motion designer // cargocollective.com/robnickels

6) Coldplay: Strawberry Swing
Directed by: Shynola

This video uses stop motion, drawing, and perspective extremely effectively. They tell a great story while not being directly related to the lyrics and is one of those music videos where you just keep watching until the end. Not to mention everything is just so cleverly done, the video still has a soul.

Interview here: http://bit.ly/fgHiUU

5) OK GO: Pick One.
End Love:

This Too Shall Pass:

This entire list could be OK GO videos but I’ll give them just one spot. The one continuous take of This Too Shall Pass and the stop motion piece of End Love are both incredible. I prefer the Rube Goldberg Machine video of the two as it is just too entertaining and the sounds and visuals match the lyrics perfectly. Eric Gunther & Jeff Lieberman directed End Love and James Frost directed This Too Shall Pass, with the help of Synn labs.
Interview here: http://bit.ly/gc2qCQ

4) Kid Cudi: Pursuit of Happiness
Directed by: Megaforce

This video rocks and so does the song. Slick transitions. Slick compositing. Everything is just so seamless and the theme just fits the song. I am sure this is what Kid Cudi was thinking when he made this song.

3) Charlotte Gainsbourg: Heaven Can Wait
Directed by: Keith Schofield

Schofield is sick nasty. I really had a hard time deciding between his recent stuff. Let love Rule was very original (check it out here: http://bit.ly/dZysBO) and very enjoyable. He also directed MIMS: Move (http://bit.ly/H0XJr) and the XXX: Safe for Work spot for Diesel was hilarious as well (http://bit.ly/geNolq).
But Heaven Can Wait is my favourite. I love how every frame of this video is a great photograph (albeit done before). There isn’t a wasted frame or scene in this and I love how creepy and somber the tone is. The colour grading rocks too.
However. That said, He ripped this off, word for word off of other people’s photographs. See here: http://bit.ly/hS0PjX.
So make your own conclusions. I still like watching the video regardless, because the fact is, it is well done, and i enjoy every scene.

2) Audiobullys: Only Man
Directed by: Jonas & Francois

This video is just full of awesomeness. Jonas and Francois are without a doubt my favourite music video directors. They love integrating  custom typography, coming up with inventive camera work, energy, and they always seem to do work on great music tracks too (check out the Justice D.A.N.C.E. video they did a few years back: http://bit.ly/fseaMP). very original and creative group of guys. This video has a huge amount of custom designed shoes that look gorgeous on camera. They shoot from below to show a very interesting perspective everything about this is enjoyable for me.

1) Arcade Fire: The Wilderness
Directed by: Chris Milk

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

I almost broke down when i saw this video. I hadn’t been home in so long that this video kind of hit me pretty hard. They kind of cheated. They used Google maps and HTML5 to drive the visuals to customize everyone’s music video experience. You type in your hometown information, and they create a music video using street views of your neighborhood. Freakin Brilliant.

Wow. Sorry I havent been posting a whole lot lately. Its been a real tough few weeks for me. Some lady hit my car (which is inevitable in Toronto), I finished up my internship, and my parents celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary.

Congratulations to the meathead who hacked into my website. I should get that back up and running this weekend. Im due for a massive update, and I am cutting a new reel from the summer right now.

I had the opportunity to work on a lot of personal projects in my last few weeks at The Electric Company. The guys there were absolutely amazing at helping me with the craziest of ideas.

I was just creating work and ideas that I thought Ad Agencies would be looking for. So that meant creating beer bottle ads, end tag mnemonics, and quick promos.