knowing that he could cover 108,000 li in one leap, smugly agreed. He took a great leap and then flew to the end of the world in seconds. Nothing was visible except for five pillars, and Wukong surmised that he had reached the ends of Heaven. To prove his trail, he marked the pillars. Afterwards, he leaped back and landed in Buddha's palm. There, he was surprised to find that the five "pillars" he had found were in fact the five fingers of the Buddha's hand. When Wukong tried to escape, Buddha turned his hand into a mountain. Before Wukong could shrug it off, Buddha sealed him there using a strip of paper with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum written thereon in gold letters, and Wukong remained imprisoned for five centuries.[1]
Disciple to Xuanzang
Five centuries later, the bodhisattva Guanyin went out in search for disciples that could protect a pilgrim from the East to journey to India to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. In hearing this, Sun Wukong offered to serve this pilgrim, who turned out to be Xuanzang, a monk of the Tang Dynasty Empire, in exchange for his freedom. Guanyin understood that the monkey would be hard to control, and therefore gave Xuanzang a gift from the Buddha: a magical headband which, once Wukong was tricked into putting it on, could never be removed. With a special chant, the band would tighten and cause unbearable pain to the monkey's head. To be fair, she also gave Wukong three special hairs, which could be used in dire emergencies. Under Xuanzang's supervision, Wukong was allowed to journey to the West.
Throughout the epic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong faithfully helped Xuanzang on his journey to India. They were joined by "Pigsy" (猪八戒 Zhu Bajie) and "Sandy" (沙悟浄 Sha Wujing), both of whom offered to accompany the priest in order to atone for their previous crimes. Even the priest's horse was in fact a dragon prince. Xuanzang's safety was constantly under threat from demons and other supernatural beings who believed that his flesh, once consumed, would bring them longevity, and Wukong often acted as his bodyguard. Wukong was given free access to the powers of Heaven to combat these threats. The group encountered a series of eighty-one tribulations before accomplishing their mission and returning safely to China. Wukong was granted Buddhahood for his service and strength.[1]
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