I know, another movie on Parfois, but Blu posted a new stop motion movie and you don’t want to miss it!

A few days ago, I was very pleased to discover Gilberto Esparza, a mexican artist, which is interested in making robots that interact with the enviroment. His last project, Plantas Nomadas, is a robot that works with the help of microorganisms and contaminated river water. The key for this process is the microbial fuel cells. According to wikipedia : “A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-electrochemilcal system that drives a current by mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature.[...] A microbial fuel cell is a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy by the catalytic reaction of microorganisms.” Summing up, Plantas Nomadas is a self-sufficient robot that can walk to the river and drink contaminated water. Through a microbial fuel cell proccess, the produced energy feeds the robot and make it able to walk, while the surplus  helps the plants to grow. A great interaction between technology and life cycle.

I encourage you to have a look at his past project, Parasitos Urbanos, where small robotic creatures interact with the urban enviroment.

Both projects are nicely illustrated as well.

Meindbender is a Swiss based animation studio. Their animations are all completely rendered so no stop motion. Very humoristic movies with a focus on expression. U can watch al the movies they did for cartoon network here.

“Het klokhuis” is the longest running dutch tv show for children. They explain how things work and give information about all kinds of things, from how a computer works to why zebras have stripes. Design agency Kesselskramer got the assignment to make the opening sequence and end sequence. I saw some lectures from Kessels Kramer himself and I have to say, they’re good! I’ll write a post about him next week. In this animation they use 3D printing and they are the first ever to do so. The opening movie is shown above and the end sequence with some pictures of the making of is at read more.

Today, Steve Jobs made rumors come true. The last weeks Apple fan websites were busy with all the rumors about the Apple Tablet. And today Steve Jobs finally unveiled the thing everyone was waiting on for years. As there was no way to watch the keynote live, I followed it at Engadgets live blog. At first I was a bit sceptic, no multitask, no revolutionary design, just a blown up iPhone. But after watching the promotional movie at the Apple website, I was sold. And my question to you readers is, how do they do it? 5 minutes before watching the movie I was like “now way i’m going to buy this thing”. And 13 minutes later, if it would all ready be for sale, I would pull out my credit card and buy myself the full option iPad.

This post is not about how great the iPad is (alright it is great and revolutionary and…), its about the presentation techniques Apple uses in their commercial video’s. We are all Apple fan-boys here at Parfois, but our iMacs, Macbook’s, Macbook pro’s and iPhones are to work on. their not just toys, we need them to do our daily work. I’m not the kind of person that buys everything Apple comes with, and during the keynote (not the movie but at Engadget in text and pictures) I was sure this was not a thing I needed. But Apple’s way of promoting it at this movie planted something in my brain that whispers “Buy the iPad Jonas, Buy the iPad…”. Want to experience it for yourself? Click the picture above to watch the movie, but watch out… It is dangerous for you financials. Let me know in the comments if Apple has imprinted the same special thing in your brain, as they did with mine. Read on to see some more iPad pictures.

Above I’ve stated that this post isn’t about how great the iPad is but off course, from a design prospective, it is fabulous. Look at the pictures below and feel the shiver.

I saw this one passing by some other blogs two days ago, since it had so much attention elsewhere I didn’t want to post it here. But I’ve seen the trailer at least 10 times now and I think its great. So if you haven’t heard about the new short film of Spike Jonze, click the read more button.

Spike Jonze, born Adam Spiegel is mostly know as the director of the movies Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and his last hit; Where the Wild Things Are. I’m Here, is his latest creation, a short film about the relationship between two robots living in L.A. I’ve watched the trailer for a couple of times and I really don’t know what to think of it. What I do know is that the robots in the movie are real people, not some creature created with the latest 3d computer special effect thingy.  If you have seen the film, please let me know how it was in the comments. I’m not sure if I wan’t to watch this one at the movies or at home. Scroll down for the trailer.

Via: Fubiz

We have spoken about Banksy a couple of times, here, and here. Today some websites report that there will be a movie featuring, or made by Banksy. Information about the movie is rather scarce, but if you click the read more button, you can watch the trailer.

A great FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces. Sometimes in an abstract way. Sometimes surreal. Directed, Modelling РTexturing РIllumination РRendering, Postproduction & Editing, Sound Design by Alex Roman. Done with 3dsmax, Vray, AfterEffects and Premiere.

It takes a while, but it’s worth it. And if you have a mac (or a good computer) be sure to watch it full screen!

Leo Villareal is one of the biggest light artists on this world. It is a pity this installation, located in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, is no longer there. The west to east hallway was covered with 41 000 LED lights, resulting in a true spectacle. It starts slow and easy, but ends with a big bang! More information and work can be found on the artists website.

If you know a even better light artist, let us hear about it in the comments, and we will definitely write about it.