Flooby Nooby

January 02, 2013

"Una Furtiva Lagrima" by Carlo Vogele

Clammbon - Rough & Laugh

Here's a great video by Tymote for Clammbon for the "Rough & Laugh" song - originally used for the opening sequences of two Japanese TV series.

Rone "Bye Bye Macadam" - Music video directed by Dimitri Stankowicz

Reclaiming the Blade is a documentary written and directed by Daniel McNicoll and produced by Galatia Films on the topic of swords, focusing on the cinematic choreography of swordsmanship.

Notable interviewees from the film industry include Viggo Mortensen, Karl Urban, Richard Taylor, Bob Anderson (fencing instructor to Errol Flynn and countless other actors) died in January 2012, and Paul Champagne (master sword-maker was bladesmith) died in April 200).

Narration is by British actor John Rhys-Davies. The documentary was produced with the support of Peter Jackson, Weta Workshop, Skywalker Sound and the Royal Armouries.

"Room On The Broom" by Studio Soi

January 01, 2013

Bill Plympton is on Kickstarter for his new animated feature film "Cheatin"

Donate to the project on Kickstarter and ret rewards here:
kickstarter.com/projects/billplympton/bill-plymptons-cheatin-an-animated-feature-film

Bob Anderson: Sword-Master / Darth Vader Stuntman

Olympic fencer and movie sword master Bob Anderson appeared in some of film's most famous dueling scenes – though few viewers knew it.

Anderson pased away a year ago from today, at the age of 89, he donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original "Star Wars" films, "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."

Anderson, who worked with actors from Errol Flynn to Antonio Banderas during five decades as a sword master, fight director and stunt performer, died early New Year's Day, 2012 at an English hospital.

Vader, "Star Wars'" intergalactic arch-villain, was voiced by James Earl Jones and played by six foot six former weightlifter David Prowse, but Anderson stepped in during the key fight scenes.

"David Prowse wasn't very good with a sword and Bob couldn't get him to do the moves," said Anderson's former assistant, Leon Hill. "Fortunately Bob could just don the costume and do it himself."

The scenes worked beautifully, although Anderson, then nearing 60, was several inches shorter than Prowse.

Few knew of Anderson's role until Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, said in a 1983 interview that "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting."

"It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told (director) George (Lucas) I didn't think it was fair any more," Hamill told Starlog magazine. "Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It's ridiculous to preserve the myth that it's all done by one man."

Robert James Gilbert Anderson was born in Hampshire, southern England, in 1922, and was drawn to fencing from an early age.

"I never took up the sword," he said in an interview for the 2009 documentary "Reclaiming the Blade." "I think the sword took me up."

Anderson joined the Royal Marines before World War II, teaching fencing aboard warships and winning several combined services titles in the sport.

He served in the Mediterranean during the war, later trained as a fencing coach and represented Britain at the 1952 Olympics and the 1950 and 1953 world championships.

In the 1950s, Anderson became coach of Britain's national fencing team, a post he held until the late 1970s. He later served as technical director of the Canadian Fencing Association.
His first film work was staging fights and coaching Flynn on swashbuckler "The Master of Ballantrae" in 1952.

He went on to become one of the industry's most sought after stunt performers, fight choreographers and sword masters, working on movies including the James Bond adventures "From Russia With Love" and "Die Another Day"; fantasy "The Princess Bride"; Banderas action romps "The Mask of Zorro" and "The Legend of Zorro"; and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Fencing academy president Philip Bruce said Anderson was "truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer."

December 29, 2012

Invisible Animals

Photographer Art Wolfe has spent over 35 years roaming the deserts of Africa, the rainforests of South America, the mountains of the United States and snow plains of Canada to capture wildlife at its most camouflaged.

It's white in front of you! A willow ptarmigan in winter plumage, hidden on a brushy slope near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

Having a giraffe: A Giraffe in Transvaal, South Africa. Wolfe's 35-year career has spanned every continent as he has followed his passion for the environment.

Can't see the wolf from the trees: A wolf peering out from behind a tree trunk in an autumn Montana forest.

Eye spy: A spectacled caiman in Llanos, Venezuela. Wolfe worked to make it visually challenging to the viewer by using depth of field, scale and placement and confusing the subject

Eye spy: A spectacled caiman in Llanos, Venezuela. Wolfe works to make it visually challenging to the viewer by using depth of field, scale and placement and confusing the subject.

A Great Horned Owl uses colour and disruptive patterns in its plumage to disappear in a temperate forest in Oregons Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

An American Pika performing a vanishing act in the Cascade Range of Washington

Cunning tricks: A Great Horned Owl uses colour in its plumage to disappear in a temperate forest in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, left, while an American Pika performs a vanishing act in the Cascade Range of Washington.

Leaf me alone: A Mealy or Blue-crowned parrot disappears like just another leaf in the lush Central American rainforest, Chan Chich, Belize.

'Photographers always want to show off their subject. And yet, is this really the way an animal is viewed by the human eye? Not quite.
'We don't have the isolating abilities that a telephoto lens provides. On most occasions an animal remains somewhat concealed by the clutter of its natural habitat-a necessity of survival for both predator and prey.
'I have basically employed three different photographic approaches and purposely worked to enhance the difficulty to find the camouflaged subject-as difficult as it is in the wild to see animals that do not want to be seen.

Snake eyes: A horned adder matches the colour of the sand in the Namib Desert, Namibia, where they bury themselves using a swimming motion to disappear beneath the hot surface.

Can you spot me? A Leopard conceals herself in vegetation at the base of a tree in Kruger National Park, Transvaal, South Africa.

A California Ground Squirrel blending in with its rocky environment

Rock and hole: A gyrfalcon at their nest built on a cliff, left, and a California Ground Squirrel blends in with its rocky environment,.

Bark and hide: A Great Gray Owl positions itself in front of a similar pattern to take advantage of his camouflage in Oregon, United States.

'Since it is impossible to capture all the distractions to the senses of an entire landscape in a photo, I worked to make it visually challenging by using depth of field, scale and placement and confusing the subject.'
Art is also a successful book publisher and television producer. He has published at least one book a year since 1989.
The 61-year-old from Seattle said: 'It is in the wild places, where the edge of the earth meets the corners of the sky, the human spirit is fed.'